A STORY
OFUsing media across SUCCESS all platforms to close the literacy achievement gap.
To watch a reel about the success of the PBS KIDS Raising Readers project, click here.
Prologue Literacy: A National Problem Today, nearly half of America’s children are not prepared to succeed when they enter kindergarten. Research shows that children living in poverty enter kindergarten at an especially high disadvantage, particularly in literacy skills. The 1995 Hart Risley study found that by kindergarten, a child in poverty has heard only 5,000 distinct words, whereas a child from a professional family has heard 20,000 words. The effect of this deficit continues as a child progresses through elementary school — studies show that if a child is not reading on grade level by the 4th grade, he or she will never catch up. Furthermore, 4th grade literacy rates are directly tied to high school dropout rates, which are the most cited predictors of crime, low income, and reliance on social services. As Paul Schwartz, a coalition principal in residence at the U.S. Department of Education noted, “Based on this year’s 4th-grade reading scores, California is already planning the number of new prison cells it will need in the next century.”
prologue 1 An Innovative Solution
2 PBS KIDS Raising Readers: A Story of Success To address this national problem, PBS partnered with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to launch PBS KIDS Raising Readers, a national initiative that surrounds children ages 2 to 8 with research-based literacy content, with a special focus on children living in poverty. Funded by a Ready To Learn grant from the U.S. Department of Education, from 2005 to 2010 PBS KIDS Raising Readers developed an innovative blend of media across all platforms — TV, online, mobile, and more — and related community engagement activities designed to help young children learn to read. PBS KIDS Raising Readers created content for kids as well as resources to guide their teachers, caregivers, and parents to support literacy. The results of this initiative speak for themselves, and prove that PBS KIDS Raising Readers has successfully leveraged the power of media across all platforms to close the literacy achievement gap.
PROLOGUE 3 4 PBS KIDS Raising Readers: A Story of Success Chapter1 Engaging Kids Transmedia Content & Effective Teacher Tools and Training: A Winning Combination PBS KIDS Raising Readers aims to build literacy skills by surrounding kids with multimedia content, while simultaneously providing resources and training for teachers to support their students’ learning. To evaluate this approach, a 2009 study conducted by the Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC) and SRI International tested the impact of immersing children and their teachers in PBS KIDS Raising Readers content. The study took place in 80 preschool classrooms with 398 children from low-income families, and combined teacher training with video and online games from PBS KIDS Raising Readers programs SESAME STREET, BETWEEN THE LIONS, and SUPER WHY!.
Engaging Kids Transmedia Content & Effective Teacher Tools and Training: A Winning Combination 5 “Pre-K Lessons Linked to TV Produce Gains The study found that preschoolers from low-income communities who participated in the PBS KIDS Raising Readers media-rich in Literacy, curriculum outscored their peers who did not participate in the curriculum on all tested measures of early literacy, such as naming Study Says.” letters and knowing their sounds. Furthermore, children who started out with the lowest literacy skills gained the most, learning —Education Week, October 19, 2009 an average of 7.5 more letters than children in the comparison group.1 Ultimately, the study showed that utilizing PBS KIDS Raising Readers content for both kids and teachers helps build critical literacy skills to better prepare children from low-income communities for success in kindergarten.
To view the full study, click here.
1. Education Development Center, Inc. and SRI International, “Summative Evaluation of the Ready to Learn Initiative” 2009
6 PBS KIDS Raising Readers: A Story of Success “What’s really powerful here is the combination of media, digital content, and professional development. Particularly when you put these things together, preschool teachers can implement something that is powerful, and it can have effects that help to close the gap between low-income students for school readiness.”
