A New Beat for Troy Closson

The New York City school system is a sprawling behemoth with no rival in size or complexity: more than one million students in over 1,600 district and charter schools. And no reporter has had a firmer grasp on it than Troy Closson, who has chronicled the stories of students and schools with remarkable aplomb, making the pedagogical readable and drawing on an enviable network of sources.

For more than three years, Troy has found ways to make education coverage fresh and revelatory. In just the past year, he navigated the complexities of gifted programs , showing how a subject that is hanging fire in New York resonates nationally. And he used the mayor's race to explore enduring issues in the city's school system, including the quest to integrate classrooms . Perhaps no story showcased Troy's suite of talents better than his Great Read on Bronx high school students starting a line of streetwear, a story that was pitch perfect and vivified by telling detail. As soon as Troy finished one story, he would fix his sights on five or 10 others. And when news broke out, he appeared to have sources planted in every one of the city's schools, cultivated through early morning breakfasts, late afternoon coffees and endless community meetings.

Crucially, Troy has proved himself to be a formidable collaborator, becoming an indispensable partner in coverage of the upheaval that beset Columbia University last year and during stints with the education team on the National desk.

As Sarah Garland, who presides over education coverage for National, puts it: "Troy can do it all. He can bang out a breaking news story in a flash and produce brilliant enterprise based on deep sourcing. He can wade into thorny political fights or nerdy policy debates and come out of them with stories that are fair and interesting."

Now, he will take his considerable talent at identifying distinctive storylines and apply it to a beat of his own making. As Troy wrote in his proposal for the assignment: "The last two years have shown that in order to understand New York - and the nation - it's crucial to understand young people." And, no surprise, he has already drafted a robust story list. He envisions a beat that will range widely, and that will aspire to tell uniquely New York stories with appeal to readers beyond the city line.

Troy, a native of the Maryland suburbs outside Washington and graduate of Northwestern University, first made his mark at The Times as a fellow on the Metro desk. We can't wait to see where he takes readers in his new beat.

- Nikita and Steve