PBS 45 & 49’s Ready To Learn Service selected for national evaluation

PBS 45 & 49’s Ready To Learn (RTL) Service, in cooperation with Akron Public Schools Head Start and KidsPlay Inc., is one of 20 sites nationwide that has been selected to be part of a national evaluation of the PBS-sponsored RTL service.

The stations were selected for several reasons. “Our demographics are attractive to researchers because we serve urban, suburban and rural children representing a diverse population,” explained Bree Silski, the stations’ Ready To Learn coordinator. “In addition, the evaluators are impressed by the breadth and scope of services we provide in northeast Ohio.”

The RTL Service provides free workshops to parents, childcare providers and teachers on ways to use PBS children’s programs to help prepare children to be ready for school. The national evaluation will look at how these workshops affect the behavior of adults who participate in them; determine the extent to which caregiver workshop attendance affects the development and school readiness of the children in their care; and establish which workshop features are associated with behavior change.

“It’s an honor to be selected for this evaluation,” said Silski, “because it signifies that our local Ready To Learn Service is recognized nationally.”

PBS 45 & 49 launched its RTL Service in 1996. Since 1998, the stations have presented over 525 workshops to more than 5,800 childcare providers and parents who care for more than 35,600 children.

Findings from the national evaluation will be ready in about one year and will help shape the future of PBS’s RTL Service across the country.