Sesame Workshop Gets Googley on K-12 Education Problems

America's literacy problems are as bad as ever.

Sesame Street Workshop, home of beloved characters such as Elmo and Grover, and its research center, the Joan Ganz Cooney Center (JGCC) are teaming up with Google, Common Sense Media, foundations and the Department of Education to tackle two of the pressing problems in the American K-12 education system: the K-4 literacy problem and the high school dropout crisis.

These issues will be addressed in a Forum called "Breakthrough Learning in the Digital Age" that will be broadcast live on the Web October 27 and 28. The goal of the Forum is to address the stubborn and preventable literacy crisis and dropout crisis we are suffering here in the US.

Addressing these problems will be key educational policy leaders together with industry leaders and government leaders who will be discussing solutions to the nation's education issues. It hopefully will be the beginning of a powerful collaboration of multi-sector brains who can wrestle with the issues and come up with solid recommendations to solve the literacy issues at the elementary level. We need to take action now. In the morning on of October 28 speakers will focus on literacy issues; in the afternoon speakers will focus on the dropout crisis.

The literacy issue is a major one; many kids today are not learning to read. If kids fail to learn to read by fourth grade (and about 40% do not learn), then their problems compound year after year and by ninth grade, students find school frustrating and useless and drop out. The early years can be compared to the foundation of a building; if the foundation isn't solid, the building won't stand -- no matter how beautiful the top floors may be. That is why the nation needs to focus on the early years of education and prevent the literacy problems.

Parents can be part of the solution by just reading to their preschoolers. Children who enter school without even knowing the alphabet are at a serious disadvantage because they start off behind the majority of other students. Parents should read to their children, but in many cases they don't. They use the electronic nanny -- the TV -- and kids are watching inappropriate shows. If parents do use TV, they should at least have kids watch educational programs that will teach letter recognition (like Sesame Street) and reading skills (like Super Why) or the PBS programs. It helps prepare them for learning to read. But that is just a part of the solution. Schools need to be more effective at teaching reading.

Anyone with an Internet connection can watch the webcast that will be broadcast live by Google on October 27 and October 28. You can also join in the discussion; the Forum will be using a new online tool called Google Moderator which allows anyone to submit questions for the speakers either before the conference live. Just click here to get Moderator.

The line up of speakers is impressive, just to name a few. You can see their bios online here.
The full agenda is there too.

* James Bennet, Editor-in-Chief of The Atlantic
* Geoff Canada, President and Chief Executive Office, Harlem Children's Zone
* Linda Darling Hammond, Professor of Education at Stanford
* Reed Hastings, CEO and Founder of NetFlix
* Martha Kanter, Under-Secretary, United States Department of Education
* Joel Klein, Chancellor of NY City Schools
* Gary Knell, CEO of Sesame Workshop
* Marisa Mayer, Vice President, Search Products & User Experience, Google
* John Merrow, Education Correspondent, NewsHour with Jim Lehrer
* Jason Levy, Principal, New York City Intermediate School 339

You can see the entire list of speakers here.

People can also follow the Forum on Twitter and read along with the narrative on the Breakthrough blog

Follow Esther Wojcicki on Twitter: www.twitter.com/heywoj

Comments

[hulagirrrl]

All sorts of "leaders" are meeting to address the literacy crisis. The main "leader" parent is not present. We as parents are the ones responsible.
I would like to see politicians to enable parents in the lower income brackets to give them the tools to become better parents. Let us start with fair wages, health care and a family oriented leave policy. We cater to single mothers because we can immerse them "into the system" and are trying to offer them so many "programs". A mother who works two jobs fo keep a roof over her families heads will not worry much about reading when she returns home tired and weary. Whatever happened to two parent families, what is wrong with our society that we have so many many impoverished children growing up with only one parent?
There is not a one size fits all problem nor will there be that type of solution. What is curious to me is that after centuries the problem is known but not solved... more experts who make money solving this issue, but nothing ever happens. When was the book "Why Johnny can't read" published, many years ago, sometimes i think we do not really want to solve the problem.

