One of the best ways to see what is happening in education is with documentaries and videos and one of the best creators of these documentaries is outstanding education reporter John Merrow on Learning Matters.
For the past 16 years Learning Matters with John Merrow has been showing the nation what's really happening in public education at all levels. Learning Matters has been producing education reports for PBS NewsHour as well as producing independent documentaries about what is happening in our schools.
In 2011 they've taken viewers everywhere to an exemplary early learning program in Chicago, a ground-breaking "international" program for refugees in the Bronx, NY ; and a school whose first graders can read but whose fourth graders fail the state tests . Unlike most news outlets, Learning Matters reported on the Atlanta cheating scandal from the perspective of the kids whose scores were changed by the cheating adults.
2012 promises to be even more exciting and fulfilling, according to Merrow. They will bring you two major documentary films, one about the renaissance of public education in New Orleans, the other about the controversial career of Michelle Rhee, the former Chancellor of the Washington, DC, schools. They are already at work on two stories for PBS NewsHour slated to air early in the new year, with more to come: a look at Common Core, unions and charters, and the development of online learning as a viable option.
Stay tuned and check out their website on a regular basis for reliable information about what is going on in the schools.