Outreach Overview.EH

Educational Outreach Overview: Eileen Hughes 1
Educational Outreach Overview
ARTHUR
BETWEEN THE LIONS
POSTCARDS FROM BUSTER
Eileen T. Hughes

Goals & Audience
Goals
Specific goals for ARTHUR, BETWEEN THE LIONS and POSTCARDS FROM BUSTER vary by
season depending on the theme, yet the underlying educational outreach goals
remain constant: to promote emergent literacy skills in children ages 4-8,
including reading, writing, and speaking, and to get kids excited about books.
This is achieved by disseminating a wide range of educational tools and
resources to teachers, librarians, parents, and child care providers.
Target Audience
The target audiences are educators, parents, and other caregivers of young
children, ages 4-10.
Standards Addressed
WGBH outreach resources are based on formative and summative research
completed in different seasons. This research examined how to best support
emergent literacy in children. Findings showed that both parents and teachers
want materials that provide concrete literacy development for children in
which children can see their lives and struggles reflected, that are easy to
navigate, and are visually friendly and accessible. All our resources are visually
appealing and focus on concrete skill development like writing and reading,
regardless of the theme or topic being covered.
Educational Outreach Elements
ARTHUR
As a long-running series, ARTHUR exemplifies the number of ways to build on
and expand educational outreach over multiple seasons. Each season of ARTHUR
has brought unique opportunities to provide innovative resources, expand to
new audiences, cement relationships with past partners, and build new
alliances. ARTHUR's outreach campaigns have used the familiarity and appeal of
the program to address a variety of themes and topics, such as modeling how
parents can talk to kids about issues like the ups and downs of friendship,
school concerns, and sibling rivalry; helping teachers address accessibility,
inclusion, and diversity issues; and supporting librarians in encouraging a love
of reading in children.
BETWEEN THE LIONS
BETWEEN THE LIONS uses a comprehensive literacy curriculum geared to beginning
learners. This "whole-part-whole" approach—showcasing the power and
pleasure of reading, along with the practices that build key skills in phonics,
vocabulary, fluency and comprehension—helps to transform the sometimes
confusing process of learning to read into an entertaining adventure for
children and their families.

POSTCARDS FROM BUSTER
POSTCARDS FROM BUSTER is an innovative blend of animation and live action
starring Arthur's best friend, Buster. Buster's dad, a pilot, is flying Los Viajeros,
a rock group, on a North American tour and he's invited Buster to come along.
Buster's mom has given him a video camera so he can record his new
friendships and discoveries and send "video postcards" back to his pals in
Elwood City.
Designed to delight and intrigue young audiences, POSTCARDS FROM BUSTER has two
key educational goals: to build awareness and appreciation of the many
cultures in America and to support the language learning of children in the
process of acquiring English.
Below is a list of the outreach materials I helped develop and distributed to
other PBS stations, and to local and national partners.
Print
Season 1
• Audiences: Second-grade teachers
• Themes: Writing
• Outreach Elements:
o Story Writing with ARTHUR: A Teacher's Guide
with Reading Comprehension and Writing
Activities -- distributed 66,280
o Tune-in poster -- distributed 70,000
o Pre-broadcast brochure -- distributed 257,000
Season 2
• Audiences: Preschool teachers, PBS stations, libraries,
museums, schools, and community organizations
• Themes: Preschool social development and emergent
literacy, hosting ARTHUR events
o Play and Learn with ARTHUR: 100 Creative
Activities for Children, Ages 3-6, Volume 1 --
distributed 40,000
o Create Your Own Amazing ARTHUR Event --
distributed 10,000
o Tune-in poster -- distributed 35,300

Season 3
• Audiences: First-grade and preschool teachers
• Themes: Early literacy and preschool social
development
o Learn to Read with ARTHUR: A Teacher's Guide
for Beginning Readers -- distributed 105,200
o Play and Learn with ARTHUR: Creative
Activities for Children, Ages 3-6, Volume 2 --
distributed 65,000
o Pre-broadcast brochure -- distributed 200,000
Season 4
• Audiences: Librarians
• Themes: Attracting nontraditional audiences to
libraries
o ARTHUR's Library Adventure: An Activity Guide
for Librarians -- distributed 23,000
o Library poster -- distributed 43,500
Season 5
• Audiences: Parents
• Themes: Parenting
o Three family activity booklets (themes: sibling
rivalry, friendship, school) -- distributed 225,000
(60,000 each in English, 15,000 each in Spanish)
o Workshop Kit for Ready to Learn Coordinators