[smileatfear]

I read to my children starting at birth. My husband and I are avid readers and have a house full of books, magazines, newspapers, etc. My son was reading by the time he was four. My daughter had all the same advantages but was still holding books upside down in first grade. She was unable to recognize her letters, numbers, and other symbols important in mastering reading and math. Test showed she was bright but learning delayed. The school provided her with "special education" that consisted almost entirely of phonics, phonics, phonics to no avail. It wasn't until we spent a tremendous sum of money having her tested and tutored that she started to excel. She had eye tracking problems, auditory problems, and reversal problems. Many children who struggle to learn to read have minor forms of these problems that most school systems don't do a good job detecting, making reading and math frustrating and school seem overwhelming. Phonics is not always the answer. Brain training, such as the programs developed by Harvard and Stamford Universities, is light years ahead of what most schools offer to their learning delayed kids. Using some of their techniques in every K-4 grade class would make a huge difference for a lot of kids.

[MosheDayanHero]

It's all about ad dollars.
This has zero chance of improving reading stats. in the targeted population.
Literacy must be modeled by parents. Not by TV programs and revenue-driven online content
Many American houses I visited had no bookcases but giant TVs and at least two computers. Not a recipe for literacy improvement.

[AJH]

Computers can be a great tool. Key word being can. If you've read or seen the stories in early childhood education it's not dificult to understand why we have a challenge. They are Boring enough to qualify as a cure for insomnia. How is learning to read boring material going to inspire one to read, it won't. Which means parents are the only cure as only they know their kids well enough to know what inspires them and then provide resources focused on those aspects the kids will actually want to read. The computer can serve as a tool to enhance that interest and then getting reading material to support the developed interest.

In an educational system that seems to do it's darndest to make reading uninteresting we shouldn't be surprised at our literacy rates. Why would you ever want to open a book if that was your only exposure to reading. You wouldn't. And recognizing many parents can't or won't help their children those materials become key.

[GrafZeppelin127]

Being a skilled, competent reader requires four basic qualities: fluency, curiosity, patience, and imagination. Most high school students who struggle with reading, or who "hate" reading, do so because they lack one or more, or all, of these qualities. More importantly, though, they do so because they, and to a large extent their parents and teachers, look to the -material- they are reading to explain their struggles, rather than the reader him/herself. In other words, we try to address reading problems by looking at -what- students read, not -how- they read.

Many students are such poor readers by the time they reach high school because they have always just looked at the words, said "I don't understand" and waited for someone else to explain it to them. Reading thus becomes an exercise in having the teacher translate English into English. I had a supervisor once who criticized me for assigning 10th graders to read and write responses to To Kill a Mockingbird. "What if a kid doesn't understand it?" she said, "it's not his fault." I wondered what was the point of having them read in the first place, since this person expected their entire understanding of the text to come from me.

[ReesieKitty]

Graf- I work part time at an independantly owned children';s bookstore and have worked with hundreds of 'reluctant readers and I could not agree more with you. The dumbing down of general cultural literacy is a HUGE factor in kids not being able to read and not understanding basic concepts or cultural references in what they read.

With that said, I have always found that the key thing is to find something that will engage the individual child - he must WANT to read what is in front of him for it to work. One reason Harry Potter was such a valuable tool when it came out is that it encouraged kids to read on all levels- everyone's peers were reading it, so even reluctant readers wanted to try it too.

That is only one example, but I always urge parents of reluctant readers- find what your child LOVES and help them to find books or comics about it. It doesn't matter if it is baseball, horses, fantasy- whatever! If the child loves it, they will try harder to read about it.

[TLV]

If we truly want our children to receive the best educations possible, the money has to be there. Our state has a great program in which volunteers take certain kids aside for a time during the school day and help them with reading. It needs more money, though.

Just the act of reading a book - something that is so lacking in most Americans homes - is what these kids need. Mine were read to from about 6 months of age. It provides not just reading fundamentals, but a time to snuggle and enjoy the closeness. Everyone benefits.

[Jenifer Fox - Huffpost Blogger]

Hi Esther, thanks for this information. I think the conference looks fabulous. I have been following your posts and we have a lot in common. I would like to speak to you about a few connections that may interest you. Can you look up my bio and shoot me an email? Thanks, I look forward to speaking with you.

[JustDavid]

I read a study once that claimed that conservatives seldom, if ever, read for entertainment. I have found that to be true among the people I know. How about the people YOU know? If this is true then the implications are far greater than just education.

[TLV]

My so-called conservative, Republican mother-in-law reads all of the time, but they are just romance novels with plenty of s-e-x! her mother had an extensive collection, most of which is shared among the elderly women of the family. Weird, if you asked me.

