NEWS LITERACY PROJECT INC
5525 DEVON ROAD, BETHESDA, MD 20814 www.thenewsliteracyproject.org

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Organizations Filed Purposes: EMPOWERING EDUCATORS TO TEACH STUDENTS THE SKILLS THEY NEED TO BECOME SMART, ACTIVE CONSUMERS OF NEWS AND OTHER INFORMATION AND ENGAGED, INFORMED PARTICIPANTS IN CIVIC LIFE.

TO FOSTER APPRECIATION OF THE VALUE OF QUALITY JOURNALISM FOR MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS.

CHECKOLOGY VIRTUAL CLASSROOM:NLP HAD A SUCCESSFUL 2019-20 SCHOOL YEAR WITH THE CHECKOLOGY VIRTUAL CLASSROOM DESPITE THE CHALLENGES OF THE PANDEMIC. DURING THIS TIME, 702 EDUCATORS AND 33,894 MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS ACTIVELY USED NLP'S INTERACTIVE E-LEARNING PLATFORM. AT THE START OF THE 2020-21 SCHOOL YEAR, SCHOOL DISTRICTS STILL FACED UNPRECEDENTED CHALLENGES FROM THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC. TO EASE THE BURDEN OF DISTANCE LEARNING, NLP PERMANENTLY ELIMINATED THE PAYWALL FOR CHECKOLOGY. SINCE ELIMINATING THE PAYWALL FOR CHECKOLOGY ON AUG. 10, WE HAVE HAD 2,018 NEW-TO-CHECKOLOGY TEACHER REGISTRANTS AND 16,789 STUDENTS ENROLLED ON THE PLATFORM; AMONG THE ENROLLED STUDENTS, 6,797 HAVE ALREADY COMPLETED AT LEAST ONE LESSON. (CONTINUED ON SCHEDULE O) DATA REGARDING CHECKOLOGY'S IMPACT, AS MEASURED BY AN IN-PLATFORM ASSESSMENT AND A FEEDBACK SURVEY OF EDUCATORS, SHOW MARKED IMPROVEMENTS IN STUDENTS' NEWS LITERACY SKILLS AND HIGH EDUCATOR SATISFACTION WITH THE PLATFORM: - NEARLY NINE IN 10 (87%) STUDENTS COULD CORRECTLY IDENTIFY THE FIVE FREEDOMS PROTECTED BY THE FIRST AMENDMENT. - TWO-THIRDS OF STUDENTS COULD CORRECTLY IDENTIFY THE TRAITS OF QUALITY JOURNALISM. - THE NUMBER OF STUDENTS DEMONSTRATING AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE WATCHDOG ROLE OF THE PRESS MORE THAN DOUBLED. - MORE THAN FOUR-FIFTHS (82%) OF STUDENTS SAID IN A SURVEY THEY INTEND TO INCREASE THEIR CIVIC PARTICIPATION. - MORE THAN NINE IN 10 (93%) TEACHERS SAID IN A SURVEY THAT CHECKOLOGY WAS BETTER THAN OTHER E-LEARNING TOOLS THEY HAVE USED IN THE CLASSROOM. THE DISRUPTIONS TO IN-PERSON TEACHING AS A RESULT OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC HIGHLIGHTED NLP'S UNIQUE POSITION AND FLEXIBILITY AS A MOSTLY VIRTUAL ORGANIZATION WITH ONLINE RESOURCES. DURING THESE VERY CHALLENGING TIMES, WE WERE ABLE TO CONTINUE TO SUPPORT EDUCATORS AND STUDENTS AS SCHOOL DISTRICTS STRUGGLED TO SWITCH TO ONLINE INSTRUCTION. IMPORTANTLY, WE IMMEDIATELY LIFTED THE CHECKOLOGY PAYWALL IN EARLY MARCH, PROVIDING NO-COST ACCESS TO ANY EDUCATOR OR PARENT/GUARDIAN SEEKING RESOURCES FOR DISTANCE LEARNING OR HOMESCHOOLING.IN ADDITION, NLP REDIRECTED SUBSTANTIAL RESOURCES TO ADDRESS WHAT THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION