Federal

Studies Support Benefits of Educational TV for Reading

By Kathleen Kennedy Manzo — March 02, 2009 6 min read
BRIC ARCHIVE
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Even the harshest critics of the role that television plays in children’s lives would have a hard time arguing that Elmo and Big Bird are bad for youngsters. From the earliest days of “Sesame Street” nearly four decades ago, educational television has earned high praise and millions of fans for entertaining and educating young children.

Now, a new generation of programs, and a rigorous research effort to test its impact, is adding to the “Sesame Street” legacy and working to clarify for parents the potential benefits of television viewing, particularly for literacy development.

While learning experts surely agree that too much television and inappropriate content can have detrimental effects on children, the right kinds of programs can set them on the path toward reading.

“I’m a big supporter of media technology and I do agree that kids spend far too much time with television and other media,” said Milton Chen, who in the mid-1990s helped launch the Ready to Learn Service, a partnership between the Public Broadcasting Service, or PBS, and the U.S. Department of Education to create educational programming. “But I come out on the side that specific television programs and experiences can very much support literacy.”

Well-designed programs can teach distinct skills such as letter and sound recognition, as well as cultivate a love of reading, said Mr. Chen, the director of the George Lucas Educational Foundation in San Rafael, Calif. As the director of research earlier in his career for the Children’s Television Workshop, which has since been renamed Sesame Workshop, Mr. Chen helped to design and test some of the lessons embedded in programs like “Sesame Street” and “The Electric Company.”

Gains in Understanding

Literacy has been a dominant theme of public-television programs since the first episodes of “Sesame Street” pioneered the genre in November 1969.

Many parents since then have observed firsthand the effectiveness of those lessons, such as one on “Sesame Street” that featured Y as the letter of the day and was accompanied by Grammy winner Norah Jones singing her song, “Don’t Know Why.” Or when Synonym Sam, the girl genius character on “Between the Lions,” demonstrated the meaning of sets of words like “walk,” “strut,” and “stride.”

There is now growing empirical evidence that such carefully crafted segments deliver an academic punch.

A federally financed study released last month, for example, found that “WordWorld,” a program funded under the Ready to Learn initiative, helps preschool children learn oral vocabulary and featured words.

“Between the Lions,” hosted by a puppet family of lions who live in the New York City Library, has been studied even more extensively. Studies on the 10-year-old program have linked it to significant gains in students’ understanding of how letters combine to make words, as well as of the purpose of the printed word.

The American Academy of Pediatrics has recognized that some television programming has benefits. But the Elk Grove Village, Ill.-based organization urges parents to avoid television viewing altogether for children under age 2, a prime audience for many programs, because it may be detrimental to their brain development.

The academy also points to the potential for television in general to send the wrong messages about violence, drug use, and other negative behaviors, as well as its documented role in promoting sedentary behavior that can lead to childhood obesity.

The Ready to Learn initiative, begun in 1995, set new priorities for children’s television several years ago, requiring that new programs receiving public funding home in on early literacy. At least a quarter of federal grant money for the programs must be used for research to drive their design and gauge whether the lessons in the programs affect children’s literacy development.

That research is now emerging and providing critical information on the most effective approaches to infusing learning into television programming, according to Deborah L. Linebarger, the director of the Children and Media Lab at the Annenberg School for Communications at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

“We know that we can successfully merge learning and appeal to children, but it takes work,” said Ms. Linebarger, who is studying the impact of several popular shows on public television, including “Between the Lions” and “Super Why!”

The best programs, she said, create content that reflects research on how children learn and test it out on children prior to putting it on television. While public television tends to dominate the educational market, she said that the cable stations Nickelodeon and the Disney Channel have also found success in promoting children’s learning on shows such as “Blues Clues” and “Little Einsteins.”

“When they do these things and kids understand them and like them, the shows are really successful,” Ms. Linebarger said, adding that the commercial success can often underwrite the costly development process.

‘Literacy 360 Approach’

Even as children become more accustomed to different kinds of media, from computer games to interactive Web sites, children’s television has held a large and steady audience, experts say. The newer programs, and even those now heading into middle age, are adapting their approach to engage the digital generation. Most of the shows have accompanying Web sites that provide video clips, activities, and related lessons and games.

“Television, particularly for preschoolers and the early grades, is still king,” said Michael H. Levine, the executive director of the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop, which promotes research and best practices about digital learning for young children. “But now everything needs to be developed for a range of different platforms.”

The Sesame Street site, for example, provides podcasts with vocabulary lessons and information related to a selected word, such as “dog.” A video clip is offered as well, with former “Late Night” talk-show host Conan O’Brien explaining interesting facts about dogs.

