Archived Information

Ready-to-Learn Television

Goal: To develop, produce, and distribute video programming and
educational materials for preschool and elementary school children and
their parents in order to facilitate the achievement of the National
Education Goal for all children in America to start school ready to
learn.

**Relationship of Program to Volume 1. Department-wide Objectives:**
Ready to Learn (RTL) Television's activities support Objectives 2.1
(children enter school ready to learn) and 2.2 (reading) through the
development and distribution of educational video for preschool and
elementary school children and their parents. Another feature of the
program is training parents and caregivers through community
partnerships, which supports Objective 1.5 (families and communities).

FY 2000---\$16,000,000

FY 2001---\$16,000,000 (Requested budget)

Objective 1: Develop, produce, and distribute high-quality televised
educational programming and written educational materials for preschool
and elementary school children and their caregivers.

+----+-----------+-------------+------------------+------------------+
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| ew |           |             |                  |                  |
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| s. |           |             |                  |                  |
| ** |           |             |                  |                  |
+----+-----------+-------------+------------------+------------------+
| T  |           |             | Assessment of    | Sources and Data |
| ar |           |             | Progress         | Quality          |
| ge |           |             |                  |                  |
| ts |           |             |                  |                  |
| a  |           |             |                  |                  |
| nd |           |             |                  |                  |
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| fo |           |             |                  |                  |
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| an |           |             |                  |                  |
| ce |           |             |                  |                  |
| Da |           |             |                  |                  |
| ta |           |             |                  |                  |
+----+-----------+-------------+------------------+------------------+
| *  |           |             | **Status:**      | **Source:**      |
| Nu |           |             | Number of        | Performance      |
| mb |           |             | stations, target | Reports from the |
| er |           |             | met. A baseline  | Corporation for  |
| of |           |             | has yet to be    | Public           |
| s  |           |             | determined for   | Broadcasting;    |
| ta |           |             | number of        | PBS/RTL          |
| ti |           |             | viewers. The     | stations.        |
| on |           |             | first series     |                  |
| s* |           |             | aired in the     | *Frequency:*     |
|    |           |             | fall of 1999 and | Annually.        |
|    |           |             | a second series  |                  |
|    |           |             | will premiere in | *Next update:*   |
|    |           |             | spring 2000.     | 2000.            |
|    |           |             |                  |                  |
|    |           |             | **Explanation:** | Reports from     |
|    |           |             | Positive         | producers,       |
|    |           |             | movement towards | WGBH-Boston, and |
|    |           |             | target is        | The Children's   |
|    |           |             | expected.        | Television       |
|    |           |             |                  | Workshop.        |
|    |           |             | The number of    |                  |
|    |           |             | stations         | *Frequency:*     |
|    |           |             | participating in | Annually.        |
|    |           |             | RTL has grown    |                  |
|    |           |             | from 48 in 1995  | *Next update:*   |
|    |           |             | to 132 in 2000.  | 2000.            |
|    |           |             | The current      |                  |
|    |           |             | number           | **Validation     |
|    |           |             | represents a     | Procedure:**     |
|    |           |             | potential reach  | Data supplied by |
|    |           |             | of 99% of the    | the Corporation  |
|    |           |             | nation. The      | for Public       |
|    |           |             | total number of  | Broadcasting.    |
|    |           |             | children and     |                  |
|    |           |             | adults reached   | **Limitations of |
|    |           |             | through RTL      | Data and Planned |
|    |           |             | services is      | Improvements:**  |
|    |           |             | 5,503,842.       | While the number |
|    |           |             |                  | of RTL stations  |
|    |           |             | Annual           | may increase,    |
|    |           |             | programming      | this does not    |
|    |           |             | analyses are     | ensure that the  |
|    |           |             | collected        | number of        |
|    |           |             | routinely at a   | viewers will     |
|    |           |             | 6-month and      | increase.        |
|    |           |             | year-end cycles  | Ratings for      |
|    |           |             | from PBS/ RTL    | shows will be    |
|    |           |             | stations and     | included in      |
|    |           |             | CPB. The numbers | reports as       |
|    |           |             | of viewers will  | available.       |
|    |           |             | be entered to    |                  |
|    |           |             | provide          | Viewer           |
|    |           |             | indicator        | statistics are   |
|    |           |             | analysis that    | not available    |
|    |           |             | can reflect      | but will be      |
|    |           |             | viewers as well  | available. A     |
|    |           |             | as stations.     | 2-year           |
|    |           |             |                  | evaluative study |
|    |           |             |                  | of RTL Services  |
|    |           |             |                  | is due by        |
|    |           |             |                  | mid-2000.        |
+----+-----------+-------------+------------------+------------------+
| ** | ##        | **          |                  |                  |
| Ye | Actual Pe | Performance |                  |                  |
| ar | rformance | Targets**   |                  |                  |
| ** |           |             |                  |                  |
+----+-----------+-------------+------------------+------------------+
| 1  | 48        |             |                  |                  |
| 99 |           |             |                  |                  |
| 5: |           |             |                  |                  |
+----+-----------+-------------+------------------+------------------+
| *  | **130**   | **No target |                  |                  |
| *1 |           | set**       |                  |                  |
| 99 |           |             |                  |                  |
| 9: |           |             |                  |                  |
| ** |           |             |                  |                  |
+----+-----------+-------------+------------------+------------------+
| 2  | 132       | 132         |                  |                  |
| 00 |           |             |                  |                  |
| 0: |           |             |                  |                  |
+----+-----------+-------------+------------------+------------------+
| 2  |           | 137         |                  |                  |
| 00 |           |             |                  |                  |
| 1: |           |             |                  |                  |
+----+-----------+-------------+------------------+------------------+
| #  |           |             |                  |                  |
| ## |           |             |                  |                  |
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|  N |           |             |                  |                  |
| um |           |             |                  |                  |
| be |           |             |                  |                  |
| r  |           |             |                  |                  |
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|  v |           |             |                  |                  |
| ie |           |             |                  |                  |
| we |           |             |                  |                  |
| rs |           |             |                  |                  |
+----+-----------+-------------+------------------+------------------+
| *  | **First** | **C         |                  |                  |
| *1 | **update  | ontinuing** |                  |                  |
| 99 | 2000**    | *           |                  |                  |
| 9: |           | *increase** |                  |                  |
| ** |           |             |                  |                  |
+----+-----------+-------------+------------------+------------------+
| 2  |           | 4.5 to 6    |                  |                  |
| 00 |           | million     |                  |                  |
| 0: |           | adult and   |                  |                  |
|    |           | young       |                  |                  |
|    |           | viewers     |                  |                  |
|    |           | weekly      |                  |                  |
+----+-----------+-------------+------------------+------------------+
| 2  |           | Continuing  |                  |                  |
| 00 |           | increase    |                  |                  |
| 1: |           |             |                  |                  |
+----+-----------+-------------+------------------+------------------+

