| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | Contact: Beth Day |
| March 23, 2001 | (202)224-6404 |
Washington, D.C. - Senator Thad Cochran (R-MS) introduced an education bill that reauthorizes Ready To Learn, a program that supports the development of educational, commercial-free television shows for young children. The bill also reauthorizes MATHLINE, a proven professional development model for teachers of mathematics.
Cochran initially introduced the Ready To Learn Act in 1992 after research data revealed that nearly every preschool child in America was watching up to 30 hours of television per week, yet there were very few educational shows on television. Ready To Learn built on the idea of utilizing the time these children spent in front of the television to prepare them for the first year of school. The legislation was signed into law by President Bush in October 1992. It supported the coordination of existing Public Broadcasting shows like "Sesame Street" and "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" with new outreach efforts by local public broadcasting stations. "The Ready To Learn, Ready To Teach Act takes the best of educational technology programming; improves those proven to work, and places renewed confidence in one of education's most trusted and successful partners," Cochran said. New research from the University of Alabama and the University of Kansas reports that Ready To Learn is having a positive impact on children and their parents. "The University of Alabama study found that Ready To Learn families read books together more often and for longer periods, and these children actually watch 40 percent less television and are more likely to choose educational programs," Cochran said. "In my state, the Mississippi Educational Television Network Ready To Learn director, Cassandra Washington Love, has received high praise for the effective assistance she provides to families," Cochran added. The new Ready To Learn legislation also improves upon an already successful program called MATHLINE, which combines technology and teacher "best practices." "This bill graduates MATHLINE to TeacherLine, a more comprehensive professional development tool for teachers of preschool through twelfth grade. TeacherLine will also support state of the art, digitally produced content for classroom use," Cochran said.
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