Interactive

Mapping Pre-K Funding Cuts
Alabama / Early Education / Georgia / Interactive / Louisiana / Mississippi / National / Pre-K Series / Tennessee

Mapping Pre-K Funding Cuts

by Southern Education Desk × on March 19, 2013 at 3:58 pm × 1 comment

When it comes to making cuts to pre-K – where is the nation making the deepest cuts? This interactive map shows what pre-K funding looks like across the nation and recaps recent developments in the South.

Mississippi Sex Education: An Investigative Series
Audio / Interactive / Maps / Mississippi / Multimedia / Sex Education Investigative Series

Mississippi Sex Education: An Investigative Series

by Annie Gilbertson × on December 20, 2012 at 7:38 am × 0 comments

In a six month long investigation, the Southern Education Desk conducted dozens of interviews and relied on open records requests to obtain hundreds of documents. SED found an inaccurate curricula approval process and hundreds of thousands of dollars in exclusive grants may have resulted in a payday for a for-profit abstinence education company. Results for students are yet to be seen.

The Mississippi Department of Education gave contracts to a single abstinence education company before the curriculum was approved for schools. Critics say the funds provided districts with a strong financial incentive to select "Choosing the Best," leading the company to hundreds of thousands of dollars in profits. "Choosing the Best" has no evidence that it changes student behavior.
Audio / Interactive / Mississippi / Multimedia / Sex Education Investigative Series

Mississippi Sex Education: Choosing “Choosing the Best”

by Annie Gilbertson × on December 20, 2012 at 7:30 am × 3 comments

One private company has the lion’s share of the market for providing sex education in Mississippi schools. It’s called “Choosing the Best” and it stands to take home hundreds of thousands of dollars. Critics say the program, which has no scientifically proven track record of success in the classroom, received preferential treatment.

The sex education committee made mistakes while reviewing programs. If scoring had been accurate, four programs that were approved for Mississippi schools would not have made the cut. Photo by Stephanie Terrell.
Audio / Interactive / Mississippi / Multimedia / Sex Education Investigative Series

Mississippi Sex Education: Half Of Districts’ Programs Don’t Meet State Requirements

by Annie Gilbertson × on December 19, 2012 at 7:39 am × 1 comment

An investigation by the Southern Education Desk has found that the committee appointed by the Mississippi Department of Education to evaluate sex education programs for the state’s schools made mistakes in the approval process.

This is the first year all school districts in Mississippi are required to teach sex education. The question is: will it work? Photo by Black Glenn via Flickr.
Audio / Interactive / Maps / Mississippi / Sex Education Investigative Series

Mississippi Sex Education: Is What’s Being Taught Effective?

by Annie Gilbertson × on December 18, 2012 at 10:07 am × 1 comment

This is the first year that Mississippi has mandated sex education in all of its schools, trying to bring down its worst-in-the-nation teen pregnancy rate. But 75 percent of districts are teaching programs without a proven track record and critics argue that is handicapping the state’s sex education efforts. (Part one of a three-part investigative series)

Debating Georgia’s Charter School Amendment
Audio / Georgia / Georgia Charter School Amendment Series / Interactive

Debating Georgia’s Charter School Amendment

by Maura Walz × on November 1, 2012 at 9:03 am × 0 comments

Read GPB and the Southern Education Desk’s full coverage of the road to the charter amendment vote, including stories, interactive infographics and extended interviews.

Click here to see an interactive map showing the demographics of Georgia's existing charter schools.
Georgia / Georgia Charter School Amendment Series / Interactive

Mapping Georgia’s Charter School Demographics

by Maura Walz × on October 31, 2012 at 4:41 pm × 0 comments

An analysis of the demographics of Georgia charter schools during the 2010-2011 school year shows that the schools are more likely to enroll African-American students than the districts where they are located and less likely to enroll students with disabilities, those learning English, and those receiving free or reduced-price lunch.

Louisiana Voucher Schools Maps 2012-13
Interactive / Louisiana / Maps

Louisiana Voucher Schools Maps 2012-13

by Sue Lincoln × on September 10, 2012 at 8:29 am × 0 comments

Louisiana has enacted a statewide voucher program. In April 2012, Louisiana’s Legislature approved an omnibus education reform bill, which included—among other provisions—a “scholarship” program for students “trapped” in failing public schools. “Scholarships for Educational Excellence” are essentially vouchers, paying tuition at private and parochial schools for students whose family income does not exceed 250 percent of the federal poverty level—about $58,000 for a family of four. These maps show the schools approved for participation.

1 2 3 Next »