DUBBED AN "INFODEMIC"- THE OVERABUNDANCE OF INFORMATION, INCLUDING FALSE INFORMATION, ABOUT COVID-19. WE LEVERAGED OUR POSITION AS A LEADER IN THE NEWS LITERACY FIELD TO BETTER EQUIP PEOPLE TO NAVIGATE THIS INFODEMIC BY CREATING TOOLS AND INFORMATION FOR EDUCATORS, PARENTS, STUDENTS AND THE PUBLIC IN RESPONSE TO THE RAPIDLY EVOLVING PANDEMIC. OUR STAFF EXPERTS ALSO WERE FEATURED IN MORE THAN THREE DOZEN INTERVIEWS WITH MEDIA OUTLETS SUCH AS NPR'S ALL THINGS CONSIDERED, USA TODAY, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS AND UNIVISION, AMONG OTHERS. IN ADDITION, WE FOCUSED MULTIPLE ISSUES OF THE SIFT ON CORONAVIRUS MISINFORMATION; CREATED A COVID-19 WEBPAGE WITH ACCURATE INFORMATION AND DEBUNKING FALSEHOODS ABOUT THE PANDEMIC; AND DEVELOPED FREE RESOURCES AND TOOLS. BETWEEN MARCH AND MID-JULY 2020, NLP'S COVID-19 WEBPAGE HAD 21,658 TOTAL PAGE VIEWS.WE ALSO WERE ABLE TO QUICKLY ENGAGE LARGE AUDIENCES OF EDUCATORS AND THE GENERAL PUBLIC IN VIRTUAL PROGRAMMING. WE HOSTED A FREE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT WEBINAR SERIES IN MAY FOR OVER 1,100 EDUCATORS. WE THEN PARTNERED WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND'S METCALF INSTITUTE FOR A FOUR-PART WEBINAR SERIES TITLED COVID-19 IN CONTEXT: NEWS COVERAGE AND NEWS LITERACY IN UNCERTAIN TIMES. THIS FREE SERIES (OPEN TO THE PUBLIC) FEATURED NLP STAFF, JOURNALISTS AND PROFESSORS AND EXPLORED THE SCIENCE COMMUNICATION CHALLENGES OF THE CORONAVIRUS AND THE IMPORTANCE OF NEWS LITERACY EDUCATION DURING A GLOBAL PANDEMIC. OVER 575 UNIQUE PEOPLE ATTENDED ONE OR MORE OF THESE WEBINARS.NEWSLITCAMP:WE HELD SEVEN IN-PERSON NEWSLITCAMP EVENTS, NLP'S SIGNATURE FULL-DAY PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT TRAINING FOR TEACHERS AND LIBRARIANS THAT ARE DESIGNED TO CULTIVATE NEWS LITERACY SKILLS AND INTRODUCE EDUCATORS TO SPECIALIZED RESOURCES FOR TEACHING NEWS LITERACY. WE HAD TWO ADDITIONAL EVENTS PLANNED FOR THE SCHOOL YEAR - ONE IN CHICAGO AND ONE IN DETROIT - BUT BOTH WERE POSTPONED DUE TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC.IN TOTAL, NLP SERVED 473 TEACHERS AND LIBRARIANS THROUGH NEWSLITCAMPS, WHERE PARTICIPANTS ATTENDED SESSIONS LED BY 73 JOURNALISTS FROM OUR LOCAL PARTNER NEWS ORGANIZATIONS AND LEARNED MORE ABOUT THE PROCESSES AND DECISIONS INVOLVED IN GATHERING AND DISSEMINATING THE NEWS. PARTICIPANTS ALSO HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO BRAINSTORM IDEAS FOR HOW TO INTEGRATE THEIR LEARNING FROM THE DAY INTO THEIR CLASSROOM CURRICULUM. THE SIFT:NLP PUBLISHED THE SIFT, OUR FREE E-NEWSLETTER FOR EDUCATORS,EACH WEEK DURING THE SCHOOL YEAR. IT EXPLORES TIMELY EXAMPLES OF MISINFORMATION, SUCH AS VIRAL RUMORS, HOAXES AND CONSPIRACY THEORIES; ADDRESSES MEDIA