—Bill Penuel, Director of Evaluation Research, SRI International
Engaging Kids Transmedia Content & Effective Teacher Tools and Training: A Winning Combination 7 8 PBS KIDS Raising Readers: A Story of Success Chapter2 Television GROUNDED IN RESEARCH WITH Proven Results The Ready To Learn grant helped fund four new television series — SUPER WHY!, MARTHA SPEAKS, THE ELECTRIC COMPANY, and WORDWORLD — along with their companion websites. The grant also supported two legacy shows — SESAME STREET and BETWEEN THE LIONS. All of the content developed under PBS KIDS Raising Readers was grounded in research, based on the 2000 National Reading Panel recommendations, and integrated into a literacy framework to address all of the critical skills needed to achieve literacy.
Television grounded in research with Proven Results 9 BETWEEN THE LIONS aims to help 3- to 7-year-olds develop key reading skills, such as fluency and phonemic awareness, while playfully demonstrating the joys of reading.
SUPER WHY! — This animated preschool series offers interactive storybook adventures, featuring a team of superhero characters with literacy-based powers, who jump into books to look for answers to everyday problems. The program is built on critical literacy building blocks, including alphabet skills, word families, spelling, comprehension and vocabulary.
1. Linebarger, Deborah L., Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, “Between the Lions: 10 PBS KIDS Raising Readers: A Story of Success Mississippi Literacy Initiative Study” 2009. Preschoolers at risk for reading failure made significant gains in reading skills after using an educational curriculum based on 1 Since its debut in 1969, SESAME STREET has helped children develop early language and Between the Lions. literacy skills such as letter knowledge, vocabulary, and reading and writing fundamentals.
To view the full study, click here.
WORDWORLD — A preschool series that focuses on a place where characters and objects, called Wordfriends,™ spring to life from the letters that spell their names. The series reinforces the pre-reading concept that letters (and their sounds) make words and that words have real meaning, as well as other literacy concepts such as sounding out letters and rhyming.
Television grounded in research with Proven Results 11 MARTHA SPEAKS — Based on the popular children’s book series, this animated show focuses on vocabulary and follows the humorous adventures of Martha, a loveable dog who learns to speak after eating a bowl of alphabet soup.
THE ELECTRIC COMPANY — This multi-platform reinvention of the classic television series focuses on four crucial areas of literacy for struggling readers ages 6 to 9: decoding, vocabulary, comprehension of connected text and motivation. In addition, the Outreach program has collaborated with 20 PBS Ready To Learn stations, distributing 300,000 children’s magazines and 145,000 educator resource kits, and reached thousands of children nationwide with 20 free community events.
12 PBS KIDS Raising Readers: A Story of Success Research demonstrates that PBS KIDS Raising Readers shows are effectively helping children Children who watched build key literacy skills. A study by the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania found that viewing SUPER WHY! helps children acquire early literacy abilities SUPER WHY! scored that lead to reading success. Children who watched SUPER WHY! scored 46% higher on standardized tests than those who did not watch the show — indicating that the children learned from the show and were able to transfer and apply that knowledge. A different study from the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for Communication found that 46% preschoolers at risk for reading failure made significant gains in reading skills after using an higher on standardized educational curriculum based on BETWEEN THE LIONS, which combined TV, supporting tests than those who 2 classroom materials and teacher training. did not watch the show.
To download more research on SUPER WHY!, click here. 2. Linebarger, Deborah L., Deborah K. Wainwright and Katie McMenamin, Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania “Summative Evaluation of SUPER WHY!” 2008 Television grounded in research with Proven Results 13 14 PBS KIDS Raising Readers: A Story of Success Chapter3 Online Adventures Build Reading Skills PBS KIDS Raising Readers created two immersive online experiences to help children build reading skills and to provide resources for parents, teachers and caregivers. PBS KIDS Island, for preschoolers, and The Great Word Quest, for 6- to 8-year olds, allow children to engage with their favorite characters through interactive games. As children master different literacy skills through play, they advance to higher levels to build upon what they’ve learned. The sites provide resources for parents and caregivers, including reading activity ideas and a progress tracker that monitors each child’s progress in the skills that the games target. All resources for adults are available in Spanish and English.
