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Marianna McMurdock

Marianna McMurdock

Staff Reporter

Marianna McMurdock was a staff reporter with The 74 through February of 2025. Her work covered a range of national education news topics, from youth and educator mental health to the teacher workforce. 

Previously, she worked for a youth development nonprofit, mentoring high schoolers who facilitated workshops throughout Rhode Island and Massachusetts. She also curated audio stories to amplify the experiences of parenting and/or unhoused women of color attending California State Universities during a fellowship with the Education Trust-West. As a 2022-23 Poynter-Koch Media and Journalism Fellow, she developed a visual storytelling toolkit for small newsrooms. 

Her writing and photography projects have been featured in The Atlantic, Boston Globe, Providence Journal, MinnPost and Edible Rhody. She is a member of the Education Writers Association, NAHJ, NABJ and Diversify Photo. 

marianna@the74million.org

Articles by Marianna McMurdock

Fostering Culture & Belonging: Reflections from Teacher of the Year Finalists

Marianna McMurdock

‘Alarming’ National Data: Teens Use Cellphones for Quarter of School Day

Marianna McMurdock

Domestic Violence Is Upending NYC Kids’ Lives, Housing and Education

Marianna McMurdock

Trump’s Deportation Plans Threaten Millions of Families. Who Is Protecting Them?

