Reading newspapers boosts school grades

Reading newspapers appears to promote academic achievements among
schoolchildren, according to a Finnish follow-up of the international
PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) study. The report
suggests that reading newspapers even boosts skills in mathematics. The
high rate of newspaper readership in Finland is seen as one factor why
Finnish young people score high in a comparison of OECD countries.

The follow-up study, which was commissioned by the Finnish Newspapers'
Association, is based on material collected in 2003, involving about
6,000 Finnish schoolchildren at 15 years of age. The best results in all
areas of knowledge were achieved by pupils who read newspapers several
times a week. Newspaper readership correlated most with the mathematical
skills of girls.

According to the study, reading newspapers among young people has
remained largely unchanged in the past three years. About 60 per cent of
young people said in both 2000 and 2003 that they read newspapers
several times a week.

Source: Helsingin Sanomat via EJC

Does this count if the kids just read the sports pages?