“They are taking a literacy 360 approach and surrounding kids with learning opportunities,” Ms. Linebarger said.

Those resources help to broaden the impact of the programs and provide learning opportunities beyond the television hour, she added.

With a range of activities, and even some aligned assessment tools, parents and caregivers can use educational programming more formally to teach children, experts say. A summer camp was launched last year in association with the “Super Why!” program on PBS and will be offered around the country this year.

PBS is reaching out to parents and caregivers through social-networking tools, such as Twitter, to provide reminders and daily strategies for nurturing language development and background knowledge, precursors to reading. Public-television officials are also devising initiatives to train early-childhood professionals to use educational television and other digital media to promote learning goals.

Detrimental Effects?

Parents and caregivers, however, need to be aware of the darker side of television, some experts say, particularly in light of data suggesting that children’s daily media exposure can exceed the amount of time they spend in school.

“It would seem that viewing of age-appropriate educational programming in the preschool years is positively associated with reading,” Marie Evans Schmidt, a research associate at the Center on Media and Child Health at Children’s Hospital in Boston, wrote in an e-mail. “But there may be some detrimental effects of TV viewing in general (total hours viewed) for slightly older children who are learning to read.

The thought is that watching TV may displace reading practice, which of course affects whether and how soon children become fluent readers.”

That’s why television focused on learning is a valuable asset worthy of public support, said Susan T. Zellman, the vice president for education and children’s content at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the nonprofit organization established by Congress that underwrites public television and radio services.

“These characters are engaging, and the kids are drawn into [lessons] by the characters and the stories, so you motivate them to learn,” she said. “Educational television is so powerful and the research is so compelling.”

Related Tags:

A version of this article appeared in the March 04, 2009 edition of Education Week as Studies Support Benefits of Educational TV for Reading

Events

School Climate & Safety Webinar Engaging Every Student: How to Address Absenteeism and Build Belonging
Gain valuable insights and practical solutions to address absenteeism and build a more welcoming and supportive school environment.
Student Well-Being K-12 Essentials Forum Social-Emotional Learning 2025: Examining Priorities and Practices
Join this free virtual event to learn about SEL strategies, skills, and to hear from experts on the use and expansion of SEL programs.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Professional Development Webinar
Inside PLCs: Proven Strategies from K-12 Leaders
Join an expert panel to explore strategies for building collaborative PLCs, overcoming common challenges, and using data effectively.
Content provided by Otus

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Federal Trump's 3rd Week: Restrictions on Trans Athletes and Moves to Gut the Ed. Dept.
In his third week, the president continued his foray into education, gearing up to shrink the U.S. Department of Education.
7 min read
The exterior of the Department of Education Building in Washington, DC on Thursday, December 14, 2017.
The exterior of the Department of Education Building in Washington, DC on Thursday, Dec. 14, 2017. President Donald Trump is reportedly weighing an executive order that would lay the groundwork to eliminate the department.
Swikar Patel/Education Week
Federal Trump Threatens Funds to Schools That Let Trans Athletes Compete on Girls' Teams
The sweeping order is a reversal from the Biden administration, and continues efforts from Trump to roll back protections for transgender youth and adults.
4 min read
President Donald Trump speaks before signing an executive order barring transgender female athletes from competing in women's or girls' sporting events, in the East Room of the White House, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025, in Washington.
President Donald Trump speaks before signing an executive order barring transgender female athletes from competing in women's or girls' sporting events, in the East Room of the White House, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025, in Washington.
Alex Brandon/AP
Federal Can Trump Ax the Education Department Without Congress?
Trump has been flexing his power through executive orders, and there's the potential for one targeting the Education Department.
7 min read
The U.S. Department of Education in Washington, D.C., is pictured on Feb. 21, 2021.
The U.S. Department of Education in Washington, D.C., is pictured on Feb. 21, 2021. President Donald Trump could issue an executive order to downsize the department. It would have limitations.
Graeme Sloan/Sipa USA via AP
Federal Top House Lawmaker Supports Trump's Bid to 'Depower' Education Department
The House education committee chairman believes "even the best-meaning bureaucrat" can't understand what's happening in local schools.
5 min read
Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Mich., speaks during an event at the COP28 U.N. Climate Summit on Dec. 9, 2023, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Mich., speaks at the U.N. Climate Summit on Dec. 9, 2023, in Dubai. Walberg, the newly minted chair of the U.S. House's education and workforce committee, said at a Tuesday event that he wouldn't stand in the way of President Donald Trump's efforts to diminish or close the U.S. Department of Education.
Joshua A. Bickel/AP