Emily Hanford is an American education reporter who hosted the APM Reports podcast ''Sold a Story''. The ''

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel The ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' is a daily morning broadsheet printed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where it is the primary newspaper and also the largest newspaper in the state of Wisconsin, where it is widely read. It was purchased by the G ...

'' called her "the most prominent figure in advocacy for big changes in reading instruction."

Early life and education

Hanford grew up in

Brookline Brookline may refer to: Places in the United States * Brookline, Massachusetts, a town near Boston * Brookline, Missouri, a village * Brookline, New Hampshire, a town * Brookline (Pittsburgh), a neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania * Brookl ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

and graduated from

Brookline High School Brookline High School is a four-year public high school in Brookline, Massachusetts. It is a part of Public Schools of Brookline. As of the 2023–24 school year, 2117 students were enrolled in the high school, served by 191.8 teachers (on an ...

. She attended

Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zepha ...

but became disillusioned with the experience, taking a two-year leave in 1991 before she returned to complete her B.A.

Career

After graduating from Amherst, she worked as a reporter for WBEZ Chicago. Since 2008, Hanford has reported for

American Public Media American Public Media (APM) is an American company that produces and distributes public radio programs in the United States, the second largest company of its type after NPR. Its non-profit parent, American Public Media Group, also owns and o ...

, where she is a senior correspondent and producer and has focused on

early childhood education Early childhood education (ECE), also known as nursery education, is a branch of Education sciences, education theory that relates to the teaching of children (formally and informally) from birth up to the age of eight. Traditionally, this is ...

. In 2016, she began reporting on the prevalence of

remedial education Remedial education (also known as developmental education, basic skills education, compensatory education, preparatory education, and academic upgrading) is assigned to assist students in order to achieve expected competencies in core academic sk ...

for college students, leading to an interest in

dyslexia Dyslexia (), previously known as word blindness, is a learning disability that affects either reading or writing. Different people are affected to different degrees. Problems may include difficulties in spelling words, reading quickly, wri ...

supports. Her 2022 podcast ''Sold a Story'' investigated allegations that the popular early-intervention literacy strategies developed by

Marie Clay Dame Marie Mildred Clay ( ; née Irwin; 3 January 1926 – 13 April 2007) was a researcher from New Zealand known for her work in educational literacy. She was committed to the idea that children who struggle to learn to read and write can be ...

and promoted by

Lucy Calkins Lucy Calkins is an American educator and professor at Columbia University who is best known for creating the Units of Study reading and writing curriculum. Early life Calkins and her eight siblings were raised by their parents who were both doct ...

are incompatible with educational and cognitive research. It argues that the cueing method of teaching reading ignores the importance of

phonics Phonics is a method for teaching reading and writing to beginners. To use phonics is to teach the relationship between the sounds of the spoken language (phonemes), and the letters (graphemes) or groups of letters or syllables of the written ...

. The podcast was widely influential in the national movement to reform reading instruction and reached more than 3.5 million downloads. Hanford's work was cited during the consideration of a

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

bill to revise the state's reading curriculum. In April 2023, she received an award from the

George W. Bush Presidential Center The George W. Bush Presidential Center, which opened on April 25, 2013, is a complex that includes former United States President George W. Bush's presidential library and museum, the George W. Bush Policy Institute, and the offices of the Geor ...

. Hanford covered Bush's work on literacy in ''Sold a Story.''

Personal life

Hanford is married and lives in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hanford, Emily American Public Media Living people Brookline High School alumni Amherst College alumni American women radio journalists Year of birth missing (living people)