In January 2007, The Patriot-News of Harrisburg, Pa., and the Harrisburg School District began an 18-week pilot of SchoolHouse News. Nearly 250 fourth-graders citywide participated in classroom activities and completed specially designed homework assignments using home-delivered copies of the newspaper.
More than 21,400 daily and 3,500 Sunday copies of The Patriot-News were delivered to homes with no subscription history during the trial period.
To develop the program, the newspaper tapped into research from the NAA Foundation suggesting that students using newspapers in school scored 10 percent better on standardized reading comprehension tests – with improvements of as much as 30 percent among urban students.
Hard data confirmed anecdotal beliefs about newspapers’ impact on student learning. When benchmark assessment results of students participating in the program were compared with a control group, SchoolHouse News participants scored between 17 percent and 20 percent higher.
Read the NAA Foundation’s case study to learn how The Patriot-News developed and expanded the program, and to see suggestions for newspapers interested in launching similar efforts.