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APM Reports
@apmreports.org
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Investigations and documentaries from American Public Media.

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A New Yorker article that says, in part: "Calkins eventually added phonics to Units of Study, partly in response to Hanford’s reporting. Nevertheless, in 2023, New York City began phasing out the curriculum, which it had used for years. The city recently released test results showing that the number of students meeting the bar for proficiency has risen by seven percentage points. (Columbia’s Teachers College moved away from Units of Study, too.) "Anne Wicks, an education and economics specialist at the George W. Bush Presidential Center, told me that Hanford’s podcast helped transform what had been a relatively obscure academic debate into an approachable subject for laypeople."
December 29, 2025 at 11:17 PM
apmreports.org
In Season 1, the Sold a Story podcast dispelled one of the big myths about learning to read: that schools didn't need to teach kids how to sound out letters.

Host Emily Hanford says new myths are popping up to take its place. Catch up at soldastory.org.
December 12, 2025 at 5:19 PM
apmreports.org
The Deputy Managing Editor (DME) guides the APM Reports team within MPR News. This is a national award-winning, ambitious, enterprising unit of investigative and documentary reporters, producers, and editors. The DME is responsible for the team’s complex and consequential works of original revelatory journalism on all channels. We are looking for an experienced investigative editor committed to creating essential and engaging journalism that serves the public interest. The editor will be an inspiring and insightful leader and mentor, upholding standards of journalism excellence, and setting the team’s vision in collaboration with their supervisor. Exceptional communication, expertise in investigative and data reporting, as well as partnership development are all critical for the candidate’s success. The DME will be responsible for working with each team member to set their coverage plans, goals, and deliverables. In addition, this role works to foster a collaborative team culture within MPR News, as APM Reports leads enterprise and investigative reporting across Minnesota, the region, and the nation. The editor will be in charge of juggling stories in various stages of completion, from long-term investigations to quick-breaking scoops often requiring close coordination with various stakeholders, teams, and departments, with air-tight attention to detail and accuracy in every story. The DME will work directly with other news and community partners on local investigative journalism projects and may be required to assist in grant reporting, monitoring, and foundation relations. Currently APM Reports continues its extraordinary education reporting, soldastory.org, and is focusing on mental health, as well as leading enterprise work of relevance in Minnesota and the upper Midwest region.
October 22, 2025 at 10:16 PM
apmreports.org
This job will be the boss of everyone here at APM Reports.

Please apply: recruiting2.ultipro.com/AME1098APMG/...
APM Reports strives to raise awareness, trigger debate and prompt positive change via non-partisan, independent investigative and documentary journalism. We are located in St. Paul, Minnesota, as part of American Public Media and Minnesota Public Radio.
October 20, 2025 at 8:30 PM
apmreports.org
Teachers, parents and community members: We've added new discussion guides to help you talk about the podcast Sold a Story: soldastory.org/discuss
October 17, 2025 at 8:20 PM
apmreports.org
In the past three years, 26 states have enacted laws to better align reading instruction with scientific research.

We updated our map to include Missouri.

More: www.apmreports.org/story/2025/0...
A map of the United States shows states that have enacted laws in the past three years. They are colored three shades of blue to represent the year of the legislation.
August 29, 2025 at 4:18 PM
apmreports.org
But most of the Institute of Education Science’s work has been stopped. Seventy-eight contracts haven’t come back.
A treemap identifies terminated contracts. They are sized by dollar value and shaded colors based on whether they have been reinstated.
August 27, 2025 at 7:24 PM
apmreports.org
Episode 14: The Cuts

Listen at soldastory.org.
August 26, 2025 at 7:05 PM
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The board canceled more than a dozen tests when it revised the NAEP schedule in April. This annotated version of the previous schedule, adopted in 2023, shows which tests were canceled. Topics annotated with a red star are no longer scheduled for revision.
A screenshot from a document showed scheduled NAEP tests. With red Xes and slash lines, canceled tests have been noted.
August 25, 2025 at 9:00 PM
apmreports.org
New episode of Sold a Story.

𝟭𝟰: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝘂𝘁𝘀
The Trump administration is slashing government funding for science and dismantling the Dept of Ed. We look at what the cuts mean for the science of reading — and the effort to get that science into schools.

