The Annenberg School for Communication: Children & Media

News

Browse Research

New Research by Deb Linebarger Evaluating the Effectiveness of the Between the Lions Preschool Literacy Initiative

02/24/2009

Recent research by Deborah Linebarger and the Children's Media Lab evaluated the effectiveness of the Between the Lions Preschool Literacy Initiative in Mississippi.  Mississippi Public Broadcasting and its partners provided the educational, curriculum-based program to more than 1,500 children throughout the state of Mississippi in the 2007-2008 school year. The study focused on 319 children in preschools and child-care centers living in economically disadvantaged communities in Mississippi. The story appeared in the Hattiesburg American (Hattiesburg, Ms.) and in the Jackson Clarion-Ledger (Jackson, Ms.).  

Linebarger found substantial evidence in the Between the Lions Preschool Literacy Initiative Evaluation that children who may be at-risk for reading failure due to economic disadvantages are acquiring necessary early literacy skills. The program had a positive impact on vocabulary development, teacher behavior and literacy environments. The study found that children who participated in the group learning with Between the Lions were better able to identify lower case letters (81.9 percent versus 61.3 percent in the control group) and letter sounds (75.2 percent versus 50.5 percent in the control group). They also obtained higher scores than the Head Start average on the Get Ready to Read! Screener - a national measure used to build and identify early literacy skills.