Abstract

Jenny Glick

High School Journalism Resource Study

The objective of the High Journalism Resources Study was to gain greater insight into whether journalism teachers have the training and resources they need to teach scholastic journalism as the profession has moved into the multi-media arena. Surveys were sent out to high school journalism teachers who are members of the Journalism Education Association, one of the largest associations of journalism teachers in the country.

Fifty-seven teachers participated in the survey, answering a range of questions including their level of education, computer usage in the classroom, and whether they are satisfied with the level of technical support and training they get from their schools.

This study found a large percent of journalism teachers had Master’s degrees, and all of the teachers used computers in the classroom. Yet teachers expressed high levels of dissatisfaction with the level of training and support they are getting from their school systems. Teachers indicated high levels of support for additional training in all suggested technical areas, including digital editing and Photoshop. Moreover, teachers indicated school system financial support for workshops and trainings were minimal, indicating many teachers would have to shoulder that financial burden on their own.