Visit PBS KIDS Island and the Great Word Quest at pbskids.org/read.
Online Adventures Build Reading Skills 15 Research shows that regular use of PBS KIDS Island leads to learning gains. A recent study found that low-income children who used PBS KIDS Island regularly for a month showed statistically significant gains in the following literacy areas: uppercase letter knowledge and naming speed, lowercase naming speed, rhyming ability, letter sound identification, and beginning sound identification.
16 PBS KIDS Raising Readers: A Story of Success Games can teach. In a pilot study using PBS KIDS Island, participants demonstrated increases in developing letter recognition, rhyming, and beginning sound awareness fluency.1
Over 1.5 million children, teachers and caregivers have accounts on PBS KIDS Island.
1. Linebarger, Deborah L., et al. Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, “Summative Evaluation of PBS KIDS Island, Home Study” 2010 Online Adventures Build Reading Skills 17 18 PBS KIDS Raising Readers: A Story of Success Chapter 4 Mobile Apps Blaze new trails
forPBS KIDS Raising ReadersL hasearn developed a myriad of new digital media ilearningn resourcesg — so that kids have more opportunities to learn, wherever they are. PBS KIDS Raising Readers content provides new interactive whiteboard activities, broadband video, E-books, and iPhone and iPad applications that encourage kids to practice and reinforce literacy skills.
Mobile Apps Blaze New Trails for Learning 19 20 PBS KIDS Raising Readers: A Story of Success In the advent of the rise of smart phones and the launch of the iPad, PBS KIDS Raising Readers developed three innovative apps: the MARTHA SPEAKS Dog Party iPhone app, which focuses on vocabulary, and the SUPER WHY! iPhone and iPad apps, which cover alphabet skills, rhyming, spelling, comprehension and vocabulary. These new digital resources are not only fun, but are also effective learning tools. A 2010 Joan Ganz Cooney Center study found that children made significant learning increases in the areas of rhyming, vocabulary and The MARTHA SPEAKS visual vocabulary after just two weeks of playing these educational apps. The MARTHA SPEAKS Dog Party app Dog Party app improved improved vocabulary as much as 31% in children ages 3 to 7. vocabulary as much
Apps in action – check out these videos of the MARTHA SPEAKS Dog Party and SUPER WHY! apps. as 31% in children ages 3 to 7.1 To view the full Joan Ganz Cooney Center study, click here.
1. Chiong, Cynthia and Carly Shuler, Joan Ganz Cooney Center “Learning: is there an app for that?” 2010 Mobile Apps Blaze New Trails for Learning 21 22 PBS KIDS Raising Readers: A Story of Success Chapter 5 Successful Online Professional Development for Teachers & Caregivers Research shows that teachers and caregivers who serve low-income communities may themselves not have the training and resources they need to teach early literacy skills. PBS KIDS Raising Readers met this challenge by developing three PBS TeacherLine online professional development courses that specifically address this need for early educators: • Preparing Preschoolers for Success • Ready to Read and Write with Digital Media • Ready to Spark Word Power
Successful Online Professional Development for Teachers & Caregivers 23 “This class has renewed my commitment to making reading a priority in my program.”
—Preparing Preschoolers for Success course participant
24 PBS KIDS Raising Readers: A Story of Success These courses empower teachers and caregivers to use media to build kids’ literacy skills, and research has shown them to be effective in changing teacher practices to better serve their students. In recent studies of the courses, participants demonstrated impressive jumps in both specific skill acquisition and knowledge and understanding of key literacy objectives. For example, in a summative evaluation of Preparing Preschoolers for Success, teachers’ knowledge of early language and literacy development showed statistically significant increases. After completing Ready to Spark Word Power, participant comments indicated a positive impact on their students’ motivation and engagement.1
1. Goldenberg, Lauren B., et al. Education Development Center, Inc. “Impact of Raising Readers Online Professional Development Courses on Caregivers and Educators,” 2010
Successful Online Professional Development for Teachers & Caregivers 25 26 PBS KIDS Raising Readers: A Story of Success Chapter 6 Reach & Impact through
PartnersThe impact of PBS KIDS Raising Readers has been enhanced greatlyhi through meaningfulps national partnerships with organizations such as WIC, the Library of Congress, the National Center for Family Literacy, the National Association for the Education of Young Children, and the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies. These relationships have helped increase access to literacy resources in low-income communities nationwide.
