Ready to Learn Research Studies
Since 2006, Education Development Center and SRI International have served as the summative evaluation partner for Ready to Learn, a public media initiative supported by the US Department of Education. As PBS and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting have developed and distributed transmedia to support math and literacy skills and increase the school readiness of 2- to 8-year-old children in low-income households, we have led a program of research to determine what’s effective. Most recently, we published findings from a survey of early learning programs.
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Videos 2009

These videos demonstrate classroom use of the Ready to Learn materials by teachers who participated in the 2009 national efficacy study. Many of the teachers continued to use and value the materials after our research was concluded.

Curricula

2009 Teacher Guides
The centers that participated in the Ready to Learn study received teacher guides that included daily teaching scripts and 10 weeks of classroom activities, with suggestions and instructions for using other materials provided (such as magnetic letters, clay, and picture books).

2009 Coach Guides
Teachers received ongoing professional development from coaches who reviewed curricula materials and provided on-site support for implementation and teaching practice. Coaches received guides for either the 10-week literacy or science intervention.

These versions of the teacher and coach guides are artifacts from the efficacy study; revised and updated versions have been used in our later work.

Studies, 2007-2011

Year One Context Studies (2011) provides a picture of how preschool and outside-of-school educators are using new and emerging digital platforms to support math and literacy learning.

A case-study report, Organizing for Literacy (2010), presented qualitative research examining the collaborative partnerships among local public-media stations and community-based organizations in educational outreach activities to support early literacy.

The Summative Evaluation (2009) reported on a national efficacy study that investigated whether a multimedia literacy intervention, implemented by teachers in early childhood centers, could positively impact low-income children's early literacy skills. The study found that to be the case. We've also made the study observation tool and assessment battery available.

A pilot study in 2008 looked at an existing intervention that included components the literature review suggested were essential; the study focused on young children's learning with parents in the home.

An initial meta-analysis of research on media and its effects on early literacy (2007) was intended to inform the design of an intervention and determine the necessary sample size for an efficacy trial of a multimedia intervention.

Publications

Publications
In addition to conveying the findings of our Ready to Learn studies in reports, we have written about this work in articles for peer-reviewed research journals and in papers for publication and presentation at conferences.
ECRQ 2012
ICLS 2010
What Works Clearinghouse

Conferences
These documents record our participation in panel discussions and symposia at conferences where we presented on Ready to Learn research.
AERA 2010
SREE 2010

About

About Ready to Learn
In 1994, Congress allocated significant resources to support the development of the Ready to Learn initiative, in the belief that publicly funded media can support young children's learning. The mandate was to create high-quality, noncommercial programming to serve low-income children and their families. Ready to Learn not only maintains that media, with the support of outreach efforts, can improve young children's school readiness by arming them with literacy skills, it also places considerable emphasis on evidence of the initiative's effectiveness.
As the Corporation for Public Broadcasting's summative evaluation partner from 2006 to 2010, Education Development Center, Inc., in collaboration with SRI International, undertook research to determine the effectiveness of the most recent Ready to Learn intervention. This website contains the reports and papers based on our research to date, which has informed new approaches and expanded initiatives. We look forward to continuing our work with Ready to Learn.
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.

Pricipal Investigators

Shelley Pasnik(bio)
sp@edc.org
(212) 807-4255
Carlin Llorente
carlin.llorent@sri.com
(650) 859-2381

Support Provided By

News

Our Ready to Learn work has been covered by both the digital and traditional press. Here are some examples.
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting released a report, Findings from Ready to Learn, 2005-2010, which included summaries from our research, as well as a full listing of our reports and presentations related to Ready to Learn.
CPB Media Room
An article on the MacArthur Foundation‘s Spotlight on Digital Media and Learning website reviewed the Ready to Learn evaluation study and quoted CCT director Shelley Pasnik in discussing the findings.
MacArthur Foundation Spotlight
Paula Kerger, president and CEO of PBS, cited the Ready to Learn research showing public broadcasting's educational benefits for young children in her article, “Zeroing Out Public Broadcasting Does Not Add Up,” on the Huffington Post.
Huffington Post
Shelley Pasnik, director of CCT, traveled to Pasadena, CA, in 2011 to join the PBS Kids panel at the annual Television Critics Association winter press tour. The TCA represents more than 200 journalists who write about television for print and online outlets in the U.S. and Canada.
NPR
In October 2010, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting announced a $72 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education for the next phase of Ready to Learn research, development, and distribution of materials.
CPB Media Room
The story of the Ready to Learn summative evaluation findings was picked up by a wide variety of sources, such as Southwest Airlines’ Spirit magazine.
Spirit Magazine
More traditional educational and mainstream press, such as the following, also covered the Ready to Learn summative evaluation study extensively.
October 21, 2009
November 5, 2009
November 29, 2009
October 14, 2009
November 12, 2009
October 15, 2009