CPB announced today that it will grant a total of $110,000 to four licensees to support local outreach related to pubTV’s Ready to Learn early-childhood education initiative. The licensees will use the funds to extend PBS Kids programming and learning materials to children in low-income communities, focusing on math and literacy improvement.
Two of the grantees will expand efforts in communities where they already have a presence. KBTC in Tacoma, Wash., will expand its efforts in the city’s Hilltop Neighborhood, while Cleveland’s ideastream will conduct a deeper analysis of the children the station works with in Cleveland’s Slavic Village.
One grantee, Iowa Public Television, will expand its statewide Ready to Learn efforts to an additional community, adding outreach in Council Bluffs, Iowa, to its work in Storm Lake and Waterloo.
Finally, joint licensee WFSU in Tallahassee, Fla., will expand its “WFSU Math Mentors” kindergarten-level outreach, which it operates in local elementary schools.
Ready to Learn has made a push into digital learning in recent years, even as President Obama continues to recommend the program be consolidated into other Department of Education initiatives.
Read the full press release here.