Marianna McMurdock

In Maryland, a Multimillion-Dollar Push to Scale Up High Dosage Math Tutoring

Marianna McMurdock

Gallery: New York City Debuts Nation’s First K-12 Black Studies Curriculum

Marianna McMurdock

Q&A: Nation’s First School Counselor Residency Launches in Rural CA

Marianna McMurdock

With Starkest Increase in a Decade, More NYC Students Without Homes Than Ever

Marianna McMurdock

Clashing with Dems’ Education Plan, Republicans Expand Reach in AZ’s Legislature

Marianna McMurdock

Josh Stein Wins North Carolina’s Governor Race. What’s Next for Schools

Marianna McMurdock

Native American Leaders Call Again for Action After Boarding Schools Apology

Marianna McMurdock

In North Carolina, Public Education Is at the Heart of Governor’s Race

Marianna McMurdock

Q&A: What it Will Take to Make Schools Safe for Black Children 

Marianna McMurdock

Report: Nearly 500 Schools Underenrolled and Chronically Underperforming

Marianna McMurdock

Q&A: NYC Shelter Dir. on ‘Complete Destabilization, Chaos’ Facing Migrant Kids

Marianna McMurdock

Citing Free Speech Violations, Judge Reinstates NYC Parent to Ed. Council

Marianna McMurdock

One New York District’s Old-School Approach to Support Kids’ Well-Being

Marianna McMurdock

Stark Racial, Class Disparities in K-12 Mental Health Linked to Absenteeism

Marianna McMurdock

Building a Generation of ‘Math People’: Inside K-8 Program Boosting Confidence

Marianna McMurdock

5 Updates on Teens from the CDC: Declining Sadness, But More Bullying & Violence

Marianna McMurdock

Investigation: Nearly 1,000 Native Children Died in Federal Boarding Schools

Marianna McMurdock

Distracted Kids: 75% of Schools Say ‘Lack of Focus’ Hurting Student Performance

Marianna McMurdock

‘Astonishing’ Absenteeism, Trauma Rates Root of Academic Crisis

Marianna McMurdock

As NYC Removes Two Parents from Ed. Councils, Free Speech Violations Charged

Marianna McMurdock

‘Hamilton’ Education Competition Brings Low-Income Youth to Broadway

Marianna McMurdock

‘It Destroyed Me’: Lasting Trauma Years After Districts’ Address Crackdowns

Marianna McMurdock

‘The Fight Continues’: As Segregation Grows, White House Honors Brown v. Board

Marianna McMurdock

Q&A: Civil Rights Lawyer Erika Wilson on How to Reignite Desegregation Efforts

Marianna McMurdock

Report: State by State, How Segregation Legally Continues 7 Decades Post Brown

Marianna McMurdock

More Black Teachers: A Push to Revive Schools in Nation’s Fastest-Shrinking City

Marianna McMurdock

Teacher Prep Programs See ‘Encouraging’ Growth, New Federal Data Reveal

Marianna McMurdock

NYC Ed Dept. Orders Parent Leader to Cease ‘Derogatory,’ ‘Offensive’ Conduct

Marianna McMurdock

5 Million Kids in Poverty: As Funds Expire, a Fresh Call to Confront the Crisis

Marianna McMurdock

NYC Parent Council Seeks Trans Sports Policy Change, Condemned by Chancellor

Marianna McMurdock

4 Ways Gen Z Is Thinking About Their Education and Future

Marianna McMurdock

In Private Texts, NY Ed Council Reps, Congressional Candidate Demean LGBTQ Kids

Marianna McMurdock

Scenes From a NYC School Serving 267 Migrant Children

Marianna McMurdock

Moms for Liberty Launches First New York City Chapter in Queens

Marianna McMurdock

Fentanyl is Poisoning Arizona’s Teens. Students Are Reducing Overdoses, One PSA at a Time

Marianna McMurdock

How a Free, 24/7 Tutoring Model is Disrupting Learning Loss for Low-Income Kids

Marianna McMurdock

How A Student Paper Visualized Gun Violence and Captivated the Nation

Marianna McMurdock

Why One NYC High School Created ‘13th Grade’ to Help Alumni After Graduation

Marianna McMurdock

Q&A: Lessons from a Decade of Battling Racial Inequity in the K-12 Workforce

Marianna McMurdock

New ‘Anxious Nation’ Documentary Offers Intimate Portrait of Teen Anxiety

Marianna McMurdock

Crisis in Teaching Quality May Explain Stagnant Learning Recovery, Report Finds

Marianna McMurdock

How One NYC School Rebounded From the Pandemic By Re-engaging Students & Staff

Marianna McMurdock

Surgeon General Wants Warning Label on Social Media for Youth Mental Health

Marianna McMurdock

For Chicago Girls Confronting Violence, A School Solution for Reducing PTSD

Marianna McMurdock

Surgeon General’s Social Media Warning May Impact School District Legal Surge

Marianna McMurdock

NYC Charter School Raises Teacher Starting Salary to $140,000

Marianna McMurdock

In Oklahoma, Squad of College Students Lead Math Recovery

Marianna McMurdock

74 Interview: Psychologist Deborah Offner on Educators as First Responders

Marianna McMurdock

Student Spotlight: How An Arizona Teen Animated Social Media Addiction

Marianna McMurdock

Teen Mental Health Crisis Pushes More School Districts to Sue Social Media Giants

Marianna McMurdock

1.3 Million Los Angeles Students Could Soon Access Free Teletherapy

Marianna McMurdock

Nearly 1 in 5 Teen Girls ‘Engulfed’ In Wave of Sexual Violence; Many Suicidal

Marianna McMurdock

Why Nearly Half of Black Students Have Considered Stopping College

Marianna McMurdock

Schools’ New Normal: Teacher Shortages, Repeat Meals, Late Buses, Canceled Classes

Marianna McMurdock, Joshua Bay & Meghan Gallagher

What One NYC Educator’s Grief Reveals About Teachers’ Mental Health Struggles

Marianna McMurdock

How Educators Can Help Kids Make Sense of Tyre Nichols’s Death

Marianna McMurdock

District-University Partnership Shakes Up St. Louis School Leadership

Marianna McMurdock

Audience Survey: What’s Your School’s New Normal?