AND PRESS FREEDOM TOPICS; AND DISCUSSES SOCIAL MEDIA TRENDS AND ISSUES. IT ALSO INCLUDES DISCUSSION PROMPTS AND ACTIVITIES FOR THE CLASSROOM. NLP'S GOAL DURING THE 2019-20 SCHOOL YEAR WAS TO CULTIVATE A READERSHIP OF 8,000 EDUCATOR SUBSCRIBERS TO THE SIFT. WE MORE THAN SURPASSED THIS GOAL, ENDING THE YEAR WITH 10,920 EDUCATOR SUBSCRIBERS.PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT:NLP PROVIDED PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOPS FOR EDUCATORS, INCLUDING ENGAGEMENTS FOR GENERATION CITIZEN (PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND), REGION ONE EDUCATION SERVICE CENTER (EDINBURG, TEXAS) AND A SESSION AT THE ASSOCIATION FOR MIDDLE LEVEL EDUCATION (AMLE) ANNUAL CONFERENCE IN NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE. IN TOTAL, WE SERVED 3,757 UNIQUE EDUCATORS WITH IN-PERSON PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT SESSIONS DURING THE 2019-20 SCHOOL YEAR AND COLLECTED THE FOLLOWING FEEDBACK: 96% OF EDUCATORS RATED THE NEWSLITCAMP AS EITHER "VALUABLE OR "VERY VALUABLE AND 85% OF EDUCATORS INDICATED THEY WILL IMPLEMENT SKILLS AND STRATEGIES LEARNED IN SESSION INTO CLASSROOM INSTRUCTION.WITH THE DECISION TO PERMANENTLY REMOVE CHECKOLOGY'S PAYWALL, NLP HAS MADE THE SIGNIFICANT ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE FROM A SALES MODEL TO AN EDUCATOR SUCCESS MODEL. OUR NEWLY DEVELOPED EDUCATOR OUTREACH AND SUCCESS (EOS) TEAM HAS ALREADY MADE GAINS IN ITS PURSUIT OF DISTRICT-WIDE PARTNERSHIPS, WITH COMMITMENTS SO FAR FROM TWO OF THE LARGEST SCHOOL DISTRICTS IN THE COUNTRY - LOS ANGELES AND NEW YORK CITY - AND A POSSIBLE COLLABORATION WITH THE STATEWIDE DISTRICT OF HAWAII TO BRING CHECKOLOGY TO 245 HAWAIIAN SCHOOLS. THE EOS TEAM IS WORKING TOWARD PARTNERSHIPS WITH DOZENS MORE SCHOOL DISTRICTS, INCLUDING THOSE IN ILLINOIS, SOUTH CAROLINA, NORTH CAROLINA, INDIANA, MISSOURI AND ELSEWHERE. WE ALSO ARE WORKING TO EXPAND OUR REACH THROUGHOUT CALIFORNIA. TO SUPPORT THESE EXPANSION PLANS, WE ARE BUILDING AN EDUCATOR NETWORK TEAM TO MOBILIZE A 20,000-PLUS-MEMBER COMMUNITY OF TEACHERS AND LIBRARIANS TO BE NEWS LITERACY AMBASSADORS, WITH A FOCUS ON NINE HUB CITIES (LOS ANGELES, SAN FRANCISCO, SEATTLE, DENVER, HOUSTON, CHICAGO, NEW YORK CITY, WASHINGTON, D.C., AND MIAMI). WE ALSO DEVELOPED FREE RESOURCES DESIGNED FOR THE GENERAL PUBLIC, INCLUDING A VERSION OF CHECKOLOGY THAT IS ACCESSIBLE TO ANYONE AND A PODCAST TITLED IS THAT A FACT? - A 10-EPISODE SERIES EXPLORING THE IMPACT OF MISINFORMATION ON ELECTIONS. BOTH DEBUTED IN MID-SEPTEMBER. TO COMPLEMENT THESE RESOURCES THAT ARE ACCESSIBLE TO ANYONE, NLP WILL OFFER FREE WEBINARS ON HOW TO APPLY NEWS LITERACY SKILLS IN THE CONTEXT OF CURRENT EVENTS.

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