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THIS IS ARCHIVED CONTENT FOR HISTORICAL REFERENCE ONLY FIRST VOICES Landmark First Amendment Research Ball State’s First Amendment institute has launched a landmark research project with 5,000 high school principals nationwide. J-Ideas, a 5-year-old effort to support student journalism and First Amendment awareness, is reaching out to 5,000 principals to gauge their knowledge level and support for the First Amendment of the Constitution. The research coincides with Sunshine Week, a national effort to support Freedom of Information, an important principle of the First Amendment. <more> -Ignoramcer in Palin, Dowd free-speech remarks -Plainfield pays respect to First Amendment -Author creates First Amendment 'primer' -New President must revive Constitution -Traditional news misses Edwards escapade -Protesters' rights fenced off -Bad year for traditional news gatherers -Baseball and the First Amendment -Principals and the First Amendment -Thoughts from the annual U.S. editors convention -Need for print journalism remains -The First Amendment at the Alamo -Author creates First Amendment 'primer' -Unlikely First Amendment hero -Harrison represented Hoosiers proudly -Online course wraps for the fall -Blogs grow in influence, but beware of anonymity -Parent rides the bench after blog posting -Student journalist's actions serves profession poorly -Remembering the courageous Elijah Parish Lovejoy -First Amendment protects unpopular speech, too Student journalists scoop professional press
Mile high with the First Amendment... We were north of the Mile High City near the Rocky Mountains. The principals were voluntarily descending—not from the tall peaks but from their position abutting the summit of school hierarchy. When they reached level ground, we could see each other more clearly. And clear sight leads to insight. <more > |
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Journalism kids still do better: “High School Journalism Matters,” a study conducted by Jack Dvorak of Indiana University and released by the Newspaper Association of America, showed journalism students had a higher high school grade point average, ACT composite score, and higher scores in ACT English, compared to non-journalism students. Journalism students also had a higher college freshman GPA and did better in their first college English classes. "I'm very pleased that the results are very similar as a general rule to the results we had about 25 years ago," Dvorak said. "Journalism kids continue to do better...in one part of the study, they did better in 12 out of 14 comparisons." Of the 31,175 student respondents, 6,137 were on their school newspaper or yearbook. Not only did these journalism students do better in the classroom, they were also more likely to be involved in extra curricular activities or take a leadership position at school. The statistics speak strongly on journalism’s behalf. For example: -First year college GPAs are higher for students with high school journalism experience (2.80 vs. 2.73 GPA). Candace Perkins Bowen, the director of the Center for Scholastic Journalism at Kent State University, is pleased--but not surprised--by the results. "It's encouraging to see research shows what those of us involved with student journalists have known all along: These are sharp kids who do well in school and beyond," Bowen said. "I hope the media write widely about these results and thus administrators and parents may realize high school publications have much more potential than what some might think. Being on a staff is a plus to those students and to the entire school and community." Cheryl Pell, executive director of the Michigan Interscholastic Press Association, echos these thoughts. "At a time when schools are cutting journalism programs because of NCLB (No Child Left Behind) and the movement to trimesters to get in new, stricter graduation requirements, I hope this study will be sent to every administrator, principal and school board member," Student media helps students learn a variety of skills, and the survey supports this notion, said Shawn Healy, resident scholar of the McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum. One question that could be raised: do students do better because they are in journalism, or does journalism naturally attract stronger pupils? "The study shows relationships and a strong pattern of success, it doesn't necessarily mean journalism has caused it, but it means journalism is a variable that is very important to these students' lives, which leads to enrichment of these students' lives," Dvorak said. "It gives them opportunities to use these skills such as critical thinking, making judgments having priorities, working with other students for a common goal, working with adults such as printers, and so on." The study was conducted by utilizing responses from the student profile section of the ACT. Dvorak conducted a similar study, “Journalism Kids do Better” in 1987, finding similar results to the 2008 study. Read the official press release for more details
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