Corporation for Public Broadcasting & PBS Receive Grant Money

WASHINGTON: The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) and PBS have been awarded a Ready to Learn grant of nearly $72 million from the U.S. Department of Education’s office of innovation and technology, to fund transmedia content aimed at improving math and literacy skills of children.

The grant provides the organizations with nearly $15 million annual from 2010 to 2015. The money will allow the companies to advance pioneering work in the research, development and deployment of content across multiple platforms that will be aimed at children 2 to 8, with a focus on those living in poverty. Among the partners CPB and PBS will engage to implement the project are local PBS stations and a wide range of existing and new PBS KIDS producers, including Sesame Workshop, WGBH, Universal, The Jim Henson Company, Kratt Brothers, Portfolio Entertainment and Random House Children’s Entertainment. Other partners include the School of Education at Boston University, the Chicago Public Schools’ Virtual Pre-K and Virtual K programs, the National Summer Learning Association, Creative Commons and the Collaborative for Building After-School Systems.

This is the fourth Ready to Learn grant awarded to CPB and PBS since 1995.

"This grant is a critical investment in America’s children," said Patricia Harrison, the president and CEO for CPB. "Public media—both nationally and through our local stations—is uniquely poised to ensure that children, parents, educators and caregivers have access to the most effective, purpose-built media and resources to close the achievement gap in math and reading skills for the highest need young children."

"This generous grant will allow public media to deliver the next generation of educational resources to help kids build the skills they need to succeed in school and in life," added Paula Kerger, PBS’s president and CEO. "Research shows that the years before age five are the most critical period in a child’s life. This is when children learn how to learn—when their educational, emotional, and social skills begin to take shape. Educational media are an important and effective component in motivating and developing young learners."