APTS Commends the U.S. Department of Education for Funding Ready To Learn
WASHINGTON — May 16, 2011 — The Association of Public Television Stations (APTS) today commended the U.S. Department of Education for providing $27.3 million in funding for Ready To Learn, public television’s core on-air and online educational content which builds the reading skills of children between the ages of 2-8.
“We are grateful to the U.S. Department of Education, Secretary Duncan and President Obama for continuing to value public television’s educational programming and services by funding Ready To Learn,” said Patrick Butler, president and CEO of APTS. “The inclusion of this funding during the challenging budget climate underscores the importance of Ready To Learn. Local public television stations across the country use the programs’ television content and cutting-edge technologies, through on-line resources and games, as well as on-the-ground outreach, to reach the most underserved families in their local communities.”
Ready To Learn funds research-based and teacher-tested television programs and services that teach key reading, math and STEM skills, effectively reaching target children from low-income families. These programs, which include SUPER WHY!, WordWorld, Martha Speaks, Sesame Street, Between the Lions and The Electric Company are created by the best educational children’s content producers.
Over 60 studies in the past five years have affirmed the impact of Ready To Learn. For example, a recent evaluation of the program’s effectiveness done by the Education Development Center and SRI International found that children using the Ready To Learn Curriculum knew an average of 21.2 letters, compared with 16.8 letter for the children using the comparison curriculum. Additionally, it found that children using the Ready To Learn curriculum also knew an average of 10 letter sounds, compared to 6.3 letter sounds for children using the comparison curriculum.
About APTS
The Association of Public Television Stations (APTS) is a nonprofit membership organization established in 1979. The mission of APTS is to conduct – in concert with member stations – advocacy, planning, research and communications activities in order to achieve strong and financially sound noncommercial television and advanced digital services for the American people. APTS provides consistent leadership and information that helps our members better accomplish their own missions and goals. Through its affiliate APTS Action, APTS promotes the legislative and regulatory interests of noncommercial television stations at the national level through direct advocacy, and grasstops and grassroots campaigns designed to garner congressional support. For more information, visit www.apts.org.
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