The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "performance" ...
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Passing On Education
"Passing On Education" details how administrators at one of Denver's lowest-performing public high schools, North High School, allowed students to cheat in online "credit recovery" courses, therefore artificially boosting the school's graduation rate amd making those administrators look good.
Tags: Education; High Schools
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60 Minutes: Armstrong
"This story uncovers new evidence about accusations that have long haunted cyclist Lance Armstrong: that he was using performance enhancing drugs when he won the Tour de France. What was found was new information surrounding a federal grand jury that is now investigating whether Armstrong led a systematic doping program when he was captain of the U.S. team."
Tags: Lance Armstrong; performance enhancing drugs; Tour de France; broadcast
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America Now: Children of the Harvest
Children of the Harvest takes viewers into the lives migrant farm workers in America. Dateline found children as young as five were performing backbreaking work.
Tags: harvest; children; child labor; migrant farm workers
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The State of our Maternal Health
In California, the health of pregnant women has been getting worse over the years and the maternal death rate is even worse that Bosnia's. The story investigated the causes behind what is making women sicker. One finding included showing that women in California are at a greater risk of having a cesarean surgery at for-profit hospitals where there is a financial incentive to perform this procedure.
Tags: pregnant; pregnancy; cesarean; hospital; maternal; maternal death
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Renaissance 2010: Searching for Equity
Karps' investigation looked into the the impact of Renaissance 2010, an education initiative in Chicago intended to "open 100 new schools, most of the charter schools, and close 70 failing schools within a span of six years" in an effort to bring better education to areas that needed it most. This investigation looks at the actual results of the plan. To report the story, Karp had to struggle against the barriers to obtaining meaningful information on charter schools. While funded publicly, they are operated by private companies that are not subject to the same transparency laws as public schools.
Tags: education; charter schools; public schools; academic performance; FOIA; transparency; Renaissance 2010; Chicago
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Toxic Time Bomb Investigative Series
An investigation of Nassau County's two major sewage plants finds that the once state-of-the-art facilities are now putting the plant workers, the environment, and the public at risk. Preventative maintenance had not been performed, the gas valves released gas uncontrollably, and conditions were worse than the administrators wanted the public to know.
Tags: gas; mismanagement; pollution; sewage; plant; regulate
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"Grading the Teachers"
The LA Times studied schools throughout the Los Angeles Unified School District. Using gain-score analysis, data linking standardized test scores and various evaluation techniques, the Times identified the "most and least effective" teachers and schools in the district. Reporters examined schools ranked high by the API standard, only to find inconsistencies in student performance.
Tags: California Standards Test; API; Los Angeles Unified School District; LAUSD; RAND; California Public Records Act; United Teachers L.A.
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Mount Bachelor Academy: Ever unconventional, long controversial
When attending a private school for troubled teens, no one thought they would ever have to do such a thing as performing a lap dance while wearing revealing clothes. This method was "therapy" for victims of sexual abuse. Other types of methods were used, such as "sleep deprivation, extended physical labor, verbal abuse and restricting communication between parents and children." The reason these methods could continue was the school was "catering to the wealthy parents who felt they had nothing to lose and students were afraid to reveal the truth."
Tags: FOIA; private school; troubled; teens; students; education; mistreatment; abuse; wealth
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Weighing the Options
"Significant numbers of black students fled on low-performing school only to land at another one, and many neighborhoods with the worst schools have yet to see new, better schools open. We also found black and Latino enrollment declining in magnet schools, the oldest schools of choice in the district."
Tags: racism; administration; education; Renaissance 2010; elementary; high school
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The Prosecution of Governor Siegelman
Seven U.S. Attorneys were fired in December 2006 by the Bush Justice Department not because of poor performance, but because of the refusal to engage in politically-driven prosecutions. Former Governor of Alabama Don Siegelman was convicted of bribery and sentence to serve seven years in jail.
Tags: President George W. Bush; Circuit Court of Appeals; imprisonment; allegation; Grant Woods;