Our Reporting

August 27, 2025

New reading laws sweep the nation following Sold a Story

At least 26 states have passed laws about how schools teach reading since APM Reports’ Sold a Story podcast began in 2022. But proponents of the disproven ideas about reading exposed in the podcast haven’t given up.

August 26, 2025

When wildfires compromise drinking water, utilities lean on this professor’s advice

In 2017, the Tubbs Fire in Santa Rosa, California, exposed a new threat to public health: Wildfires can contaminate drinking water with toxic chemicals which federally mandated testing is not designed to catch. Into that regulatory void has stepped Andrew Whelton, an engineering professor at Purdue University who has made it his personal mission to help water utilities recover after devastating fires.

August 21, 2025

A window into America’s high schools slams shut

For decades, the federal government has surveyed high school students — and repeatedly followed up with them as adults. The goal was to gather data on their educational choices and careers so researchers could draw connections between them. Trump put an end to that effort as part of his quest to dissolve the Department of Education.

August 21, 2025

‘At what point does it break?’ Nation’s Report Card at risk, researchers say

The National Assessment of Educational Progress is one of the few federal education initiatives that the Trump administration has vowed to preserve. But the administration has slashed the staff responsible for keeping the series of tests up to date. And the board overseeing the assessment has eliminated more than a dozen scheduled tests over the next seven years, citing “cost efficiencies.”

August 21, 2025

Lawsuit saves massive reading experiment

The Trump administration tried to kill the largest reading experiment ever funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s research arm — just months before the yearslong study was complete. The administration agreed to finish the research only after it was sued.

August 18, 2025

Overdose deaths disproportionately impact older Black men. Few programs in Minnesota exist to support them

Synthetic opioids such as fentanyl have accelerated overdoses for Black men ages 55 to 74, who have suffered disproportionately for decades. One Ramsey County nonprofit is working to fill the gap.

August 7, 2025

‘We did not want to take this guy’: Abuse rates higher at nursing homes with more mental illness

Nursing homes are designed to care for patients with physical infirmities. But nationwide, 1 in 5 residents has been diagnosed with a serious mental illness, such as schizophrenia or psychosis — conditions few of the facilities are equipped to handle. A new data analysis from APM Research Lab shows that can lead to higher levels of abuse, putting both residents and staff at risk.

August 7, 2025

Four Minneapolis officers were accused of excessive force — and now train other police

The Minneapolis police officer who fatally shot Amir Locke and until recently led MPD’s use-of-force training is not the only trainer whose record has raised concerns over the department’s commitment to changing its culture.

July 24, 2025

Success for All gets kids reading. Why don’t more schools use it?

The school reform program, first developed in the 1980s, has been declining in popularity for the past two decades — even though a mountain of research shows it gets great results, especially when it comes to elementary reading skills. Schools that have dropped the program cite logistical challenges, cost, administrative turnover and a perceived lack of flexibility.

April 2, 2024

How Illinois’ sexual assault survivor law allows hospitals to deny care

Illinois hospitals routinely skirt one of the nation’s strongest laws protecting victims of sexual assault.

July 9, 2025

After quitting antidepressants, some people suffer surprising, lingering symptoms

Some people say antidepressants left them with debilitating symptoms for years — even decades — after going off the medications. Their ranks are growing online as they push for recognition and research.

June 12, 2025

Illinois lawmakers strengthen law requiring hospital care for sexual assault survivors

The bill’s passage comes a year after APM Reports revealed that dozens of hospitals violated the 49-year-old law.

May 28, 2025

Coastal Alaskans see commercial fishing limits as a ‘crisis.’ Lawmakers don’t

Alaska’s Legislature adjourned last week without addressing an issue that many residents of coastal, Native villages see as urgent: expanding access to commercial fishing careers.

May 23, 2025

Judge scuttles lawsuit over Massachusetts reading curriculum

U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns ruled that the lawsuit against educational publisher Heinemann and three of its top authors was invalidated by a legal doctrine that bars claims of “educational malpractice.”

May 21, 2025

Red tape, rising costs slow efforts to rebuild businesses burned after Floyd’s murder

Five years after George Floyd’s killing set off nights of destruction, vacant lots and broken buildings remain along Lake Street and other Minneapolis business districts. Some business owners say money woes and city zoning rules have made it hard to rebuild.

April 9, 2025

Inspection shortfalls, political pressures leave low-income renters vulnerable in greater Minnesota

MPR News found problems tied to inspections and local political pressures that leave low-income renters in potential danger across greater Minnesota. In Bemidji, those problems have pushed their way to the surface.

March 6, 2025

When schools buy new reading programs, they look to EdReports. But some of its reviews don’t line up with science

Even though EdReports is only a decade old, it has quickly become a powerful force in the educational publishing industry. Many schools rely on its reviews when they decide which reading programs to buy. But the nonprofit organization has given high marks to programs that use strategies debunked by cognitive science. And it hasn't endorsed other programs despite studies showing they work.

February 20, 2025

Most school districts have lots of kids who struggle with reading. This one is different

The third graders in Steubenville, Ohio, are among the best little readers in the nation. For nearly 20 years, 93% or more of them have scored proficient on state reading tests. In fact, the elementary schools in this economically depressed area are producing better readers than some of the wealthiest places in the country.

February 5, 2025

How some Alaska Natives lost their right to fish commercially

A permitting system designed in the 1970s was supposed to make Alaska’s commercial fishing industry more sustainable and more profitable. But over the past 50 years, it has hollowed out many Indigenous coastal villages where residents no longer can earn a living by harvesting salmon.

December 16, 2024

Iowa invests in industry-favored farm pollution fix that doesn’t fix much

Instead of regulating fertilizer, Iowa backs a voluntary program that has little impact.

December 4, 2024

Lawsuit calls reading curriculum 'deceptive' and 'defective'

A class-action lawsuit filed in Massachusetts claims that the educational publishing company Heinemann falsely advertised its products as “research-backed” and “data-based.”

October 21, 2024

Native women fought for years to expand Plan B access. But some tribal clinics remain resistant

In spite of years of pressure from advocates, access to emergency contraceptives remains difficult for women who rely on the health care systems run by or on behalf of their tribal nations. APM Reports spent more than six months surveying tribal clinics and pharmacies around the country. Dozens refuse to provide Plan B — or impose restrictions.

September 30, 2024

Tim Walz’s experience in China could help him as veep, but he barely mentions it as a candidate

When Tim Walz first ran for Congress in 2006, his campaign proudly touted his extensive experience in China. In fact, earlier in his political career, he occasionally exaggerated it. But now that he’s running for vice president, Walz barely mentions China. And Republicans have tried to turn those connections into a political liability.

June 10, 2024

5 takeaways from our series on St. Louis homicide investigations

The police department has struggled to solve homicides, partly due to shoddy detective work, staffing shortages and eroding community trust.

June 7, 2024

St. Louis homicide cases often go unsolved. Victims’ families want justice

These St. Louis families have waited years for answers. They say police seem to have forgotten their loved ones.

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