Objective 2: Provide training to education personnel in the public
television community so that they can train parents and caregivers to
help children become ready to learn.

+----+-----------+-------------+------------------+------------------+
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| 0. |           |             |                  |                  |
| ** |           |             |                  |                  |
+----+-----------+-------------+------------------+------------------+
| T  |           |             | Assessment of    | Sources and Data |
| ar |           |             | Progress         | Quality          |
| ge |           |             |                  |                  |
| ts |           |             |                  |                  |
| a  |           |             |                  |                  |
| nd |           |             |                  |                  |
| P  |           |             |                  |                  |
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+----+-----------+-------------+------------------+------------------+
| #  |           |             | **Status:** No   | **Source:** CPB  |
| #  |           |             | target set, but  | Annual           |
| *N |           |             | progress is      | Performance      |
| um |           |             | likely.          | Reports, 2000.   |
| be |           |             |                  |                  |
| r  |           |             | **Explanation:** | *Frequency*:     |
| of |           |             | Number of        | Biennially.      |
|  p |           |             | parents and      |                  |
| ar |           |             | caregivers       | ##### Ne         |
| en |           |             | trained is       | xt Update: 2000. |
| ts |           |             | projected to     |                  |
|  a |           |             | increase in both | **Validation     |
| nd |           |             | 2000 and 2001.   | Procedure:**     |
|  c |           |             |                  | Data supplied by |
| ar |           |             | In 1995, 23,187  | the Corporation  |
| eg |           |             | caregivers were  | for Public       |
| iv |           |             | trained. In      | Broadcasting.    |
| er |           |             | 1996, 74,049     |                  |
| s  |           |             | caregivers were  | **Limitations of |
| tr |           |             | trained. In      | Data and Planned |
| ai |           |             | 1997, 98,015     | Improvements:**  |
| ne |           |             | caregivers were  | Combined with    |
| d* |           |             | trained. In      | the              |
|    |           |             | 1998, 146,392    | ever-changing    |
|    |           |             | caregivers were  | problems of      |
|    |           |             | trained. In      | meeting the      |
|    |           |             | 1999, 309,454    | needs of working |
|    |           |             | caregivers were  | parents and the  |
|    |           |             | trained. We      | schedule of      |
|    |           |             | anticipate       | overburdened     |
|    |           |             | training 340,000 | caregivers.      |
|    |           |             | caregivers will  |                  |
|    |           |             | be trained in    |                  |
|    |           |             | 2000 and 380,000 |                  |
|    |           |             | in 2001.         |                  |
+----+-----------+-------------+------------------+------------------+
| ** | **Actual  | ## Performa |                  |                  |
| Ye | Perf      | nce Targets |                  |                  |
| ar | ormance** |             |                  |                  |
| ** |           |             |                  |                  |
+----+-----------+-------------+------------------+------------------+
| 1  | 45,447    |             |                  |                  |
| 99 |           |             |                  |                  |
| 5: |           |             |                  |                  |
+----+-----------+-------------+------------------+------------------+
| 1  | 118,274   |             |                  |                  |
| 99 |           |             |                  |                  |
| 6: |           |             |                  |                  |
+----+-----------+-------------+------------------+------------------+
| 1  | 219,256   |             |                  |                  |
| 99 |           |             |                  |                  |
| 7: |           |             |                  |                  |
+----+-----------+-------------+------------------+------------------+
| 1  | 332,523   |             |                  |                  |
| 99 |           |             |                  |                  |
| 8: |           |             |                  |                  |
+----+-----------+-------------+------------------+------------------+
| *  | **        | **246,274** |                  |                  |
| *1 | 563,075** |             |                  |                  |
| 99 |           |             |                  |                  |
| 9: |           |             |                  |                  |
| ** |           |             |                  |                  |
+----+-----------+-------------+------------------+------------------+
| 2  |           | 600,000     |                  |                  |
| 00 |           |             |                  |                  |
| 0: |           |             |                  |                  |
+----+-----------+-------------+------------------+------------------+
| 2  |           | 650,000     |                  |                  |
| 00 |           |             |                  |                  |
| 1: |           |             |                  |                  |
+----+-----------+-------------+------------------+------------------+

