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& NORTH GREENBUSH, NY – Rep. Paul Tonko (NY-21) and WMHT-TV President and CEO Robert Altman announced Thursday that the Corporation for Public Broadcasting has awarded the station with a $50,000 grant for the Ready To Learn program, which uses power of PBS’ educational content to build the reading skills of children aged 2 through 8 with a focus on those from low-income families. WMHT was one of only six PBS stations in the country to receive these funds.

“I’m thrilled that WMHT-TV was picked to participate in this program, and I want to thank Robert Altman and their staff for taking the lead to create an innovative program that will reach tens of thousands of kids who will get a head start on developing a strong educational base,” said Rep. Tonko. “These programs are critical for low-income families, who have limited resources and opportunities to provide the additional help their children will need to compete for jobs in our 21st century economy.”

“We're delighted to have this opportunity to expand our long time commitment to the Ready to Learn Program and work with partners around the state to craft a plan that should serve children for years to come,” said WMHT President and CEO, Robert Altman.

The $50,000 award is for the Ready To Learn Statewide Planning program, which is designed to strengthen the use of RTL digital media reading resources in all learning environments and to asses the impact of these resources. The program brings together public media and state education leaders to develop a comprehensive plan to align and integrate RTL’s products and services into states’ early care and education policy and programs. It also increases collaboration with public media and educational leaders at the national, state and local levels, in addition to using public media to promote innovation and experimentation in early childhood education.

WMHT Educational Telecommunications will convene a planning coalition to assess, align, and integrate Ready to Learn digital media products and services into early childhood education across New York State. WMHT will work in partnership with the NYS Education Department (NYSED) Offices of Educational Television & Public Broadcasting (OETVPB) and Early Education and Reading Initiatives, and with the support of the other eight NY public television stations,

The project will focus on the following policy areas: 

·      Standards, assessment of standards, and curriculum models

·      Pre-service training and continuing education of early care professionals and early childhood education teachers

·      Parent education programs

WMHT will procure and coordinate project evaluation to assess RTL products and determine how well they aligned with selected policy areas. The evaluation will also identify performance indicators and determine the effectiveness of the plan to integrate the use of RTL products across the state. The NYS Ready to Learn Project responds to goals and objectives of the NYS Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems Partnership, as laid out in the NYS Early Childhood Plan: Ensuring a Great Start for Every Child, published in 2009 by the New York State Council on Children and Families.

The NYS RTL coalition will include partners from State Education Department offices, State agencies, statewide childcare networks, local education agencies and community-based organizations.  The coalition will develop an action plan to implement the integration of RTL resources, convene regional collaboratives, and implement several pilot projects to test the validity of the plan in targeted, underserved communities in their respective regions. By the conclusion of the grant period, NYS will have a tested plan that has been piloted in targeted communities with the cooperation of selected project partners. Childcare staff and early education teachers will have committed to ongoing professional development; and partners and parents will support and promote the integration and use of RTL products in learning environments.

The Ready To Learn Program was created by Congress in the early 1990’s, and was reauthorized by the No Child Left Behind Act in 2002. It is administered by the Department of Education.

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