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Overview
Arthur, a book-based educational television program designed for children ages 4–8, is popular among preschool and kindergarten students. The program is based on the storybooks, by Marc Brown, about Arthur, an 8-year-old aardvark. Each show is 30 minutes in length and includes two stories involving characters dealing with moral issues. The show has been used as a listening comprehension and language development intervention for English language learning students.
Research1
One study of Arthur met the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) evidence standards. This study, which included 108 kindergarten Spanish-speaking English language learners from six schools in a large urban school district on the East Coast, assessed students based on narrative skill in English—the ability to talk about events in a coherent fashion.
Effectiveness
Arthur was found to have potentially positive effects on English language development.
| Reading achievement | Mathematics achievement | English Language Development | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rating of effectiveness | Not reported | Not reported | Potentially positive effects |
| Improvement index2 | Not reported | Not reported | Average: +11 percentile points Range: –5 to +17 percentile points |