Season 6
• Audiences: Parents, school nurses, after-school
providers, and kindergarten teachers
• Themes: Technology and health
o Welcome to the Web family activity booklet --
distributed 56,460 (46,355 in English, 10,105 in
Spanish)
o Hooray for Health!: A Health Curriculum for
Children -- distributed 99,655
o Hooray for Health! brochure -- distributed 60,000
o All About Asthma booklet -- distributed 42,000
(EPA will printed another 100,000)
o Healthy Habits, Healthy Kids booklet --
distributed 599,000 (455,000 English, 144,000
Spanish; produced for the WIC program
Season 7
• Audiences: Parents and first- and second-grade
teachers
• Themes: Post-September 11 concerns;
communication, access, and inclusion
o Helping Our Children Feel Safe family activity
booklet -- distributed 41,750 (33,750 in English,
8,000 in Spanish)
o ARTHUR's Communication Adventure: Exploring
Inclusion and Accessibility -- distributed 50,000
Season 8
• Audiences: First- and second-grade teachers
• Themes: World neighborhood and diversity
o ARTHUR's World Neighborhood: Building Global
and Cultural Awareness -- distributed 50,500

Person-to-Person Activities
Local outreach has been a launch-pad for its national outreach campaigns; that
is, a way to test outreach ideas and resources before they are presented to PBS
stations nationwide, other partners, and target audiences. Each season, the
person-to-person implementation of the outreach initiatives varies depending
on theme and target audience. Ready To Learn coordinators are an essential
part of national implementation initiatives. I regularly brought ARTHUR, BETWEEN
THE LIONS and POSTCARDS FROM BUSTER to national conferences, offering workshops
and distributing materials. These conferences include the International Reading
Association, the National Association for the Education of Young Children
(NAEYC), the American Library Association (ALA) and the National Association
of Multicultural Educators (NAME).
Season 9
• Audience: Preschool teachers
• Themes: Integrating music into the preschool
setting
o Arthur’s Music Jamboree –distributed 40,000
o Making Music with ARTHUR brochure in English –
distributed 160,000
o Making Music with ARTHUR brochure in Spanish
–distributed 40,000Season 1
• Audience: Second through Fourth grade Teachers
• Themes: English language learners and cultural
diversity
• Outreach elements:
o Postcards from Buster – distributed 60,000
Season 1
• Audience: Kindergarten Teachers
• Themes: Whole-Part-Whole approach to teaching reading
to young children
• Outreach elements:
o Get Wild About Reading – distributed 65,000

The reach is extended through national partnerships and models sites. For
example, the EPA has distributed ARTHUR asthma materials through its extensive
national networks. Reach Out and Read distributed Learn to Read with Arthur
and Get Wild About Reading through their state offices.
ARTHUR’s Library Adventure – sample outreach project
For the fourth season of ARTHUR, WGBH focused its outreach efforts on libraries:
to help libraries build on the appeal of the ARTHUR books and television series to
bring new audiences to the library, and introduce readers to a wide range of
books. In fall 1999, all public libraries automatically received a free ARTHUR
Resource Kit with programming ideas and resources. In addition, the
Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC, a division of the American
Library Association) and WGBH selected 10 libraries to participate in an in-
depth, local outreach campaign that began in fall 1999 and completed in March
2000.
To accomplish our goals, we reached libraries through a two-tiered approach:
• We provided all 16,000 public libraries with a free ARTHUR Resource Kit,
containing ideas to enhance existing library programming and help young
readers discover books beyond the ARTHUR series.
• We selected and worked closely with ten library sites around the country to
develop and pilot test different models for using ARTHUR as the basis for
outreach and programming to attract families who are not currently using
the library.
Outreach Sites
The ten pilot sites were selected by out of 100 libraries through a request for
proposal process. Working with the ALSC, I developed the application, the
criteria and the review process that became the model for future projects. We
focused on library systems with diverse locations, sizes, and experiences with
developing outreach programs. The target audiences for the programs were
elementary school aged children; most librarians aimed to reach 1st
and 2nd
graders. Each site used a stipend from WGBH to develop and implement an
ARTHUR’s Library Adventure program in their area. I oversaw all legal contracts
and payment schedules for the stipends. Each site partnered with at least one
local community organization, as well as their local PBS station as part of this
project.
Key Findings From the Evaluation
Overall Assessment of the Project
Goodman-Research Group, Inc. (GRG), was contracted by WGBH to evaluate
ARTHUR’s Library Adventure. The following information is taken from the
evaluation.