[smileatfear]

Are sexy romance novels part of the "family values" espoused by repubs now?

[kendraro]

there is MUCH work to be done in education, I only felt really pleased with one year out of k-5 and middle school was so bad (with no public alternative) that we went private this year (thanks mom.) However, I can't help but feel that we would really reap significant value by adding parenting classes to high school - for all students. I realize it would be controversial and difficult to fund - but I think it could do a lot.

[JustDavid]

I strongly agree Kendraro. Parenting is probably the most important education there is and yet we are left to learn it OTJ....after the fact.

[jumperpin]

Like so much else, education starts at home.

[lastpost]

“Parents can be part of the solution by just reading to their preschoolers.”

In the book “To Kill A Mocking Bird”, a parent habitually reads to a child and demonstrates that potential. Even if content in the circumstance exceeds comprehension, that process is still formative. While a new brain formats itself, it is capable of absorbing material and establishing connective paths even without appreciation. That is its fundamental function. To develop in the same way that a muscle might. Relative to the amount it is exercised, the demands placed upon it, and the stimulation it is exposed to. Even to a baby, experiencing a recorded reading of material is developmental.
What we also woefully fail to do, is to explain the purpose of this whole process to the next generation. Which is understandable. Since most of this generation do not appreciate that purpose either.

[ChristopherRobin]

We've had problems with education for years now. But things have become DRASTICALLY worse since "No Child Left Behind" created an environment where teacher's are forced to "teach the test" and little else.
Instead of reading great books, having vibrant discussions about meaning and metaphor and learning math as a way of thinking not a set of facts, terrific teachers are forced to spend their days having kids read deadly dry paragraphs like those on the tests and teaching them to give the "right" answers to the equally dry and deadly questions that follow. Those kids may get the scores that get the schools funding, but virtually all the spontaneity, creativity, and love of learning that happened in those classrooms is gone.
While there has to be some accountability for outcomes, after struggling for the last few years in an environment where teacher’s ideas and experience are utterly devalued and dictates come from on high with no connection to the realities of classroom teaching, the best, the most devoted, the most creative teachers are being driven out of the profession in droves. This is an incalculable loss for teaching.
I looked at that list of speakers and my first thought was "WHERE ARE THE TEACHERS??". This country is filled with great teachers who could tell you more about what's important and what needs to be done in a few choice words than all the "experts" scheduled for this conference. However well meaning the event, it utterly misses the point.

[NoSandwiches]

Too many of those shows talk down to kids. They limit their vocabulary. My oldest child started kindergarten with a richer vocabulary than his teacher, and my four year old is heading that same direction. They build that vocabulary by hearing normal conversations and asking questions. I is actually better for your child to sit and watch a program aimed at adults (but appopriate in content) than it is for them to watch Little Einsteins or Dora Explorer.
If you want your child to enjoy reading, then start by telling them stories--excinting stories with plenty of conflict in them. We read the classics, then retold them. Rumplestiltskin was the favorite. There is no book for children that can approach an animated retelling. When they figure out that books hold stories, too, they are more excited about them.

If you try reading uninteresting or poory written stories to you child, they will pick up on your lack of enthusiasm. If you do not become your child's first and best teacher, they will not easily find a substitute.

[ReesieKitty]

I agree, No Sandwiches. What passes, even for 'educational' children's programming is a poor poor substitute for actual storytelling, problem solving and reading with kids. Those shows can be a fun supplement to parent/teacher reading time, but in the end, they are really just marketing tools with a dash of education thrown in. Children can absorb and discuss really complex things- even small children, if it isn't dumbed down for them. It's a shame we sell our children so short.

[MuchMadness]

What is needed to solve the literacy problem is an abandoning of silly educational theories. Just apply the methods that were used seventy years ago. Lots of phonics, strict teachers, and no tolerance for misbehavior or laziness.

[zombie fairy]

Please be specific about these silly educational theories. When I think of schools 70 years ago, I think of special needs kids shipped off to corrals where they learned nothing.

[smileatfear]

Absolutely. I remember kids in my elementary school, back in the 60s, being spanked for not knowing the answer to something or not being able to read a certain text. One of my most vivid memories is of a girl in my 2nd grade class who would come to school and throw up almost every morning. She couldn't read very well and almost always got a swat with the yardstick at some point during the day. I can imagine that MuchMadness would be one of those teachers taking pleasure in punishing little kids for being dyslexic.