PBS KIDS Raising Readers has also gained the support of state and local leaders across the country. Local PBS stations built meaningful partnerships with public officials and worked with them to have a profound impact on young children in their communities.
Reach & Impact through Partnerships 27 Partnerships at Work
Recognized literacy organizations and associations such as NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children) and the National Center for Family Literacy (NCFL) have presented PBS KIDS Raising Readers research and information at national conferences. The NCFL has also distributed SUPER WHY! Learning Adventures Toolkit DVDs to educators.
Over 1 million booklets Funon the with early literacy tips and Funon theRun! games were distributed Fun through WIC (Women, Over 13,000 visitors came to the PBS KIDS Raising Readers tent on the on theRun! Infant and Children) National Mall for The Library of Congress’s 2009 National Book Festival. Funon theRun! ReadyToLearnReading.org offices nationwide.
Run! ReadyToLearnReading.org
ReadyToLearnReading.org 28 PBS KIDS Raising Readers: A Story of Success ReadyToLearnReading.org First Lady Patsy Riley joined Elmo to launch PBS KIDS Raising Readers in Alabama.
PBS station WFSU partnered with Tallahassee’s mayor, John Marks, to launch a city-wide PBS KIDS Raising Iowa Public Television presented Senator Tom Harkin with a Super Reader cape in recognition of his support Readers campaign. Mayor Marks, WFSU and student volunteers from local high schools canvassed door to door of using public television to promote literacy. to promote early childhood literacy. View Mayor Marks’ PBS KIDS Raising Readers campaign spot here.
Reach & Impact through Partnerships 29 30 PBS KIDS Raising Readers: A Story of Success Chapter
Moving the Needle through Community Engagement PBS KIDS Raising Readers and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting developed successful community engagement programs to leverage the initiative’s multimedia content. These activities, which included SUPER WHY! Reading Camps, MARTHA SPEAKS Reading Buddies, PBS KIDS Raising Readers Library Corners, and the PBS KIDS GO! Writers Contest, have had proven impact on improving reading skills for kids.
Moving the Needle through Community Engagement 31 SUPER WHY! Reading Camps SUPER WHY! Reading Camps invite 4- to 6-year-old children to transform into Super Readers and practice key literacy skills. Camp activities reinforce knowledge through repetition and multiple modes of learning — art, music, movement, dance and games — and feature the engaging characters from the series. This multimedia approach has proven success. A study by the Florida Center for Reading Research at Florida State University found that camp attendees who took pre- and post-tests to assess learning gains showed improvement at the 95% significance level in their literacy skills1. Based on the success of the camps, a SUPER WHY! Learning Adventures Toolkit DVD to extend the camp resources for use by preschool and formal daycare teachers is now in distribution.
SUPER WHY! Reading Camp participants achieved: 139% 84% 29% 18% gain in word gain in WORD gain in reading increase in determining decoding encoding words letter sounds
To view the full study, click here.
32 PBS KIDS Raising Readers: A Story of Success 1. Wilder, Alice and Beth Phillips, “Summer Reading Camp Study” 2008 MARTHA SPEAKS Reading Buddies Today, a significant number of 4th graders in the U.S. are behind in reading. To combat this “4th grade slump,” the MARTHA SPEAKS Reading Buddies program was created for implementation in elementary schools. The program pairs 4th and 5th graders with kindergartners to help both the younger and older students build vocabulary and comprehension skills. Studies found that the program had a positive impact on fluency, vocabulary development, comprehension and written expression, as well as children’s enthusiasm for reading.2 SUPER WHY! Reading Camp participants achieved: Hear participating teachers talk about their experiences with the MARTHA SPEAKS Reading Buddies program here.
