Senior education reporter Trisha Powell Crain has been named an Education Reporting Fellow and will embark on a six-month-long fellowship project to explore ways some Alabama schools are working to improve math instruction.

The fellowship, created by the Education Writers Association, comes with a $5,000 grant. The Ed Lab team at AL.com is funded through a combination of grants and reader support.

Crain has covered the increasing numbers of reading and math coaches in Alabama schools as the state pushes for improvements to foundational reading and math skills. During her fellowship, Crain will focus on efforts at the middle school level and assess whether certain interventions are leading to success.

A previous EWA fellowship led Crain to report an award-winning series, “High Flyers,” which examined how some underfunded schools outperformed their peers.

The Alabama Education Lab explores solutions in K-12 education in Alabama that can help all children in the state reach their goals. Support the Ed Lab with a tax-deductible contribution, matched by Report for America.