Ready To Learn Initiative
Summative Evaluation
Study Finds Educational Videos and Games Prepare Low-Income Preschoolers for Kindergarten
October 14, 2009
Preschool children developed early reading skills when their teachers used videos and interactive games from public television shows in the classroom, according to a new study. The TV shows— Sesame Street, Between the Lions, and Super Why!— are produced for PBS as part of the “Ready to Learn” Initiative, which creates educational programming and outreach activities.
In the study, 398 children in 80 preschool classes in low-income neighborhoods in New York and San Francisco were taught with a special curriculum that included active video viewing and hands-on play with letters, sounds, and books. Since most of the teachers had little prior training in literacy instruction or the use of digital media in the classroom, they were given coaching and support to help them conduct the curriculum successfully.
“Many studies have shown that computer technologies can improve learning for students in kindergarten through grade 12, but using digital media in preschool has been controversial,” says lead researcher Shelley Pasnik, director of EDC/CCT.
In this study, preschool teachers were randomly assigned to use either a technology-supported literacy curriculum or a technology-supported science curriculum for 10 weeks. (The students in the classrooms with the science curriculum served as the study’s comparison group.) Children who participated in the literacy curriculum outscored children in the science curriculum on four important measures: the ability to name letters, know the sounds associated with those letters, recognize letters in their own names, and understand basic concepts about stories and printed words.
“Many low-income preschool children start kindergarten far behind their more affluent peers in early literacy skills, so effective interventions are important,”says William Penuel, Ph.D., director of evaluation research for SRI/CTL. In fact, children with the greatest need for early reading skills made the biggest gains during the 10-week study. The bottom 20 percent of preschoolers in the literacy classrooms learned an average of 7.5 more letters than did children in the comparison classrooms.
“We know public media can improve literacy skills when kids watch at home; what we didn't know is that content from multiple shows could be effectively integrated into a curriculum and implemented by teachers,” explains Penuel. “If media can be harnessed to help close this literacy gap, as this study has shown, it's a powerful new tool for preschool teachers.”
Read full study (PDF)
About EDC/CCT
Education Development Center, Inc. is a global nonprofit organization that develops, delivers, and evaluates innovative programs to address urgent challenges in education, health, and economic development. EDC manages more than 300 projects in 35 countries. For more than 25 years, EDC’s Center for Children and Technology has been at the forefront of creating and researching new ways to foster learning and improve teaching through the development and thoughtful implementation of new educational technologies.
About SRI/CTL
SRI International is an independent, nonprofit research institute conducting client-sponsored research and development for government agencies, commercial businesses, foundations, and other organizations. SRI’s Center for Technology in Learning (CTL) evaluates large-scale technology innovations, designs assessments that enhance teaching and learning, develops tools to help students master complex ideas, builds online communities of learners, and offers strategic learning consulting services.