Mary Ann Zehr, in an Ed Week article published October 14, 2009 online, reported that the findings of a large-scale evaluation funded by the U.S. Department of Education and the Corporation of Public Broadcasting show effective gains in literacy skills needed for kindergarten. This study was conducted in a randomized control study which looked at a technology-supported literacy curriculum that “involved video from Super Why!, Sesame Street, and Between the Lions, which are programs produced by PBS.” In addition, the study also targeted online games which have a focus on some literacy skills.

Three hundred and ninety-eight low-income children were chosen to participate from 47 preschool centers in San Francisco and New York City. Many made significant gains in “acquiring skills such as naming letters, knowing the sounds associated with those letters, and understanding concepts about stories and printed words.” Bill Penuel, the Director of Evaluation Research for SRI International, summarized, “when you put these things together, preschool teachers can implement something that is powerful, and it can have effects that help to close the gap between low-income students for school readiness.”