Key Research Findings

Between the Lions, the award-winning PBS children's series created specifically to improve literacy, is built on a strong foundation of evidence-based research about how children learn to read. Since before the first episode premiered in April 2000, Between the Lions has been the subject of several independent, scientifically-based reading research studies assessing the effectiveness of the series in achieving its literacy goals. These studies have all shown that Between the Lions has a significant impact on increasing children's literacy.

In addition to the studies summarized below, Between the Lions has conducted additional research to inform the development of the series. These studies have included:

Formative evaluation of the effectiveness and appeal of two pilot episodes, conducted by Dr. Barbara Flagg, Multimedia Research, Inc., New York, 1998
Appeal study conducted at the WGBH Viewing Lab by Patricia Harris, Director of Research, 1999
Eye-movement study, to assess the best placement and use of print on screen, conducted by Dr. Len Scinto, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, 2001
Appeal study conducted by the WGBH Research Department, 2006

University of Kansas Study, 2000
Mississippi State University Study, 2001-2002
Harvard University Study, 2001-2002
University of Pennsylvania Study, 2004-2005
University of Mississippi Study, 2005-2006
Children NOW Study, 2008

University of Kansas Study, 2000

Kindergarten and first-grade students in the greater Kansas City region watched 17 half-hour episodes of Between the Lions during a 4-week period before the show premiered in April 2000 on PBS. Teachers were instructed not to discuss the show or alter instruction in any way. These viewing students were compared to similar students who did not watch the episodes. The study was conducted by Dr. Deborah Linebarger, University of Kansas. Major findings include:

Kindergarten students who watched Between the Lions improved their reading skills significantly, compared to similar students who did not watch.

Students who watched outperformed students who didn't by 4:1 (50% gains vs. 13%) on skills emphasized in the programs, such as:

the ability to match letters with sounds (letter-sound correspondence)
the awareness that words are made up of sound units (phonemic awareness)
understanding how print differs from pictures, tracks left to right, etc. (concepts of print)

Kindergarten students who watched outperformed students who didn't watch in identifying letters of the alphabet (20% gains vs. 13%).

In the critical skill of matching letters and sounds, kindergarten students who watched Between the Lions improved by 64%, compared to only 25% gains by similar students who didn't watch. Learning was so accelerated that kindergarteners who watched the show exceeded the benchmark set for first-grade students.

Kindergarten students who watched Between the Lions outperformed students who didn't view on a standardized reading test (26% gains vs. 5%).

Both kindergarten and first-grade students who watched had significantly accelerated rates of growth in the gateway skill of understanding that words are made up of units of sound.

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Mississippi State University Study, 2001-2002

Between October 1, 2001, and April 30, 2002, Head Start, child care, kindergarten, and first-grade students in the Mississippi Delta town of Indianola and in the Pearl River community on the Choctaw Indian reservation participated in the Between the Lions Mississippi Literacy Initiative. Classroom teachers showed the students two half-hour Between the Lions episodes each week and received training in how to use a set of related children's books and resources along with the series to help teach reading. The reading skills of participating children were compared with a matched control group of students in neighboring communities at the outset of the project and throughout the school year. The research study was overseen by Dr. Cathy Grace, Coordinator of the Early Childhood Institute, and Dr. Debra Prince, Assistant Professor, Curriculum and Instruction, Mississippi State University. Major findings include:

Based on an initial measure of phonemic awareness--the ability to hear, identify, and manipulate individual sounds, or phonemes, in spoken words--researchers determined that 100% of the Indianola kindergartners and 74% of first graders were at high risk for reading failure. 99% of Choctaw kindergartners and 91% of first graders also fell into a high-risk group.

On the TERA-3, a standardized test that measures reading ability at the earliest stages, there were several positive findings for the children exposed to Between the Lions. For example:

All the Choctaw viewers and the Indianola kindergarten viewers significantly outperformed the control groups on the Conventions subtest, which measures what children know about books and other basic concepts of print, such as reading from top to bottom and left to right.
On the Alphabet subtest, the Indianola viewers displayed significantly higher levels of knowledge and use of letters than their peers in the control group.

Indianola students who viewed Between the Lions started significantly below the control group at the outset of the project on the DIBELS test for Initial Sound Fluency, but by the end of the project significantly outperformed their non-viewing peers and gained skills at a faster rate. This test, given to preschool and kindergarten children, measures their ability to identify the initial sounds of words, an important precursor for learning to read accurately.