Listen: www.apmreports.org/episode/2025...
An illustration depicts workers leaving the Department of Education after losing their jobs.
August 21, 2025 at 5:55 PM
apmreports.org
Explore the database of nursing homes in the story. For each one, see:

• Percent of residents with a serious mental illness
• Number of abuse-related citations
• Nurse staffing rating

www.apmreports.org/story/2025/0...
A map of the continental United States with colored dots representing nursing home locations.
August 7, 2025 at 9:48 PM
apmreports.org
Here's @katereports.bsky.social on the impact of her reporting on Illinois hospitals.

Full story: www.apmreports.org/story/2025/0...
July 16, 2025 at 8:09 PM
apmreports.org
Emily: "One of the words I really like is orangutan."

Kid: 😒
May 29, 2025 at 3:00 PM
apmreports.org
Sometimes, there isn’t a rental inspection at all. We reviewed data from nearly 300 cities that responded to a request for information. Of those, more than 60% said they do not inspect rental units.
We contacted hundreds of Minnesota cities and asked whether they have a rental ordinance and inspect rental properties. Sixty percent of the cities that responded do not have a rental inspection program. This map of the state locates the cities that responded and identifies whether they inspect rental properties.
April 9, 2025 at 2:59 PM
apmreports.org
New episodes of the Sold a Story podcast: soldastory.org
March 24, 2025 at 4:15 PM
apmreports.org
March 6 is #ProtectMyPublicMedia Day, a national day of action with the goal to celebrate public media and advocate for public media funding.

Learn more: www.americanpublicmedia.org/action
March 6, 2025 at 4:57 PM
apmreports.org
Steubenville became a model of reading success, but a new law in Ohio put it at risk. We look at the "science of reading" lists, why Steubenville's program isn't getting on many lists, and the surprising power of one curriculum review group.

New episode of Sold a Story today: soldastory.org
Nancy and Bob were betting that if you put a bunch of effective educational practices together, the result would be a successful school. A school that would make a difference for kids. But Bob and Nancy didn’t know if their program would work. It was kind of like they were making a soup. They knew the ingredients were good. But what about the soup? Would the soup taste good? Would the recipe actually work?
March 6, 2025 at 3:47 PM
apmreports.org
Success for All is the program at the heart of Steubenville's remarkable reading results. It's been around for decades, and numerous studies have shown it's effective. We trace the history of the program and why it's never really caught on.

Episode 12 of Sold a Story: The Evidence
soldastory.org
"Consider an old story about a little town that decided to build a gorgeous playground on some land that it had. The problem, however, was that this beautiful land was at the edge of a cliff. And it occurred to the town fathers that there was a danger that children might fall off the cliff. So the local playground board had huge debates. Should we build a fence at the top of the cliff? Or should we put an ambulance at the bottom?" -Bob Slavin
February 27, 2025 at 4:35 PM
apmreports.org
APM Reports is hiring for a summer internship. This is a full-time paid position from June through August.

Apply here: recruiting2.ultipro.com/AME1098APMG/...
January 15, 2025 at 5:33 PM
apmreports.org
We reviewed more than half of the designs for the saturated buffers installed under Iowa’s Batch and Build program.

Most would have fallen short of a federal standard meant to ensure minimum quality of the devices, but the standard was lowered twice.
A chart shows blue dots representing saturated buffer designs. They are clustered on the left, mostly below a red line marking a 2017-20 standard for system drainage capacity.
December 17, 2024 at 1:22 PM
apmreports.org
In the past two years, 25 states have enacted laws to better align reading instruction with scientific research.
A map of the United States shows where new laws have passed regarding reading instruction. Two colors of blue are used, for laws passed in 2023 and 2024. The podcast Sold a Story came out in late 2022. Some additional states had laws or policies on the books prior to the podcast.
November 18, 2024 at 5:35 PM
apmreports.org
We spent more than six months surveying tribal clinics and pharmacies around the country. Dozens refuse to provide Plan B — or impose restrictions.

Here's what Oklahoma looks like:
November 12, 2024 at 8:34 PM
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We’re thrilled that Sold a Story has been selected as an Apple Podcasts Series Essential.

Listen: apple.co/soldastory
November 12, 2024 at 8:32 PM
apmreports.org
APM Reports is an independent nonprofit newsroom.

Here's how you can find our work.

Listen to our podcasts: <a href="http://apmreports.org/podcasts" class="hover:underline text-blue-600 dark:text-sky-400 no-card-link" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-link="bsky">http://apmreports.org/podcasts
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November 16, 2024 at 8:48 AM
apmreports.org
To analyze whether former county commissioner Vaughn Hartung was being tracked, @jenpenned compared geolocation data from the GPS tracking device with Hartung’s work calendar and building access log.
November 16, 2024 at 9:34 AM