News Literacy
District Fellowship program
The News Literacy Project’s District Fellowship Program is a three-year, $30,000 grant to support school districts that want to develop and implement district-wide news and media literacy education. Working with NLP, fellowship districts create their own plans to teach all students news literacy skills before they graduate high school, empowering students to be active participants in our democracy.
- Applications for the fifth cohort will open in October.
About
Young people are at a significant disadvantage in our society because they lack the skills to knowledgeably navigate our information landscape. Education leaders and policymakers across the country recognize that students urgently need to learn to identify credible information, cite reliable evidence and recognize falsehoods, viral rumors and manipulated content. News literacy education does just that, and yet, according to our recent study of teens across the country, less than 40% are getting any exposure to this education. The News Literacy District Fellowship seeks to change this.
Fellowship districts receive:
- $30,000 (over three years) to help offset costs related to their participation.
- Best-in-class news literacy curriculum, resources and professional learning at no cost — including data integration and Clever rostering, if needed.
- Expert assistance and support from dedicated NLP throughout the fellowship.
- Membership in a nationwide community of district fellows.
- The opportunity to fundamentally change what students learn, ensuring that they graduate with a critical, 21st-century skill.
- The opportunity to act as a model for their state and influence news literacy education.
Media literacy education reimagined.
See and hear from a fellowship district in the video below:
Objectives
The District Fellowship program supports district leaders in designing and implementing innovative district-wide action plans for integrating news and media literacy instruction. Throughout the three-year fellowships, NLP supports districts through professional learning, curriculum guidance and a network of like-minded peers. In turn, districts will create a plan to ensure that all students receive news literacy instruction before graduation.
- Community
Create a community
Administrators, curriculum directors, instructional coaches, discipline leaders and teachers within a district share expertise and collaborate with NLP on news and media literacy education issues.
- Amplify
Amplify districts’ leadership in the field
Educators and district leaders’ assume a central role in elevating news and media literacy at the national, state and local levels.
- Impact
Produce lasting impact
Districts develop a sustainable and replicable plan for implementing news and media literacy learning upon 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. We are now recruiting our fourth grouping of fellowship districts and have expanded the program from two years to three years.
- Year 1:
During the first year of the program, fellows work with NLP to lay the foundation and develop an action plan for executing news literacy instruction in their district.
- Year 2:
During the second year, fellows pilot their implementation plans.
- Year 3:
During the third year, fellows continue to implement their plan and expand their impact.
Fellowship districts are awarded a $10,000 grant for each year of their commitment. Given the success of the program, starting in 2025 the fellowships have been extended for an additional year.
Applications for the fifth cohort will open in October.
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+
NEW MEXICO
Las Cruces Public Schools
Location: Las Cruces, NM
Number of schools: 41
Number of students: 23,000+
NEW YORK
North Salem Central School District
Location: North Salem, NY
Number of schools: 2
Number of students: 1,000+
OREGON
Greater Albany Public Schools
Location: Albany, OR
Number of schools: 20
Number of students: 9,000+
UTAH
Canyons School District
Location: Sandy, UT
Number of schools: 41 traditional, 6 specialized/programs
Number of students: 34,000+
Cohort 2
COLORADO
Gunnison Watershed School District
Location: Gunnison, CO
Number of schools: 6
Number of students: 2,080
MICHIGAN
Bloomfield Hills Schools
Location: Bloomfield Hills, MI
Number of schools: 11
Number of students: 5,785+
PENNSYLVANIA
Cornell School District
Location: Coraopolis, PA
Number of schools: 2
Number of students: 600
Cohort 3
CALIFORNIA
Beverly Hills Unified School District
Location: Beverly Hills, CA
Number of schools: 4
Number of students: 3,300
Elk Grove Unified School District
Location: Elk Grove, CA
Number of schools: 67
Number of students: 62,957
Fremont Union High School District
Location: San Jose, CA
Number of schools: 5
Number of students: 9,000
Central Unified School District
Location: Fresno, CA
Number of schools: 24
Number of students: 15,730
Los Angeles Unified School District
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Number of schools: 1,362
Number of students: 527,000+
FLORIDA
Broward County Public Schools
Location: Broward County, FL
Number of schools: 239
Number of students: 247,500+
NEBRASKA
Kearney Public Schools
Location: Kearney, NE
Number of schools: 15
Number of students: 6,155+
NORTH CAROLINA
Johnston County School District
Location: Smithfield, NC
Number of schools: 48
Number of students: 37,000
OKLAHOMA
Norman Public Schools
Location: Norman, OK
Number of schools: 23
Number of students: 15,786
Cohort 4
ILLINOIS
Chicago Public Schools
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Number of schools: 634
Number of students: 325,000+
MASSACHUSETTS
Public Schools of Brookline
Location: Brookline, Massachusetts
Number of schools: 11
Number of students: 7,000
MONTANA
Helena Public Schools
Location: Helena, Montana
Number of schools: 18
Number of students: 7,800
WEST VIRGINIA
Hancock County Schools
Location: New Cumberland, West Virginia
Number of schools: 9
Number of students: 3,500
UTAH
Southwest Educational Development Center (6 districts):
Beaver County School District
Garfield County School District
Iron County School District
Kane County School District
Millard County School District
Washington County School District
Location: Cedar City, Utah
Number of schools: 104
Number of students: 50,000
TEXAS
Round Rock Independent School District
Location: Round Rock, Texas
Number of schools: 60
Number of students: 48,000
PENNSYLVANIA
Butler Area School District
Location: Butler Township, Pennsylvania
Number of schools: 100+
Number of students: 6,060
Avonworth School District
Location: Allegheny County, Pennsylvania
Number of schools: 4
Number of students: 1,970
NEW YORK
Rochester City Schools
Location: Rochester, New York
Number of schools: 39
Number of students: 23,000
Ebonee Otoo,
Senior Vice President of Educator Engagement
For more information, contact Ebonee Otoo at [email protected].
Fellowship experiences
District fellowship drives news literacy instruction at Colorado school
For a few weeks last fall, the Crested Butte Community School library looked like a party venue.