On the DIBELS test for Letter/Sound Correspondence--which measures performance on nonsense-word reading, a high-level skill predictive of later fluent reading--Between the Lions viewers in Indianola performed significantly better and gained skills at a faster rate than students in the control group. For example:

At the end of the project, kindergarten viewers identified 34.7 letter sounds compared to 23.2 letter sounds for the control group. Further, they gained an average of 9.8 sounds each time they were tested, compared with 6.1 sounds per test for their counterparts in the control group.
In first grade, viewers at the end of the project identified 67 letter sounds versus 55.5 letter sounds for the control group. They were able to identify an additional 12.8 sounds each time they took the test, versus 9.2 for the control group.

On the PPVT-III test, which measures receptive, or listening, vocabulary and knowledge of word meanings, an important predictor of reading achievement in later grades, Indianola kindergartners who viewed Between the Lions significantly outperformed the control group.

Although the students who participated in the Between the Lions Mississippi Literacy Initiative did not outperform their non-viewing peers on all measures, "the differences found were meaningful," according to the research report. "Based on the results of this study, it appears that the Between the Lions series could be a meaningful part of overall reading interventions."

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BTL-Mississippi-8.pdf (492K)

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BTL-Mississippi.pdf (1.1MB)

Harvard University Study, 2001-2002

From October 2001-May 2002, Latino English-language learners in urban East Coast schools were randomly assigned to three groups: one-third watched Between the Lions three times per week during school hours, one-third watched a different PBS show (Arthur) three times per week, and one-third did not watch either show. Teachers provided no follow-up activities based on the viewing. The study, conducted by Yuuko Uchikoshi at Harvard University, focused on phonological awareness because it is one of the best predictors of subsequent reading achievement. Major findings include:

Spanish-speaking ELL kindergarten children who viewed Between the Lions performed significantly better on two out of three key measures of phonological awareness, compared to their peers who viewed Arthur or no educational television.

Elision: Viewing Between the Lions during school hours increased scores on this measure at a significantly faster pace than viewing Arthur or no educational television, after controlling for initial differences, home viewings, initial English vocabulary, initial Spanish vocabulary, and total number of children's books in the home. Those who viewed Between the Lions at home started slightly higher on the Elision subtest than students who did not watch this series at home.
Blending Words: Although the Between the Lions group initially scored significantly lower than the other two groups at the start of kindergarten (before the intervention), they scored significantly higher than the non-viewing and Arthur-viewing groups at the end of the study, and their scores on the Blending Words measure increased at a faster pace, after controlling for initial differences cited above.
Sound Matching: All groups improved on this measure at about the same pace, after controlling for other variables.

According to the study's author, "The findings suggest viewing Between the Lions is beneficial to children's early literacy skills."

University of Pennsylvania Study, 2004-2005

During the 2004-05 and 2005-06 school years, 48 classrooms in 11 Tribal Head Start programs participated in the Between the Lions American Indian Head Start Literacy Initiative, designed to increase the early English literacy skills of American Indian children in New Mexico Head Start centers. The project used 16 edited episodes of Between the Lions on DVDs along with related resources adapted specifically for a variety of American Indian communities. The research study was conducted by Dr. Deborah Linebarger, Assistant Professor, Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania. Major findings include:

Oral language and vocabulary improved significantly:

Typically, 5-1/2-year-old children score 26.9 on this measure, growing at .44 words/month.
Children from high poverty typically score 19.01, growing at .36 words/month.
After using Between the Lions, the children scored 29.94, and gained 1.84 words every 3 lessons (approx 1 month).

The ability to name letters also improved significantly:

On average, the children began the project knowing about 6 letters.
By the end, they knew about 19 letters.

For phonemic awareness, a key predictor of later reading ability, the children's scores also increased significantly as a direct result of the intervention on two key measures, sound awareness and blending.

After participating in this literacy initiative, as measured by the Get Ready to Read screening tool:

The number of children at risk for reading failure decreased from 39% to 12%.
The number of children scoring above average in key literacy measures increased from 23% to 64%.
On average, children typically gain 15% more skills from fall to spring; children participating in this initiative gained 25% more skills from fall to spring, and their scores are predictive of reading success by 2nd grade.

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Final Report (2.5M)
Research Study (184K)

University of Mississippi Study, 2005-2006

During the 2005-2006 school year, children in 20 childcare classrooms participated in the Mississippi Childcare Literacy Initiative, receiving Between the Lions preschool curriculum materials, classroom sets of related books, DVDs with 16 edited episodes, training, and ongoing mentoring. Eleven classrooms began the intervention in the fall, with a reduced schedule of mentoring after January 2006, and an additional nine classrooms began the intervention in February. The students' progress on several key literacy measures was compared against the scores of children in 10 control classrooms (5 in the fall and 5 in the spring). The research study was overseen by Dr. Maxine Harper, Dr. Barbara Dougherty, and Dr. Kathleen Sullivan at the Center for Educational Research and Evaluation, University of Mississippi. Major findings include:

The literacy environment of participating classrooms using the ELLCO measure (Early Language Literacy and Classroom Observation) improved dramatically as a result of their involvement in the project. Prior to the intervention, three of the highest-ranking classrooms were in the control group. After four months, five of the BTL classrooms achieved the highest ranking. The spring intervention classrooms also increased their Literacy Environment scores significantly, while control classrooms made no significant gains.