### Key Strategies

[Strategies]{.underline} [Continued]{.underline} [from 1999]{.underline}

None.

[New or Strengthened Strategies]{.underline}

Monitor progress of current projects and monitor program quality. For
example, review performance reports from the CPB, the Children's
Television Workshop, and WGBH-Boston.

-   To address the issue of collaboration, the program will participate
    in developing and supporting collaborations with other Federal
    agencies, foundations, and related early childhood groups.

-   To address the issue of distributing educational materials and
    information, the program will support the development and use of
    workshops to distribute educational material and information to
    caregivers and children.

-   To address the issue of providing information over the Web, the
    program will provide educational materials through the RTL Web site.

-   To address the issue of training quality, the program will evaluate
    the training quality and RTL programming and outreach activities.

-   To address the issue of training for RTL Coordinators, the program
    will support and develop workshops for training of RTL coordinators
    and caregivers.

### How This Program Coordinates With Other Federal Activities

-   Other agencies (Federal and non-Federal) working in collaboration
    with RTL stations include HUD, Head Start, Child Care, HHS, DOJ,
    Maternal and Child Health, NAEYC, local AEYC affiliates, local
    hospitals, libraries, early childhood professional associations,
    institutions of higher education, local literacy initiatives and
    other mission-related organizations. Through these contacts,
    outreach services distribute children's books and the RTL
    magazine---PBS Families/Para la Familia---provide parenting classes,
    support professional networking and continuous education experiences
    for families and education professionals.

### Challenges to Achieving Program Goal

-   It is expected that challenges for RTL Coordinators will originate
    out of a wide range of socioeconomic, educational, and cultural
    differences that they represent for a program developed and
    implemented as a national model. Offering workshops that can meet
    the wide range of needs and learning styles requires skill and much
    preparation to be successful and thorough. Coordinators strive hard
    to provide the best quality sessions, resources, and materials for
    workshop participants in their diverse communities. The national RTL
    office works equally hard to support the coordinators with
    professional development and materials that reflect the current
    research, are thorough, accurate, and yet, flexible enough that
    coordinators can adapt to their needs.

**[Indicator Changes]{.smallcaps}**

**From FY 1999** **Annual Plan (two years old)**

[Adjusted]{.underline}---None.

### Indicator Changes (continued)

######## Dropped

-   Indicators 1.2, 1.3, and 2.2 were dropped from the plan as output,
    rather than outcome, indicators.

**From FY 2000** **Annual Plan (last year's)**

[Adjusted]{.underline}---None.

[Dropped]{.underline}---None.

[New]{.underline}---None.