Using Educational Video in the Classroom Theory, Research and Practice

Early Literacy Development 
The largest body of research has been conducted on the impact of educational 
television and video on young children and their early literacy skills.
Causal relationship between children’s viewing of Sesame Street (the most 
extensively researched educational television program) and their academic and cognitive 
development has been documented for a period of over 35 years. Fisch (2005) 
summarizes studies conducted since the early 1970s, which “provide powerful evidence 
for the educational effectiveness of Sesame Street” (p. 11). Among preschoolers, heavy 
viewers of Sesame Street showed significantly greater growth in a variety of academic 
skills and in school readiness. These effects have long-term positive benefits for students, 
as shown by a “recontact” study that found middle and high school students who had 
watched Sesame Street and other educational TV as preschoolers had higher grades and 
showed higher academic self-esteem that peers who had not watched educational 
television (Anderson et al, 2001; Huston et al.; cited in Fisch, 2005).
A study on the impact of the early literacy program Between the Lions found that 
kindergarteners who watched this program outperformed their peers by nearly 4 to 1 on 
specific program content, and that they were also able to transfer this content to show 
significantly improved growth in key early literacy skills and overall reading ability 
(Linebarger, 2000). A later study concluded that watching the program, combined with 
supporting classroom and at-home activities, helped low-income children, children in 

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rural areas and children who speak English as a second language significantly outperform 
control groups on several key reading skills (Prince, Grace, Linebarger, Atkinson & 
Huffman, 2002).
In a study recently reported in the U.S. Department of Education’s What Works 
Clearinghouse, the television program Arthur was shown to have a positive effect on the 
language development of English language learners.