ELLCO Measures	Fall BTL Classrooms	Control Classrooms
Classroom Observation	Increased 58%	Declined slightly
Literacy Environment Checklist	Increased 142%	Increased slightly
Literacy Activities Rating Scale	Increased 100%	Increased slightly

On the TERA-3 (Test of Early Reading Ability), students in the fall intervention classrooms made significant average gains in their overall Reading Quotient as well as in the Alphabet, Conventions, and Meanings subscales from pre-testing to the second post-testing in June 2006. (The significant gains that appeared in the longitudinal assessment were not apparent in the initial post-testing in January.) Students in the control classrooms showed no significant longitudinal gains on these measures.

On the Get Ready to Read screening tool, an overall measure of reading readiness, students in the spring intervention classrooms improved their scores significantly compared to the control students.

June 2006 Post-Test Results

Measure	Intervention Group Change (Pre-test to Post-test)	Control Group Change (Pre-test to Post-test)
TERA-3 Reading Quotient	Gain (significant)	Gain (not significant)
TERA-3 Alphabet Subscale	Gain (significant)	Loss (not significant)
TERA-3 Conventions Subscale	Gain (significant)	Gain (not significant)
TERA-3 Meaning Subscale	Gain (significant)	Gain (not significant)
Get Ready to Read Total Score	Gain (significant)	Gain (significant)

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BTL MSU REPORT (188K)

Children NOW Study, 2008

A study by Children Now shows that only 1 in 8 children's education TV programs meet high quality standards. The study, entitled "Educationally/Insufficient? An Analysis of the Educational Quality & Availability of Children's E/I Programming," evaluated the quality of programs claimed as educational/informational (E/I) by commercial stations.

Commercial television broadcasters are required by law to air a minimum of three hours per week of children's educational programming. The goal of the Children's Television Act (CTA) is to increase the availability of high-quality educational programs, such as PBS's Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood. However, the guidelines that determine what qualifies as an "educational" program do not address the quality of the educational content.

Dale Kunkel (University of Arizona), with fellow researchers Barbara J. Wilson (University of Illinois) and Kristin L. Drogos (University of Illinois), analyzed 120 episodes across 40 program titles. Each show was evaluated on a range of educational criteria that are associated with children's learning from television.

Their findings indicate that most programs designated as E/I offer only limited educational value for child viewers: Only one of every eight E/I shows (13%) is rated as highly educational. Nearly one of every four (23%) were classified in the lowest category of "minimally educational." Most E/I programs (63%) were judged to be "moderately educational."

Children's programming is part of the "payment" broadcasters are supposed to deliver in return for their use of the publicly-owned airwaves. Kunkel observed, "Commercial broadcasters are clearly falling short in meeting their obligation to the nation's children."

Kunkel has testified as an expert witness on children's media topics at numerous hearings before the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House of Representatives and the Federal Communications Commission.

The researchers also found that 28 percent of E/I episodes were high in aggressive content, which includes physical or social aggression, undermining the purpose of E/I programming.

Studies conducted in the 1990s found that between 20 and 33 percent of E/I programs were rated as "highly educational." Thus, the new data suggest that educational quality is at the lowest point yet measured for E/I shows aired on commercial channels.

PBS shows were rated more educational than E/I programs shown on commercial stations (9.1 vs. 7.9 on a 12-point scale.) PBS programs tended to emphasize cognitive-intellectual lessons (55 percent of programs); whereas, commercial channels relied largely on social-emotional lessons (67 percent of programs), such as sharing or getting along with others.

The study reveals that the majority of stations (59 percent) deliver only the minimum required amount of educational programming, with just 3 percent of stations nationally offering more than four hours per week. Furthermore, 75 percent of stations schedule E/I programming exclusively on weekends, despite the fact that children watch an average of three hours of television per day every day of the week.

Eight commercial and public broadcast series earned an exemplary rating for their educational content: Sesame Street (PBS), Beakman's World (Commercial), Between the Lions (PBS), 3-2-1 Penguins (Commercial), Cyberchase (PBS), The Suite Life of Zack and Cody (Commercial), Fetch! With Ruff Ruffman (PBS) and Teen Kids News (Commercial).

"With ample models for success on public and commercial television, the mystery is why so many children's programs are still so weak at conveying educational messages," said Kunkel. "The study certainly suggests that the FCC should be monitoring compliance with the children's programming requirements much more closely in the future."

Executive Summary (400K)

Complete Report (400K)