Actually, it's cloudy and cool (again) here today.
"Study backs the educational value of ‘Sesame Street’; Benefits similar to preschool, research finds" by Jim Tankersley Washington Post June 09, 2015
NEW YORK — The most authoritative study ever done on the impact of ‘‘Sesame Street,’’ released Monday, finds that the famous show on public TV has delivered lasting educational benefits to millions of American children — benefits as powerful as the ones children get from going to preschool.
And a full dose of mind manipulating, politically correct propaganda.
I'm not saying it wasn't or isn't useful, not at all (at least the ones I remember seeing some 40+ years ago). The numbers, the letters, that's all good.
The paper from the University of Maryland’s Melissa Kearney and Wellesley College’s Phillip Levine finds that the show has left children more likely to stay at the appropriate grade level for their age, an effect that is particularly pronounced among boys, African-Americans, and children in disadvantaged areas.
After ‘‘Sesame Street’’ was introduced, children living in places where it was broadcast experienced a 14 percent drop in their likelihood of being behind in school. Levine and Kearney note in their paper that a wide body of previous research has found that Head Start, the pre-kindergarten program for low-income Americans, delivers a similar benefit.
The researchers also say those effects probably come from ‘‘Sesame Street’s’’ focus on presenting viewers with an academic curriculum, heavy on reading and math, that would appear to have helped prepare children for school.
While it might seem implausible that a TV show could have such effects, the results build on Nixon-era government studies that found big short-term benefits in watching the show. Several outside researchers have reviewed the study, and none is known to have questioned its results.
The ma$$ media of television is powerful indeed, but it's time is past.
The new findings raise a provocative question: Do children need preschool if a TV show works just as well?
Let me give you a provocative answer: Yeah!
Yes, say the economists — and the ‘‘Sesame Street’’ educational team. Head Start, Kearney and Levine write, delivers family support, medical and dental services, and development of emotional skills.
It's mainly a vehicle for children to learn how to socialize.
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I'm cloudy on the agenda they are pushing there because I haven't seen the show in so long. What I have seen on television lately darkens my mood because most of it is base debauchery. They aren't even trying to hide it anymore.
