Education
The Politics of Phonics: Teaching from the radical middle
Despite all the “top-down” efforts to guide reading instruction, effective teachers know that all programs and methods work for some children, but none work for every child.
David Waters
Investigative reporter
David Waters is Distinguished Journalist in Residence and assistant director of the Institute for Public Service Reporting at the University of Memphis.
There are 125 articles by David Waters :
-
May 2021
-
Special Report
Education -
Special Report
EducationThe Politics of Phonics: How a skill becomes a law
Tennessee governors have been remaking school reading policies for 40 years, and yet reading achievement scores have barely budged.
-
Special Report
State GovernmentThe Politics of Phonics: Power, profit and politics guide reading
Tennessee’s new elementary school reading policies are the product of a tangled web of government, business and academics that has reshaped national and state reading policies time and again.
-
-
March 2021
-
Spirit of Memphis David Knight, Memphis priest, prolific writer, dies serving poor in Guatemala
Jesuit priest who lived with Poor Clares remembered for his service to poor, allegiance to Jesus
-
Metro How an Indian immigrant became ‘the Dr. Fauci of Memphis’
Dr. Manoj Jain has spent decades tracking viral and bacterial killers in Memphis and around the world.
-
-
February 2021
-
City of Memphis Journalist sues city for MPD bodycam footage
Lawsuit claims city “improperly denied” reporter access to decisive bodycam recordings
-
Education Should SCS invest another $15 million in consultant’s ‘Epiphany'?
SCS board members, teachers raise questions, concerns about cost, value of consultant Donyall Dickey’s new and expanding “Integrated Approach” literacy plan.
-
-
January 2021
-
Spirit of Memphis Vaccine gives hope to ICU nurse and her mother
Toni Woods feels safer after second dose, but she knows her patients and her mother still need her to keep working, avoid risk.
-
-
December 2020
-
Metro New program helps kids with trauma of COVID-19, violence
Le Bonheur, U of M team up to provide free mental health counseling to kids treated for acute trauma.
-
Metro Despite CARES funding, Graceland-area hotel facing bankruptcy, auction
Revenue lost in Memphis in May, Elvis Week cancellations compound hotel’s COVID-19 problems.
-
Coronavirus As COVID-19 surges, local testing system underused, over-complicated
Dozens of sites with varying procedures and requirements test public’s willingness, ability to get tested for COVID-19.
-
-
November 2020
-
Metro Homeless agencies scrambling to keep staff safe, guests sheltered from COVID-19
As coronavirus surges, rising toll of infections, deaths push agencies to provide more testing.
-
Metro Can COVID-19 pod testing save the holidays?
New kits allow up to 20 family members to self-test at home, so we tried it.
-
Metro State wants ‘rapid’ COVID testing, but local officials prefer ‘assurance’
Local labs producing “do-it-yourself” testing kits that can be self-administered and pooled on site.
-
Visual Arts National voter campaign includes East High student’s work
The billboard campaign to encourage civic engagement is sponsored by an arts-based organization called For Freedoms.
-
-
October 2020
-
Metro Inside the election process: how and where absentee, early voting ballots are counted
Election officials put trust in people’s respect for meticulous process.
-
Metro Congregation mourns closing, rejoices in blessings of ‘disco shul’
Anshei Sphard Beth El Emeth congregation is moving, leaving behind its “Brutalist” synagogue but not its sacred Torahs or special memories.
-
Spirit of Memphis How a Memphis medical lab mobilized to fight COVID-19
Poplar Healthcare joined the battle against the coronavirus late, but now it’s leading the charge to help Memphis reopen and stay open.
-
Spirit of Memphis Father V’s long, lovely farewell from his front porch
For months before he died, the Greek Orthodox priest’s front yard became a gathering place for well-wishers from all parts of town and walks of life.
-
Spirit of Memphis Beloved priest, devoted storyteller, dies at 94
The Greek Orthodox priest retired from the pulpit in 1991, but kept working as the church’s pastor emeritus and the community’s chaplain and cheerleader.
-
-
September 2020
-
Metro Idlewild Church loses ‘second pillar’ with death of ‘other senior pastor’
Faye Smith-Redditt ran the church kitchen like a refuge and a confessional, offering physical and spiritual nourishment to anyone who came in the front door or knocked on the back door.
-
-
August 2020
-
Metro Friends, admirers mourn Stoy Bailey, ‘the original community organizer’
The lifelong Memphian and tireless advocate for Rozelle-Annesdale neighborhood avoided the spotlight.
-
Metro Seminary’s pandemic challenge: Protect students, equip them to protect others
MTS finds ways to help ICU nurse, cancer patient and other students deal with financial stress, medical and moral strain
-
Metro Eulogies, hymns pay tribute to Montgomery’s pastoral, prophetic voice
Idlewild Presbyterian Church celebrates life, mourns death of their beloved, retired pastor.
-
Metro Beloved pastor’s funeral to be livestreamed, broadcast
The funeral will be a private family service, but it will be livestreamed on the church’s website beginning with the prelude at 1:50 p.m.
-