Newspaper In Education is a cooperative effort between a newspaper and a local school system to use the newspaper as a tool for instruction. The newspaper provides copies to the school, usually at a reduced rate, for use in the classroom. The newspaper may also sponsor teacher-education programs and may offer curriculum materials to help schools use the newspaper as a meaningful resource for student learning.

Each NIE program differs according to the needs of the local educational community. Newspapers are used as instructional tools in many subjects and grade levels. Typically most NIE programs focus on language arts, reading, social studies, math and science. New NIE programs often focus on a specific grade level or area, such as elementary or middle school, when launching a program.

The goal of the NIE program is to use the newspaper to help teachers with the subjects they are already teaching. It is not intended to simply teach about the newspaper. A good NIE program will help teachers learn to develop their own activities using the newspaper to teach in the classroom.

- National Newspaper Association of America Foundation