John Merrow

John Merrow began his career as an education reporter with National Public Radio nearly 40 years ago with the weekly series, "Options in Education," for which he received the George Polk Award in 1982. Until October 2015 he served as Education Correspondent for PBS NewsHour and President of Learning Matters, an independent production company based in New York City.

Since 1984 he worked in public television as a NewsHour Correspondent and as host of his own series of documentaries. His work has been recognized with Peabody Awards in 2000 and 2006, Emmy nominations in 1984, 2005, and 2007, four CINE Golden Eagles and other reporting awards. An occasional contributor to USA Today, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and Education Week, he is the author of The Influence of Teachers (2011), Choosing Excellence (2001), and Addicted to Reform (2017), and co-editor of Declining by Degrees (2005).

Merrow earned a B.A. from Dartmouth College, an M.A. in American Studies from Indiana University, and a doctorate in Education and Social Policy from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He received the McGraw Prize in Education in 2012, a Lifetime Achievement Award From the Academy Of Education Arts And Sciences in 2012, the James L. Fisher Award for Distinguished Service to Education in 2000, the HGSE Alumni Council Award for Outstanding Contributions to Education in 2006, The Horace Dutton Taft Medal in 2010, and honorary doctorates from Richard Stockton College (NJ) and Paul Smith's College (NY).

He lives in New York City and Edgartown, Massachusetts, with his wife, Joan Lonergan. John Merrow blogs regularly at Taking Note: Thoughts on Education.