2026 Award Recipient
 

Sarah Carr
Contributing editor, The Hechinger Report/Spencer Education Journalism Fellowship

The 2026 Excellence in Media Reporting on Education Research Award recipient is Sarah Carr. Carr’s reporting over the past 20 years demonstrates excellence in raising awareness, knowledge, and understanding of education research. Her award-winning reporting at multiple dailies in diverse parts of our country, coupled with her award-winning book, Hope Against Hope, on New Orleans schools post Katrina, are illustrative of her commitment to reporting on contemporary education issues. Carr’s work provides an exemplar of reporting grounded in the life experiences of those on whom she reports and is bolstered by her consistent and effective integration of research in her stories. In addition, Carr’s work in academia, as a visiting scholar at SUNY New Paltz, in her leadership role with the Columbia Journalism School’s Teacher Project, and her current role as director of the Spencer Education Journalism Fellowship at Columbia University, illustrates her commitment to training and supporting young reporters in education.

The Excellence in Media Reporting on Education Research Award is presented annually to an individual in the media who has demonstrated excellence in raising awareness, knowledge, and understanding of education research. Recipients of this award are persons who have made noteworthy contributions to reporting on findings, bodies of research, or scholarship in the field of education research in any medium of public communication. The award honors a media professional whose work exemplifies promoting a broader vision of the value of education research to society, whether sustained over a long period of time or substantial in its significance.