Minnesota’s Graduation Gap
I was lead project editor as MPR News set out to report on an underreported fact — that Minnesota’s high school graduation rates for students of color rank among the worst in the nation. We spent nearly a year observing what’s going on in schools, scanning the research and delving deep into the data. We ended up making a profound discovery: Minnesota devotes less to non-classroom student support than any state in the nation. That’s a harsh realization for a state that prides itself on its high educational standards and outcomes. Along the way we bust a few myths on which that reputation rests.
This was a big project and there’s a lot to consume on the collection page linked below. I would single out the centerpiece broadcast story for not only taking a comprehensive look at a complex issue, but also for being one of the most listenable long-form “numbers” stories I’ve ever heard.
Graduation gap centerpiece story
And if you simply don’t have the time to go through that much material, I produced an animation for social media that distills the main points in 1:33: