Jodi S. Cohen

Jodi S. Cohen is a reporter for ProPublica, where she focuses on stories about schools and juvenile justice.

New Trier High School students return to school on Oct. 6, 2020.

Illinois will start sharing data about COVID-19 outbreaks in schools

October 23, 2020 at 9:50 p.m.

This story is a collaboration with ProPublica Illinois. Eight months into the pandemic and following pleas from educators and parents, Illinois has decided it will publish data on the coronavirus's...

Illinois confirms COVID-19 outbreaks in 44 schools this school year but won’t say where they occurred

June 14, 2024 at 6:48 p.m.

Nearly two months into the school year, Illinois public health officials said they have verified COVID-19 outbreaks in at least 44 school buildings across the state, but they declined to...

A Quiet Rooms follow-up: ‘I can’t breathe’ and the misuse of physical restraint in Illinois schools

June 14, 2024 at 6:48 p.m.

This is a collaboration between the Tribune and ProPublica Illinois. A 16-year-old boy in Kalamazoo, Michigan, died this spring after workers pinned him to the floor at the residential facility...

State Rep. Jonathan Carroll, a Northbrook Democrat, asks a question during a Jan. 7, 2020, hearing about using isolated time out or quiet rooms to discipline students.

Pushback from school administrators delays bill to ban seclusion for Illinois students

June 14, 2024 at 6:48 p.m.

This story is a collaboration between the Tribune and ProPublica Illinois. After months of debate about schools' use of seclusion and face-down restraints on children, Illinois lawmakers did not act...

Tawny Proulx dumps her work clothes into the washer after changing at her home on May 13, 2020, in Lyndon, Illinois.

‘Our residents are in crisis’: In state-run homes for adults with disabilities, COVID-19 spread quickly

May 22, 2020 at 9:55 p.m.

This story is a collaboration between the Tribune and ProPublica Illinois. While much of the attention related to COVID-19's impact on vulnerable populations has focused on deaths at nursing homes,...

Gabriel, who does not speak but can sign a few words, hugs his mother, Laura Myers, before bedtime in their Centralia home. Myers declined some of the virtual learning for school because her son doesn't have the attention span to handle it.

Families of students in special education fear losing school services in coronavirus shutdown

May 20, 2020 at 7:11 p.m.

This story is a collaboration between the Tribune and ProPublica Illinois. In Sangamon County in central Illinois, a father whose 10-year-old receives occupational and vision therapy at school was already...

‘Let’s break down the barriers’: Donors come to rescue of Illinois school district struggling with digital divide

April 28, 2020 at 6:00 a.m.

This story is a collaboration between the Chicago Tribune and ProPublica Illinois. Since the March shutdown of schools across Illinois, teachers at one rural southwestern district have been stuffing 800...

One of two timeout rooms at Pathways school, in the Belleville Area Special Services Cooperative, near St. Louis. The school, which uses seclusion, was not included in the recent Government Accountability Office's report about the practice.

Feds put kids at risk by failing to analyze data on schools’ use of seclusion and restraint, GAO says

April 23, 2020 at 8:45 p.m.

This story is a collaboration between the Tribune and ProPublica Illinois. Federal education officials failed to check the accuracy of data submitted by school districts on their use of seclusion...

Dominic Wright, 8, works on his math on a Chromebook in his Westmont home on April 16, 2020. His Maercker District 60 developed an e-learning plan last school year and transitioned with relative ease to an all-online school day.

Illinois districts were urged to prepare e-learning plans for students in case of emergency. Most didn’t do it.

April 20, 2020 at 4:17 p.m.

This investigation is a collaboration between the Chicago Tribune and ProPublica Illinois. Long before the coronavirus crisis shut down Illinois schools, state education officials had encouraged districts to prepare for...

The Grafton Integrated Health Network developed its restraint-reduction system, Ukeru, which features soft but sturdy blocking pads. The pads are placed in classrooms and hallways for use in a crisis.

These schools did away with seclusion and restraint. They say Illinois can too.

June 14, 2024 at 6:38 p.m.

This story is a collaboration between the Chicago Tribune and ProPublica Illinois. When the student burst out of the school and bolted through the parking lot, workers followed closely but...

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