Marcela Rodrigues is an education reporter for the Dallas Morning News. Previously, she reported for the New York Times, the Chronicle of Higher Education and Chalkbeat.

Her coverage of the Texas DEI ban won a 2023 Education Writers Association National Award for Education Reporting.

As a stringer for The Times, Rodrigues contributed reporting to an investigation on Hasidic private schools that won a 2022 George Polk Award in education reporting.

For The Chronicle, with the support of a grant from the Pulitzer Center, Rodrigues reported on public policies preventing undocumented students from attending public colleges in Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina. 

For Chalkbeat, her reporting on the lack of teacher training on active-shooter drills in New York City's public school system prompted the district to implement new training and protocols. A year later, lawmakers in Albany introduced legislation to expand training, addressing the systemic issues revealed by Rodrigues’ reporting. 

Rodrigues speaks Portuguese and Spanish and is a graduate of Columbia Journalism School and Smith College.