ARTHUR’s Library Adventure was successful at helping libraries improve their
programming for kids as well as partnerships with area organizations.
Librarians from each of the sites characterized their ARTHUR’s Library
Adventure as “successful” but stressed different criteria as their definition of
success. Overall, librarians and partners greatly valued ARTHUR’s Library
Adventure program because it:
• offered an opportunity to provide a new program or to try to reach new
audiences,
• received positive responses from participants, community members, and
the local press,
• strengthened existing relationships with community organizations --
relationships they said would continue,
• provided an opportunity to collaborate with organizations with whom
they had not worked before,
• created a program that will continue in some form at each of the ten
sites,
• increased the library’s profile in their community, and
• provided fun activities for all who participated.
Success in Meeting Goals
Each of the library programs achieved some or all of the goals set by WGBH for
this project. The goals and the outcomes are described below.
Bringing New Audiences to the Library
There are multiple challenges to reaching new audiences for a library program.
Many sites said they definitely reached new audiences. However, the appeal of
the ARTHUR character alone was not enough to entice the target audiences to
attend library programs. What seemed to be most important in reaching new
audiences was whether librarians got to know new audiences and/or worked
with organizations with which their target audiences were already comfortable.
Familiarizing Children and Families with Library Services
All ten librarians were able to familiarize ARTHUR participants with the library
and library services. Activities associated with this goal included library tours,
visits from librarians to schools and other community organizations, and
devising games where participants had to find various sections and services of
the library.
Encouraging Children and Families to Read a Wide Range of Books and
Authors
All ten sites used books as an integral part of their ARTHUR program. While a
few sites used only ARTHUR books, most incorporated both ARTHUR and non-
ARTHUR titles. The majority of sites reported that participants in ARTHUR
programs checked out all types of books for use at home after participating in

the activities. Most librarians believed that ARTHUR’s Library Adventure
encouraged children to read. They especially appreciated the chance to use an
educational television program to promote reading.
Developing Models for Effective Partnerships among Community
Organizations
As part of the ARTHUR grant, each librarian partnered with local community
organizations (including PBS stations) and even with their own branch libraries.
Examples of partner organizations included Head Start Agencies, public school
systems, and a local hospital. Most believed they worked with the community
organizations effectively in creating their programs and all indicated they
hoped to continue to work with these partners after ARTHUR’s Library
Adventure was completed. The partners with whom GRG spoke were also
pleased with the relationship with the library and the resulting ARTHUR program
because they were able to offer special programs to their constituents. They
also were able to encourage library use among their constituents, most of
whom represented populations that were not accustomed to using their local
public library.
Developing Models for Effective and Replicable Outreach Strategies
The ARTHUR’s Library Adventure projects created models for effective outreach
programs. Overall, the most successful models had the following
characteristics: staff from both libraries and partner organizations were able
to spend adequate time planning and organizing their ARTHUR projects, the
goals of the projects were compatible with the missions of the participating
organizations, and, when necessary, the librarians were willing to reexamine
and change their approach throughout the course of the project.
CONCLUSION
Participants, library staff and staff from partner organizations gave high marks
to ARTHUR’s Library Adventure. The ten libraries and their partners developed
ten unique programs using ARTHUR as a theme and believed ARTHUR was an
excellent vehicle for encouraging enthusiasm for books and reading among
program participants.
Partnerships
Through the three shows I have worked with, I have developed and improved
relationships with local and national organizations including:
American Library Association (ALA)
A strong, longtime partner of ARTHUR, the ALA had been interested in finding a
"new take" on the popular children's book series by Marc Brown. By partnering
with WGBH, it was able to connect libraries with local PBS stations to develop
innovative outreach efforts to bring new patrons to the libraries.

The Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC)
Along with Children's Hospital Boston, BPHC is a key partner in the
development of an asthma campaign in Boston. The BPHC, as well as other
public health commissions across the country, is particularly interested in
projects that change the public's behavior and attitude regarding health issues.
The BPHC has encouraged WGBH to focus on helping low-income families
recognize that they deserve a better quality of life and that they have the right
to advocate for that, especially when health and housing are at issue. ARTHUR's
asthma campaign will now include an advocacy component for families
designed to give them the information and coaching they need to make
informed choices and work toward a better quality of life.
Children's Hospital Boston
When WGBH and Children's Hospital first began discussing partnering
opportunities, neither expected that the relationship would evolve to the point
where Children's Hospital would provide $150,000 to support workshops on
asthma in children and a Boston-based media campaign on asthma. The model
that grows out of these efforts will eventually be disseminated to PBS stations
nationally.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
EPA awarded ARTHUR the National Environmental Asthma Educator Award in
2002 for its "Buster's Breathless" episode. ARTHUR's popularity has helped
educators and children learn about asthma. The accompanying All About
Asthma booklet was so successful that EPA plans to reprint 100,000 to 200,000
copies to distribute across the country.
National Education Association (NEA)
The NEA and WGBH collaboration has brought fresh, new teacher-tested
resources to NEA's membership of 2.7 million educators. NEA's State Directors
helped to distribute tens of thousands of ARTHUR and BETWEEN THE LIONS
resources, and our materials have also been featured in several of NEA's Read
Across America electronic and print publications and at the Read Across
America booth at its national conference. This relationship has expanded across
to other WGBH programs and educational outreach efforts.
Ready To Learn (RTL) Coordinators
These public television station staff members provide resources and support to
local community partners to help them promote emergent and media literacy,
social, and academic skill development in young children. They are key
partners in localized outreach efforts. Ready To Learn coordinators receive the
full range of WGBH resources and outreach support for local efforts.
U.S. Peace Corps

The World Wise Schools division of Peace Corps was instrumental in helping to
shape the ARTHUR's Neighborhood outreach campaign and resources.
Audience Reach
WGBH materials virtually fly off the shelf, as demonstrated by the quantities of
publications distributed, many of which have gone through more than one
printing. The ARTHUR, BETWEEN THE LIONS and POSTCARDS FROM BUSTER series and the
outreach are indeed reaching their intended audiences. Each year, more
educators are using WGBH resources in the classroom. WGBH outreach
materials allow teachers to use the shows, activities, and trade books together
or as stand-alone teaching resources. Teachers have rated the resources very
high in increasing general interest in reading. Parents appreciate the friendly,
informative, easy-to-use formats and information.
Challenges & Lessons Learned
Over its many seasons, WGBH has worked with a number of partners. In
developing these relationships, we have constantly challenged ourselves to be a
better partner -- to say, "Here's what we think; what do you think?" Working
with a wide range of partners, the team has learned to bring partners in early
in the process and to build meaningful, reciprocal relationships.
It can be difficult to maintain communication and relationships with multiple
target audiences, especially given shrinking resources. To address this
challenge, we usually chose one or two target audiences each season and keep
our efforts focused. The long-term impact is cumulative.
Teachers face many challenges in the classroom, including teaching to meet
standards, ensuring that children test well on standardized tests, and keeping
students engaged -- all within a limited timeframe. Our challenge has been to
create materials that are doable in the small windows of time teachers have
available. This means creating materials that complement and support the
curriculum and the standards, while engaging and motivating students and
providing the content they need to know.
I have learned early on that the popularity of our shows means that resources
are in constant demand. Each season, we have received so many requests for
materials, from both current and past seasons, that we decided to make most
of our materials as evergreen as possible. This makes the materials useful
beyond their normal shelf life. All nine seasons of ARTHUR resources, three
seasons of BETWEEN THE LIONS and the first season of POSTCARDS FROM BUSTER are
still being distributed in print or through the Web.

Outreach Overview.EH

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