News Literacy
District Fellowship program

NLP News Literacy District Fellowships reimagine district-wide news and media literacy learning, empowering students to think critically about information and preparing them to be active participants in our democracy.

About

Young people are at a significant civic disadvantage in our society because they lack the skills and knowledge to navigate our current misinformation disorder crisis. Education leaders and policymakers across the country recognize that students need to learn to identify credible information, cite reliable evidence and recognize falsehoods, viral rumors and manipulated content. News literacy education closes this knowledge gap, yet it is not widely taught. The News Literacy District Fellowship seeks to change this.

Media literacy education reimagined.

Objectives

The  News Literacy District Fellowship program supports district leaders in designing and implementing innovative district-wide action plans for integrating news and media literacy instruction. Throughout the two-year fellowships, NLP supports districts through professional learning, curriculum guidance and a network of like-minded peers. The program seeks to:

Create a community of administrators, curriculum directors, instructional coaches, discipline leaders and teachers within a district to share expertise and collaborate with NLP on news and media literacy education issues.

Create a community of administrators, curriculum directors, instructional coaches, discipline leaders and teachers within a district to share expertise and collaborate with NLP on news and media literacy education issues.

Highlight practitioners’ voices and expand educators’ critical leadership in news and media literacy at the national, state and local levels.

Deliver a sustainable and replicable district plan for implementing news and media literacy learning at completion of the fellowship.

We are specifically interested in hearing from educators in California, Texas, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Florida, Nebraska, and Oklahoma, but interested educators in other states are also encouraged to apply.

Create lasting impact.

Fellowship opportunity

Each year, we select a new cohort of district fellows from around the country to reimagine news literacy instruction in their districts, creating a positive and lasting impact in their school communities. During the first year of the program, fellows work with NLP to design an action plan for executing news literacy programs in their district. During the second year, fellows implement their plans. Applications open each spring.

Current fellows

Discover more about the News Literacy District Fellowship program! Learn about our fellows, below!

Explore districts

Expand each section below to get more details about each fellow.

Cohort 1

IOWA
Iowa City Community School District

Location: Iowa City, IA
Number of schools: 29
Number of students: 14,000+

Iowa City Community School District logo
NEW MEXICO
Las Cruces Public Schools

Location: Las Cruces, NM
Number of schools: 41
Number of students: 23,000+

Las Cruces Public Schools logo
NEW YORK
North Salem Central School District

Location: North Salem, NY
Number of schools: 2
Number of students: 1,000+

Las Cruces Public Schools North Salem Central School District logo
OREGON
Greater Albany Public Schools

Location: Albany, OR
Number of schools: 20
Number of students: 9,000+

Greater Albany Public Schools logo
UTAH
Canyons School District

Location: Sandy, UT
Number of schools: 41 traditional, 6 specialized/programs
Number of students: 34,000+

Canyons School District logo

Cohort 2

COLORADO
Gunnison Watershed School District

Location: Gunnison, CO
Number of schools: 6
Number of students: 2,080

Gunnison Watershed School District logo
MICHIGAN
Bloomfield Hills Schools

Location: Bloomfield Hills, MI
Number of schools: 11
Number of students: 5,785+

Bloomfield Hills Schools logo
PENNSYLVANIA
Cornell School District

Location: Coraopolis, PA
Number of schools: 2
Number of students: 600

Cornell School District logo

Cohort 3

CALIFORNIA
Beverly Hills Unified School District

Location: Beverly Hills, CS
Number of schools: ?
Number of students: 3,300

Beverly Hills Unified School District logo
Elk Grove Unified School District

Location: Elk Grove, CA
Number of schools: ?
Number of students: 62,957

Elk Grove logo
Fremont Union High School District

Location: San Jose, CA
Number of schools: ?
Number of students: 9,000

Fremont Union High School  District logo
Central Unified School District

Location: Fresno, CA
Number of schools: 24
Number of students: 15,730

Central Unified School District logo
LAUSD

Location: Los Angeles, CA
Number of schools: ?
Number of students: 560,000

LAUSD logo
NEBRASKA
Kearney Public Schools

Location: Kearney, NE
Number of schools: ?
Number of students: 6,155+

Kearney Public Schools logo
NORTH CAROLINA
Johnston County School District

Location: Smithfield, NC
Number of schools: ?
Number of students: 37,000

Johnston County School District logo
OKLAHOMA
Norman Public Schools

Location: Norman, OK
Number of schools: ?
Number of students: 15,786

Norman Public Schools logo
Current district fellows A map titled "District Fellowships" shows various school districts in the U.S. currently participating in the District Fellowship Program. Districts are divided into three cohorts. Cohort 1 consists of school districts in Iowa, New Mexico, New York, Oregon and Utah. Cohort 2 consists of school districts in Colorado, Michigan and Pennsylvania. Our latest cohort, Cohort 3 consists of school districts in California, Nebraska, North Carolina and Oklahoma. 1 1111

The application period is currently closed.

Shaelynn Farnsworth,
Director of Fellowship

For more information on the News Literacy District Fellowship, contact Shaelynn Farnsworth at [email protected].

Fellowship experiences