Written by (KENT, OHIO) Dec. 6, 2011– The Center for Scholastic Journalism at Kent State University recently released its 2011 Scholastic Journalism Census results. One study finding reveals a majority of student media are produced in relationship to a class, affirming the vital role high school media advisers and journalism teachers play in 21st century media education.
Study findings reveal that 96 percent of American public high schools provide some opportunity to participate in student media. Of that group, 88 percent offer a journalism or publications class, and the majority of all student media activities are produced in relationship to that class as opposed to an afterschool club or activity. That means more than 15,000 public high schools nationwide offer a journalism class.
Candace Perkins Bowen, a principal study investigator and Director of the Center for Scholastic Journalism, said the high number of journalism and publications classes demonstrate public high school teachers’ understanding of how important it is to use class time to prepare student journalists for college and future careers.
“As today’s educators realize the value of moving away from the overemphasis on high stakes testing, they’re focusing more on hands-on, experiential learning,” Perkins Bowen said. “We have a good start heading that direction with so many journalism teachers using class time to work on student media.”
Mark Goodman, principal investigator and Knight Chair in Scholastic Journalism at Kent State University, added that it’s the professional journalism educator’s duty to prepare public high school teachers with necessary mechanisms to instruct journalism students.
“The most crucial component of the success of a scholastic journalism program is frequently the most ignored: the teacher/adviser,” Goodman said. “We need to give these professional educators the tools to instill in their students an appreciation for press freedom, news literacy and journalistic responsibility.”
Such tools may include state and national scholastic press association conventions and conferences and other advanced training opportunities. The Center for Scholastic Journalism also offers an online master’s degree program that features nationally recognized faculty.
The Center for Scholastic Journalism offers a one-of-a-kind online master’s degree program featuring nationally recognized faculty journalism educators may pursue.
Piotr Bobkowski, Assistant Professor at the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Kansas, also served as a 2011 Scholastic Journalism Census principal investigator.
In their research, the investigators mailed paper surveys to a random sample of 4,354 public high schools from all 50 states and the District of Columbia. They received responses from 1,023 of those schools between Feb. 1 and June 6, 2011, for a 23.5 percent response rate.
About the Center for Scholastic Journalism
The Center for Scholastic Journalism is a national clearinghouse committed to conducting and collecting the best research on scholastic media and the role it plays in journalism education. As an advocate for high school and middle school journalism, the Center strives to be both a resource for information about youth journalism and journalism education and one of the most effective national voices supporting scholastic journalism and freedom of press outlined in the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. For more information about the Center for Scholastic Journalism, visit www.csjkent.org.
