🆕 Enhancement releases

We've been busy! Here's a sneak peek at our recent new features and improvements:

Newsela STEM is here!

Newsela STEM is a standards-aligned K-12 supplemental science solution combining Generation Genius video-based science and math lessons and DIY activities with Newsela’s authentic, leveled texts, exclusive datasets, and support for CER writing. Differentiated instruction supports students with diverse learning needs to deepen their science knowledge and skills through exploration of real-world applications. Newsela STEM empowers students to think critically, solve problems, and apply scientific concepts to current challenges. Students will build proficiency in STEM while strengthening their ability to interpret texts, analyze data, and make meaningful connections to their lives, communities, and future careers.

Improved Search Function

We've upgraded our search functionality within Newsela! Teachers can now more easily locate content aligned with specific standards and more accurately filter by grade and maturity levels.

💟 Newsela Writing

The below features have been added to Newsela Writing:

Assign to Classes

Newsela Writing now supports assign to classroom(s). Classes are imported over from Newsela, when creating an assignment in Newsela Writing, teacher scan now use the 'Save Assignment' button to immediately assign to one or more of the classes. Students will no longer need to click a link, rather they will be able to go directly into Newsela Writing and find their assignments there.

SBAC Rubrics

As of October 31, 2025 Newsela Writing will include two versions of each SBAC Rubric - an extended version and a simplified one. The extended version will include an "extended" tag both when tagging and on reports

Writing Report Additions

The following columns have been added to the Newsela Writing downloadable report in the Admin Console: Student Clever ID (for the schools that have Clever integration), District SIS ID, and Student Grade Level.

Copy/Paste Removal

We removed the Copy/Paste monitor from Newsela Writing due to performance issues.

📚Content Updates

Newsela content is updated on a regular basis. During this time period the following content updates were introduced:

High School Science Claim-Evidence-Reasoning (CER) Activities (STEM)

The Claim-Evidence-Reasoning (CER) framework helps students build the critical thinking and communication skills demanded by NGSS and college- and career-readiness. Following the success of Newsela’s Middle School CER Collection, this new high school version offers student-facing activities aligned to every high school NGSS standard. Teachers gain ready-to-use resources that strengthen students’ ability to construct evidence-based arguments, preparing them to think critically, write persuasively, and evaluate evidence across disciplines. STEM users can access this collection by navigating to "High School Collections" in the left-hand menu of the STEM browse page. (NOTE: This collection is exclusive to the new STEM product. This collection is not available in Newsela Science.)

Math in the News Lessons (STEM)

Just as our Science in the News Lessons bring scientific concepts to life, the Math in the News Lessons collection connects mathematical ideas to timely events and real-world applications, helping students see the relevance of math in their everyday lives. Designed for grades 6–12, each lesson is ready to assign with student-facing directions, making it easy for teachers to bring engaging, math-focused learning experiences into the classroom! STEM users can access this collection by navigating to "Middle School Collections" or "High School Collections" in the left-hand menu of the STEM browse page. Additionally, each new lesson will be featured on its publish date in the STEM Featured section of the homepage, as well as the Featured row of the STEM browse page. (NOTE: This collection is exclusive to the new STEM product. This collection is not available in Newsela Science.)

🛠️ Fixes

Every technological tool runs into hiccups here and there. If you run into any technical issues please submit a report to our team so we could go ahead and fix it!

Pre-Term Bulk-Rostering

When bulk-rostering, students will not be enrolled in rostered classes until the Term Start date. Pre-term classes will appear empty (no enrollments) on the teacher's Classes page.

Newsela Essentials Sunset

As of October 15, 2025 Newsela Essentials has been retired, and is no longer available for purchase. Clients with a current and active subscription of Newsela Essentials will be able to renew it for continuity of service however, upon subscription expiration a re-purchase of the plan will not longer be optional.