Skip to content
ProPublica Donate
ProPublica Donate

Education

Inside Our Schools

223 stories published since 2015

School Employees Have Used Isolated Timeouts Illegally, State Investigations Find

by Jennifer Smith Richards, Chicago Tribune, and Jodi S. Cohen, ProPublica Illinois,

Illinois Lawmakers Are Calling for a Nationwide Ban on Isolated Timeouts of Students

by Jodi S. Cohen, ProPublica Illinois, and Jennifer Smith Richards, Chicago Tribune,

Use This Tool to Find Potential Conflicts of Interest at Public Universities. We Did.

by Haru Coryne,

Educators Push to Ban Seclusion of Students and Shift School Culture

by Jodi S. Cohen, ProPublica Illinois, and Jennifer Smith Richards, Chicago Tribune,

Inside a Training Course Where School Workers Learn How to Physically Restrain Students

by Jennifer Smith Richards, Chicago Tribune,

Schools Aren’t Supposed to Forcibly Restrain Children as Punishment. In Illinois, It Happened Repeatedly.

by Jennifer Smith Richards, Chicago Tribune, and Jodi S. Cohen and Lakeidra Chavis, ProPublica Illinois,

How We Reported This Story

by Jennifer Smith Richards, Chicago Tribune, and Haru Coryne, Jodi S. Cohen and Lakeidra Chavis, ProPublica Illinois,

A 7-Year-Old Complained About a Scary Office at School. This Is the Video His Parents Saw — a Month Later.

by Jodi S. Cohen, ProPublica Illinois, and Jennifer Smith Richards, Chicago Tribune,

“None of the Children at the School Are Safe”

by Jodi S. Cohen, ProPublica Illinois, and Jennifer Smith Richards, Chicago Tribune,

Federally Funded Health Researchers Disclose at Least $188 Million in Conflicts of Interest. Can You Trust Their Findings?

by David Armstrong and Annie Waldman,

Medical Professors Are Supposed to Share Their Outside Income With the University of California. But Many Don’t.

by Annie Waldman,

We Asked Public Universities for Their Professors’ Conflicts of Interest — and Got the Runaround

by Annie Waldman and David Armstrong,

Help Us Report On Conflicts of Interest at Universities

by Annie Waldman and David Armstrong,

Dollars for Profs: Search Conflicts of Interest

by Sisi Wei, Annie Waldman and David Armstrong,

Illinois Will Allow Prone, Supine Restraints on Children While Schools Learn to Phase Them Out

by Jennifer Smith Richards, Chicago Tribune, and Jodi S. Cohen and Lakeidra Chavis, ProPublica Illinois,

There’s an Emergency Ban on Isolated Timeouts in Illinois Schools. What’s Next?

by Lakeidra Chavis, Jennifer Smith Richards and Jodi S. Cohen,

Readers Choked Back Tears. Some Struggled to Keep Reading. We Understand.

by Jodi S. Cohen, Jennifer Smith Richards and Lakeidra Chavis,

Illinois to Take Emergency Action to Halt Isolated Timeouts in Schools

by Jennifer Smith Richards, Jodi S. Cohen, Lakeidra Chavis and Dan Petrella,

For-Profit Colleges Tap a Fox News Host to Influence Trump

by Isaac Arnsdorf,

The Quiet Rooms

by Jennifer Smith Richards, Chicago Tribune, and Jodi S. Cohen and Lakeidra Chavis, ProPublica Illinois,

The Federal Government Collects Data on How Often Schools Seclude Children. The Numbers Don’t Add Up.

by Lakeidra Chavis and Jodi S. Cohen, ProPublica Illinois, and Jennifer Smith Richards, Chicago Tribune,

How We Reported This Story

by Jennifer Smith Richards, Chicago Tribune, and Haru Coryne, Jodi S. Cohen and Lakeidra Chavis, ProPublica Illinois,

