About NIE
What is NIE?
NIE stands for Newspaper in Education.
NIE gets newspapers into classrooms. The National Institute for Literacy estimates that 23 percent of adults in Yakima County, our core distribution area, are at the lowest literacy level.
The Newspaper in Education program’s purpose and objective is a focus on the future: promoting literacy among our community’s youth, so that tomorrow’s workforce and citizens are better equipped to interact and lead in society. We bring the real world to the classroom by teaching life-long learning skills, which produce a large and measurable impact among students.
Research conducted by the University of Minnesota and presented by the Newspaper Association of America in 2002 showed that students in classrooms where teachers used newspapers as a learning tool scored an average of 10 percent higher on standardized tests than students in classrooms not participating in Newspaper in Education programs. In fact, middle schools with large minority populations that involve at least 1/3 of the students in NIE programs scored nearly 30 percent higher than students from similar schools with no NIE programs.
NIE newspapers and services are available to all kindergarten through 12th grade classrooms, both pubic and private, within the Yakima Herald-Republic’s distribution area: Yakima, Kittitas, Klickitat and Benton counties.
Teachers
Have you heard the buzz about newspaper in education?
Recent research conducted by the University of Minnesota showed that students in classrooms where the teacher used newspapers as a learning tool scored an average of 10% higher on standardized tests than students in classrooms without a Newspaper in Education program.
Take a look at a pdf version of the report here. (Provided courtesy of NAA.)
Teacher Testimonials
We overheard a third-grader say, ‘How am I going to find the main idea of this story? I have never even held one of these papers before!’ We knew the paper was a useful tool as the summer program progressed, when that same student raced in each morning and asked for the paper to find out current news… This was a student who had “never touched a paper before!” Thank you again for helping us to teach children just how important reading is, and how the newspaper is an important tool which can inform, entertain and assist in learning important skills!
…My students selected articles to outline, summarize, critique, and paraphrase. We utilized the grocery advertisements in our Math activities, practicing estimating, rounding, ratio and proportion, in addition to calculating sums, differences, products and quotients. Numerous articles helped us strengthen our focus in Science with making connections out in the ‘real world.’ Enclosed are messages from my students…
Thank you so much for the newspapers we’ve received this past school year! It has enhanced our reading, social studies, (and) current events… to a greater extent. There is so much to gain with the advertisements and special issues you’ve offered.
Thank you, thank you, thank you! … A big part of my reading goal for my students this year–especially those reading below grade level–was to get them reading voluntarily, and the newspaper played a major part in the success of this endeavor. ‘Do we have papers?’ ‘Is this paper day?’ I became used to these questions, for the newspaper was a popular read for students, especially those hard-to-reach boys!
Want to thank your sponsor?
Distribution of the newspapers would be next to impossible without the help of our sponsors. If you’d like to thank those community members and organizations who contribute to Newspaper in Education, please let them know! Just click here to send us an e-mail, and we’ll pass on your thanks!
