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Overall gains from the study demonstrate that regardless of demographic,children developed important early literacy skills by watching WordWorldduring the trial period. Key findings include:
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"We set out with the goal of delivering a critical literacy tool to moms,children and educators that would bridge the gap between letter recognitionand reading," said Don Moody, CEO and Creator of WordWorld. "We are thrilledto find that by all measures, WordWorld is proven to advance children'sliteracy skills and prepare them for school."
The innovative WordWorld platform was developed in response to theNational Reading Panel report, which set the standards for assessing theeffectiveness of methods used in early literacy instruction(1). Bycollaborating with top literacy experts from around the United States totarget early literacy skills identified as most critical for supportingreading success, WordWorld reinforces the pre-literacy concept that letters(and their sounds) make words and that words have real meaning.
"This study, utilizing rigorous scientific methodology and conducted incollaboration with leading researchers at six major universities, is designedto assess the effectiveness of an educational media product, WordWorld," saidDr. Michael Cohen, president of the Michael Cohen Group LLC. "The results areencouraging: WordWorld is effective, with participating children acquiringessential early literacy skills."
To measure the effectiveness of the popular television series, the MichaelCohen Group LLC, in collaboration with university partners at StanfordUniversity, University of New Mexico at Albuquerque, University of Texas atAustin, Mississippi State, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, and CityUniversity of New York, Graduate Center used a rigorous study design, known asa randomized controlled trial, to conduct the study. The sample size wascomprised of 795 children in 105 preschool programs and featured differentdemographics across the university test sites across the nation. Eachparticipating preschool was randomly assigned into one of two groups, thosewho watched WordWorld and those who did not.
The Ready To Learn Partnership was launched in 2005 to tackle the growingliteracy crisis in the United States. It is a public-private consortiumconsisting of WTTW Channel 11 in Chicago, the Michael Cohen Group LLC, theLearning Box and WordWorld. To learn more about the Ready To Learn Partnershipand WordWorld visit http://www.rtlp.org and http://pbskids.org/wordworld.
The Ready To Learn Partnership
The Ready To Learn Partnership (RTLP) is a consortium of children's mediacreators, early childhood educators, communications professionals, evaluatorsand a public television affiliate that was awarded a Ready To LearnCooperative Agreement in 2005 by the U.S. Department of Education. Fundedactivities are focused on creating and researching media-based interventionsto engender young children's early literacy acquisition, with an emphasis onchildren living in families at the lowest income levels. The WordWorldtelevision series, the first of four properties being produced by the RTLP,was created to meet these objectives.
About WordWorld, LLC
WordWorld, LLC, created by Don Moody, is a multimedia platform thatengages kids through television (PBS Kids), via interactive resources, andwith learning products available at Target. Through a first-of-its-kind,patent-pending learning tool, all "WordWorld" products embed words into imagesto enhance word recognition. WordWorld, LLC is part of the Ready To LearnPartnership (RTLP), a public-private consortium awarded a five-yearmultimillion dollar grant by the U.S. Department of Education. Members of theconsortium include Chicago PBS member station WTTW and the Michael CohenGroup, an international research firm responsible for formative and summativetesting of the show. For more information please visit the company's websiteat http://www.WordWorld.com/presskit.
About Michael Cohen Group LLC
Michael Cohen Group LLC (MCG) is an independent research and publicopinion firm with expertise in education, children, youth, adolescents,families, media, policy and strategic communications. MCG, headquartered inNew York, is the principal evaluation team of the Ready To Learn Partnership(RTLP), awarded the Ready to Learn Media Grant by the U.S. Department ofEducation. For more information visit http://www.mcgrc.com.
About WTTW National Productions
WTTW National Productions is a premier producer and presenter of original,high-quality television programs for both public and commercial televisionbroadcast. WTTW National Productions is a division of Window to the WorldCommunications, Inc., the parent company of WTTW11 Chicago. For more than 50years, WTTW11 and WTTW National Productions have introduced a wide array ofground-breaking television programming -- reflecting the world's rich anddiverse arts and entertainment scene as well as education, politics, publicaffairs, business, and religion -- to a national audience.
(1) National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. (2000).Report of the National Reading Panel. Teaching children to read: anevidence-based assessment of the scientific research literature on reading andits implications for reading instruction. Retrieved November 13, 2008, fromhttp://www.nichd.nih.gov/publication/nrp/smallbook.cfm
The contents of this press release were developed under a CooperativeAgreement from the U.S. Department of Education. However, these contents donot necessarily represent the policy of the Department of Education, and youshould not assume endorsement by the Federal Government-- Children doubled their oral vocabulary skills of words featured in WordWorld -- Children tripled their ability to read specific words featured and built in WordWorld -- Children in disadvantaged households where English is a second language showed gains in phonemic awareness, as well as oral vocabulary and reading words featured in WordWorld
SOURCE WordWorld, LLC