The Hedge Fund Billionaire’s Guide to Buying Your Kids a Better Shot at Not Just One Elite College, but Lots of Them

by Ava Kofman and Daniel Golden,

One Campus. Seven Professors Facing Harassment Accusations. Few Consequences.

by Rachel Otwell, NPR Illinois, and Alex Mierjeski, ProPublica,

At the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Preserving the Reputations of Sexual Harassers

by Rachel Otwell, NPR Illinois, and Alex Mierjeski, ProPublica,

Have You Experienced Sexual Misconduct at an Illinois University or College? We Want to Hear From You.

by Karim Doumar and Alex Mierjeski,

Parents Gave Up Custody of Their Children to Help Them Get Financial Aid. Now, Some Are Abandoning That Idea.

by Melissa Sanchez and Jodi S. Cohen,

Inside the Illinois House Hearing on the Financial Aid Scandal

by Melissa Sanchez,

At Hearing on Financial Aid Scandal, Lawmakers Grill Officials and Look to Close a Loophole

by Melissa Sanchez and Jodi S. Cohen,

El Departamento de Educación federal quiere frenar la “trama fraudulenta de ayuda estudiantil” en que padres ceden la custodia a través de tutelas dudosas

por Jodi S. Cohen, Duaa Eldeib y Melissa Sanchez,

How We Got the Story About Parents Transferring Guardianship of Their Kids to Win Financial Aid They Wouldn’t Otherwise Qualify For

by Jodi S. Cohen,

Illinois Lawmakers Call Hearing to “Demand Answers” and Find Ways to Close a Loophole in College Financial Aid Scandal

by Jodi S. Cohen and Duaa Eldeib,

Padres ceden La custodia de sus hijos para conseguir becas universitarias basadas en necesidad económica

por Jodi S. Cohen y Melissa Sanchez,

U.S. Department of Education Wants to Stop “Student Aid Fraud Scheme” Where Parents Give Up Custody Through Dubious Guardianships

by Jodi S. Cohen, Duaa Eldeib and Melissa Sanchez,

Illinois Parents Are Helping Their Children Get College Financial Aid They Wouldn’t Otherwise Qualify For. Help Us Figure Out How They Do It.

by Logan Jaffe,

Parents Are Giving Up Custody of Their Kids to Get Need-Based College Financial Aid

by Jodi S. Cohen and Melissa Sanchez,

Methodology: How We Tested an Aggression Detection Algorithm

by Jeff Kao and Jack Gillum,

Aggression Detectors: The Unproven, Invasive Surveillance Technology Schools Are Using to Monitor Students

by Jack Gillum and Jeff Kao,

How Teach for America Evolved Into an Arm of the Charter School Movement

by Annie Waldman,

The University of Illinois Withheld Public Records for Months. Guess What They Showed?

by Jodi S. Cohen,

University of Illinois at Chicago Missed Warning Signs of Research Going Awry, Letters Show

by Jodi S. Cohen,

Chicago Public Schools Monitored Social Media for Signs of Violence, Gang Membership

by Aaron Leibowitz for ProPublica Illinois, and Sarah Karp, WBEZ Chicago,

Illinois Regulators Are Investigating a Psychiatrist Whose Research With Children Was Marred by Misconduct

by Jodi S. Cohen,

DeVos’ Inspector General to Audit Dismissals of Civil Rights Complaints

by Annie Waldman,

Reporting Recipe: How to Investigate Racial Disparities at Your School

by Annie Waldman,

Explore Racial Disparities in Hundreds of Illinois Schools and Districts

by David Eads,

Charlottesville’s Other Jim Crow Legacy: Separate and Unequal Education

by Annie Waldman, ProPublica, and Erica L. Green, The New York Times,

Miseducation

by Lena V. Groeger, Annie Waldman and David Eads,

How the Fight Against Affirmative Action at Harvard Could Threaten Rich Whites

by Daniel Golden,

Documents Raise New Concerns About Lithium Study on Children

by Jodi S. Cohen,