The Efficacy of Digital Media Resources in Improving Children’s Ability to Use Informational Text - An Evaluation of Molly of Denali From PBS KIDS

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by McQueen

Informational text resources that help children answer real-world questions are essential to literacy, yet many young children have limited exposure to them. This study reports two 9-week randomized controlled trials with 263 first-grade children from low-income communities, testing free educational videos and digital games via internet-enabled tablets. Study 1 and Study 2 showed significant positive intervention impacts, and combined analyses indicated improved ability to identify and use structural and graphical features of informational text. Findings support scalable educational media.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages35

Reading Time1 h 28 min

AccessFree to download

Digital Media and Informational Text

Randomized controlled trials and study design

Child outcomes and combined results

Discussion of scalability for instructional media

American Educational Research Journal December 2022, Vol. 59, No. 6, pp. 1194–1228 DOI: 10.3102/00028312221113326 Article reuse guidelines: [sagepub.com/journals-permissions](sagepub.com/journals-permissions) 􀀂 2022 The Author(s) . [https://journals.sagepub.com/home/aer](https://journals.sagepub.com/home/aer) The Efficacy of Digital Media Resources in Improving Children’s Ability to Use Informational Text: An Evaluation of Molly of Denali From PBS KIDS Joy Lorenzo Kennedy Education Development Center Claire G. Christensen SRI Education Tiffany Salone Maxon Education Development Center Sarah Nixon Gerard SRI Education Elisa B. Garcia SRI Education Janna F. Kook Education Development Center Naomi Hupert Education Development Center Phil Vahey SRI Education Shelley Pasnik Education Development Center Informational text—resources whose purpose is to inform—is essential to daily life and fundamental to literacy. Unfortunately, young children typically have limited exposure to informational text. Two 9-week randomized controlled trials with 263 first-grade children from low-income communities examined whether free educational videos and digital games supported children’s ability to use informational text to answer real-world questions. Participants received Internet-enabled tablets and were randomly assigned to condition. Study 1 found significant positive intervention impacts on child outcomes; Study 2 replicated these findings. Combined analyses demonstrated primary impact on children’s ability to identify and use structural and graphicalfeatures of informational text. Results are discussed in the context of the scalability of educational media to support informational text learning. Digital Media and Informational Text JOY LORENZO KENNEDY is a senior research scientist at Education Development Center, 96 Morton Street, New York, NY 10014, USA; [email:](email: jlkennedy@edc.org. Her)[ jlkennedy@edc.org](email: jlkennedy@edc.org. Her)[. Her](email: jlkennedy@edc.org. Her) research focuses on language and literacy development in early childhood and the elementary years as well as tools to increase family engagement in children’s learning, particularly for multilingual learners and children from underresourced communities. CLAIRE G. CHRISTENSEN is a senior education researcher at SRI Education, 1100 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 2647, Arlington, VA 22209, USA: email: [claire.christensen@sri.com](claire.christensen@sri.com). Her research focuses on the identification, development, and impact of educational media for young children. TIFFANY SALONE MAXON is a researcher at Fluent Research, 381 Park Avenue South, Suite 809, New York, NY 10016, USA; email: [tiffany.salone@fluentresearch.com](tiffany.salone@fluentresearch.com. Her research)[. Her research](tiffany.salone@fluentresearch.com. Her research)[ ](tiffany.salone@fluentresearch.com. Her research)interests include how media can help children learn, how digital technology shapes the education and lives of young children and their families, and how media can transcend and bridge social constructs, such as race and socioeconomic status. SARAH NIXON GERARD is an education researcher at SRI Education, 1100 Wilson Boulevard, Suite2800, Arlington, VA22209, [USA: email:](USA: email: sarah.gerard@sri.com. Her research focuses)[ sarah.gerard@sri.com](USA: email: sarah.gerard@sri.com. Her research focuses)[. Her research focuses](USA: email: sarah.gerard@sri.com. Her research focuses)[ ](USA: email: sarah.gerard@sri.com. Her research focuses)on improving early childhood educational opportunities within classrooms and in outof-school settings, with an emphasis on educational media. ELISA B. GARCIA is a senior education researcher at SRI Education, 333 Ravenswood Avenue, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA; email: [elisa.garcia@sri.com](elisa.garcia@sri.com. Her)[. Her](elisa.garcia@sri.com. Her) research focuses on how classroom and family experiences in early childho

FAQs

What problem does the study address regarding informational text?

Young children often have limited exposure to informational text, even though such resources are essential for everyday understanding and literacy development.

How was the intervention delivered and evaluated?

Two 9-week randomized controlled trials assigned 263 first-grade children from low-income communities to conditions receiving free educational videos and digital games on internet-enabled tablets.

What outcomes improved according to the combined analyses?

The results showed primary impacts on children’s ability to identify and use structural and graphical features of informational text.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by McQueen