Super Why! to the Rescue: Can Preschoolers Learn Early Literacy Skills from Educational Television?

Abstract

Decades of research support our understanding that, created with the intent to teach, educational television can go far toward supporting a child's academic and prosocial development. The purpose of this study was to test whether Super Why!, an educational TV program that models key early literacy skills, could teach young children early literacy skills. In total, 171 preschool children were randomly assigned to watch Super Why! or an educational science program. Children viewed 20 episodes of their assigned program twice. Children's early literacy skills were evaluated prior to viewing, after viewing all episodes at least one time, and after viewing all episodes a second time. Children who viewed Super Why! over an 8-week period outperformed their control group peers on nearly all child outcomes. Learning was most pronounced for letter knowledge and phonological and phonemic awareness skills, key early precursors of later conventional reading success.