Marianna McMurdock

A ‘New Normal’—National Student Survey Finds Mental Health Top Learning Obstacle

Marianna McMurdock

Missing an Opportunity: Ed Dept. Criticized by GAO for Teacher Shortage Strategy

Marianna McMurdock

Incumbent California Schools Chief Wins Overwhelming Support for Second Term

Marianna McMurdock

Breaking Down the Walls to Teaching: Alternative Pipelines Boom

Marianna McMurdock

The $1.1B Math Solution? Gates Foundation Makes Math Its Top K-12 Priority

Marianna McMurdock

Amid Regional Shortages, US Schools Employing 160,000 ‘Underqualified’ Teachers

Marianna McMurdock

Surviving Genocide: Native Boarding School Archives Reveal Defiance, Loss & Love

Marianna McMurdock & Meghan Gallagher

Traditional University Teacher Ed Programs Face Enrollment Declines, Staff Cuts

Marianna McMurdock

Fearing ‘Fiscal Cliff,’ District Leaders Reluctant to Hire Full-Time Teachers

Marianna McMurdock

‘Focused, Angry, Concerned About Creating Justice’—5 Generation Z Myths Debunked

Marianna McMurdock

New Teacher Shortage Research Shows Very Different Situations Across States

Marianna McMurdock

122 Teachers Speak: Surviving Student Learning Loss, Behavior Challenges

Marianna McMurdock, Jasmine De Leon & Meghan Gallagher

To Prevent Principal Exodus, New Partnerships Offer $20K Stipends, Therapy

Marianna McMurdock

A Former Journalist Reignites an Intergenerational Haven For Portland’s Youth

Marianna McMurdock

8 Ways Colleges Are Stepping Up After Roe Reversal

Marianna McMurdock

‘I’ve Been Having Nightmares…About Getting Shot’: Inside NYC March for Our Lives

Marianna McMurdock

Federal Probe into Native Boarding School Deaths Likely a Severe Undercount

Asher Lehrer-Small & Marianna McMurdock

Looming School Superintendent Exodus? Survey Shows 1 in 4 Expect to ‘Leave Soon’

Marianna McMurdock

3 COVID Learning Success Case Studies

Marianna McMurdock

Bringing 1619 Project, Black History to Life for Young Readers

Marianna McMurdock

Growing Fears in Schools About Looming 'Mass Exodus' of Principals This Summer

Marianna McMurdock

Black Mothers Launch Microschools to End School-Prison Pipeline

Marianna McMurdock

Black, Latino Students Disproportionately Taught by Inexperienced Teachers

Marianna McMurdock

Majority of Americans Back Remote Learning to Prevent COVID Spread

Marianna McMurdock

NYC Public School Students Walk Out of 29+ Schools Protesting In-Person Learning

Marianna McMurdock & Meghan Gallagher

5 Things to Remember as 10-Week Columbia Student Workers’ Strike Ends

Marianna McMurdock

To Fill Special Ed Vacancies, CA Charter Network Sponsors Credentials

Marianna McMurdock

4 Things to Know About Los Angeles Unified’s New Schools Chief

Marianna McMurdock

Four States Increase Access to Youth Mental Health Care

Marianna McMurdock

‘Jim Crow Debt’: Most Black Borrowers Regret Student Loans

Marianna McMurdock

$9M of Chan Zuckerberg Grants to Bring in More Teachers, School Leaders of Color

Marianna McMurdock

Photo Story: Inside a Local Pharmacy Offering Vaccines to Kids

Marianna McMurdock

New School Data: 2021 Math & Reading Scores Reveal Widening Academic Divide

Marianna McMurdock

Education Solutions Gain Steam on Eve of UN Climate Conference

Marianna McMurdock

5 Alarming New Undergraduate Enrollment Numbers

Marianna McMurdock

Sit-in for Better Housing Enters Second Week at Howard University

Marianna McMurdock

Puerto Rico Boasts Highest Youth, School Staff Vaccination Rates

Marianna McMurdock

TX Valedictorian on Viral Speech, New Book on Ignored Abortion Stories

Marianna McMurdock

All Rhode Island High Schools Now Required to Offer Personal Finance

Marianna McMurdock

Bipartisan Coalition Pushes for Climate Resilient, Sustainable Schools

Marianna McMurdock

Districts Across the U.S. Offering Big Incentives to Subs, Special Ed Teachers

Marianna McMurdock

Few California High Schoolers Applied for Pass/No Pass Grading

Marianna McMurdock

NYC Schools Reopen In Person — What the First Hour Looked Like in the Bronx

Marianna McMurdock

MIT Students Make STEM Come Alive for Boston Middle Schoolers

Marianna McMurdock

58% of NYC Youth Needing Mental Health Help Amid COVID Say They Didn’t Get It

Marianna McMurdock

This State Is Paying for College Success Coaches to Aid Student Loan Borrowers

Marianna McMurdock

Education is a Top Priority for Black Women — as High as Fighting Racism

Marianna McMurdock

D.C. Charter School Makes Mindfulness Part of School Day

Marianna McMurdock

Mental Health Leading Barrier to Learning, Fewer Students College-Bound

Marianna McMurdock

How Urgent Push for Climate Education Can Help Mental Health, Engagement

Marianna McMurdock

DonorsChoose Crowdfunding Students’ Basic Needs During COVID

Marianna McMurdock

Rocket Science Made Accessible to Boston Girls in Summer Hybrid Program

Marianna McMurdock

Boston Expands Pre-K for 3-Year-Olds After Pandemic’s Disruption

Marianna McMurdock

Juneteenth Gains Legal Popularity, but Misses Classroom Recognition

Marianna McMurdock