2. Silverman, Rebecca, University of Maryland, “WGBH Martha Speaks Outreach Evaluation” 2009
Moving the Needle through Community Engagement 33 PBS KIDS Raising Readers Library Corners
Over 250 public and school libraries nationwide feature PBS KIDS Raising Readers Library Corners, which provide librarians with a flexible, research-based curriculum that includes games, videos and activities for them to use in the way that works best for their communities. “It’s a win-win collaboration ... What’s great about this is that these are quality resources. They’re relevant to the people that we serve.”
—Ellen Riordan, Children’s Services, Enoch Pratt Free Library, Baltimore
34 PBS KIDS Raising Readers: A Story of Success PBS KIDS GO! Writers Contest The PBS KIDS GO! Writers Contest is a national-local contest that encourages children in kindergarten through 3rd grade in communities across the country to create their own illustrated stories. The contest launched in 2010 as part of the PBS KIDS Raising Readers initiative. From over 25,000 entries, twelve children were selected as national winners of the 2010 contest by a panel of America’s foremost children’s authors, illustrators and content experts, including Marc Brown, creator of Arthur; Tony DiTerlizzi, creator of The Spiderwick Chronicles; and Ann M. Martin, author of The Baby-sitters Club® series, among others. Singer-songwriter and American Idol winner Jordin Sparks also supported the contest with a special video message about the influence of writing in her life.
Check out PBS KIDS GO! Writers Contest winning stories and more here.
Moving the Needle through Community Engagement 35 36 PBS KIDS Raising Readers: A Story of Success Epilogue
PBS KIDS Raising Readers set out with a clear mission: to help America’s most at-risk kids learn to read. Through research-based, engaging content for kids and resources for their parents and caregivers, PBS KIDS Raising Readers has helped open up the world of letters and words to all children, giving them a greater chance to reach their full potential. PBS KIDS Raising Readers’ television, online, and mobile content, along with teacher training, partnerships and community engagement activities, have led to significant learning gains, particularly among kids living in poverty. Research shows that this content moves the needle in closing the achievement gap — with examples ranging from increasing vocabulary up to 31 percent through the MARTHA SPEAKS Dog Party app, to learning 7.5 more letters by integrating PBS KIDS content in the classroom, and scoring 46% higher on standardized tests after watching SUPER WHY!, to name a few. By leveraging the tremendous power of media across all platforms, PBS KIDS Raising Readers is achieving its goal, increasing the odds that more children succeed in school and in life.
Epilogue 37 PBS KIDS Raising Readers is funded by a Ready To Learn grant from the U.S. Department of Education, part of a cooperative agreement with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), PBS and The Ready To Learn Partnership. The contents of this report were developed under a grant, #PRU295A050003 and #PRU295B050003, from the U.S. Department of Education. However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government. The PBS KIDS logo is a registered mark of the Public Broadcasting Service and is used with permission. Between the Lions ©2010 WGBH Educational Foundation and Sirius Thinking, Ltd. All rights reserved. Sesame Street ©2010 Sesame Workshop. All Rights Reserved. Super WHY! ©2010 Out of the Blue Enterprises LLC. All rights reserved. ©2010 WordWorld, LLC. WordWorld, WordThings, WordFriends and associated logos are trademarks of WordWorld, LLC. Martha Speaks ©2010 WGBH Educational Foundation. TM/© “Martha” and underlying artwork: Susan Meddaugh. All rights reserved. The Electric Company ©2010 Sesame Workshop. All Rights Reserved. pbskids.org/read