RESEARCH

In 1989, a field study of selected Swedish school children substituted newspapers in the classroom for textbooks. The results showed that the newspaper group surpassed the control group in reading development by at least half a school year.

In September, 1995, the International Federation of Newspaper Publishers held an international Newspapers In Education (NIE) conference in Stockholm, Sweden, with more than 30 nations in attendance. More than 40 nations now have some involvement with NIE programs. Until 1999, this was the only known research study in the world that showed such dramatic results.

Recently the state of Texas concluded a study, which also validated the use of newspapers. Those findings will be made public sometime in late 1999 or early 2000.

The first attempt in the United States to establish a national NIE effort began in the '50s, with a key research study developed by the National Council for the Social Studies. With the support of the NCSS, summer workshops for teachers on classroom use of newspapers were sponsored at several universities in the U.S. Sponsorship with colleges and universities of credit-granting NIE courses continue to be a key goal even as we approach the new millennium.

Studies done in the 1980s indicate that parents in the United States have positive attitudes about newspaper use at school. Newspaper in education programs have grown exponentially in the 1990s as the newspaper industry, parents and educators see the benefits of the program and strive to support it.