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11) Do your workshops really make a difference in the way parents and caregivers watch TV and help children prepare for school?

The research into Ready To Learn is very positive. On a national level, PBS contracted with the Institute for Communication Research at the University of Alabama to evaluate the effectiveness of the PBS Ready To Learn service. Evaluation of PBS Ready to Learn Service (for a complete executive summary click here ) as well as local assessments support the contention that we are making in helping children start school ready to learn. Teaching both parents and child care providers seems to be effective.

Parents:

RTL had a strong, positive impact on parents who attended a workshop. The one-month assessment showed that parents significantly adjusted their families' television watching and educational activities. A six-month follow-up survey showed that these positive changes intensified over time, rather than diminished—the opposite of what might be expected.

Key findings for parents who attended an RTL workshop:

• 35 percent increase in the number of times parents read to their children, which translated into an additional 46 minutes per week.
  • Engaged twice as often with their children in hands-on or book-related activities.
  • Spent 40 percent more time reading educational materials to their children.
  • Took their children to the library 67 percent more often and made 76 percent more trips to bookstores each month.
• 40 percent reduction in the amount of television their children watched on a typical day
• 76 percent increase in the amount of time parents spent watching TV with their children
• 50 percent increase in the amount of time parents and children spent discussing what they watched together
• Many parents reported that they instituted informal guidelines regarding TV viewing for their households after their workshop. A significant number implemented concrete rules.
• Nearly 20 percent more parents required their children to complete certain tasks or chores before the TV set could be turned on.
• 18 percent more parents only allowed television viewing during certain times of day.
• 17 percent of parents limited the amount of time children could watch television.
• 25 percent increase in viewing programs which parents felt would help prepare children for school
• 22 percent more viewing shows that helped them acquire information
  • 18 percent more viewing shows that encouraged reading
  • 18 percent more viewing shows that helped develop character
  • 15 percent more viewing shows that helped teach practical skills

Child-Care Providers:

While there were minor improvements in the use of television as a learning tool by child-care providers who attended a workshop, the results were not at as dramatic as those reported by parents.

However, Iowa Public Television's Ready To Learn Service analyzed evaluations from its workshops and found that 80 percent said they were likely or very likely to watch a particular program and combine it with books and activities.

Additional findings from IPTV's research include:

• 86 percent felt confident about their abilities to watch interactively and connect to books and activities.
• 86 percent felt the workshop was worth their time.
• 62 percent were interested in more training
• 73 percent felt the workshop would help them improve their relationship with children
• 78 percent felt the workshop would make the time they spent with children more productive