American Graduate is public media’s long-term commitment to supporting community-based solutions to the dropout crisis.  Supported by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, more than 100 public radio and television stations have joined forces with over 1,400 community partners and at-risk schools across 40 states including a strong initiative from Florida public stations and schools to increase the graduation rate of at-risk students.

What we are doing:

1. National and local reporting, both on-air and online is helping communities understand the challenges and community-driven solutions associated with the dropout crisis
2. Public forums, town halls, and community conversation are activating discussions between community leaders, educators, and more.
3. Free, digital classroom resources such as PBS Kids and PBS Learning Media, are providing youth across the pre-k to postsecondary education/career spectrum with access to high quality learning materials that engages them in classrooms and schools across the State.
4. Educational programs
5. Convening diverse stakeholders in forums and providing access to free, digital classroom resources for teachers and parents.

A recent study conducted by the Everyone Graduates Center at Johns Hopkins School of Education finds the American Graduate initiative has succeeded in building community capacity to meet the goal of ending American’s high school dropout crisis.

Florida PBS LearningMedia:

The Florida PBS LearningMedia is THE destination for high-quality, trusted digital content and solutions that transform learning and fuel student engagement. Over the years, Florida LearningMedia platform has thousands of resources customized to Florida needs by aligning all resources to Florida Standards.

This robust library contains:

• Productivity tools for teachers,
• A student learning portal,
• Professional development and special events for teachers and educators
• Analytics and reporting tools
• Insider news and updates
• Fast growing Florida specific resources both for classroom content and teacher training initiated by districts, schools and public-private partnerships across the state.

The Ready To Learn program narrows the achievement gap.

Ready to Learn is an effective children’s media program targeted toward America’s most at-risk kids, but made available to all families and children across the country.  Ready To Learn leverages the reach of public broadcasting to successfully move the needle in children’s learning and provide unique education safe havens for kids on TV, online and on mobile devices.  Each Florida PBS station delivers over 40,000 hours of RTL content guided by a math-and literacy-based framework annually.

Ready To Learn content and workshops facilitate family engagement and connections between school and home with tools that include games, activities and customized progress tracking.  The initiative targets children 2-8 years of age with tools and content to better prepare children for school and keep them at grade level in math and reading through 4^th grade.

Florida stations host Ready To Learn workshops that have impacted tens of thousands of children, families and schools and better prepare Florida children. To learn more about this researched-based highly successful early learning initiative go to http://pbskids.org/readytolearn/

The Martha Speaks Reading Buddies Program is an innovative cross-age reading program to develop and enhance vocabulary acquisition and comprehension in elementary school students.  The 10-week program pairs fourth or fifth grade “big” buddies with kindergarten or first grade “little” buddies.  Together, the buddies watch Martha Speaks segments, play educational games, and read and write together.  Statewide, more than 1050 children participated in this literacy project. There was almost a 30% improvement in reading ability as a result of the project.

The PBS KIDS Raising Readers Library Corners initiative is a community outreach project that places high-quality education materials directly into the hands of librarians, children and families in low-income communities.  The Library Corners are placed in libraries and Title 1 schools to help kids learn using interactive media, resources and books from popular PBS.

WJCT Public Broadcasting hosts TEACH, an annual conference to engage, empower and inspire teachers.  The on-day event is filled with national speakers, breakout sessions and exhibitors.  Teachers learn about the many resources available to support and enhance the classroom experience.  This last year there were almost 1,000 teachers in attendance from all over the state.

WEDU in Tampa and the Hillsborough County VPK program, partner to present the Sid the Science Kid Summer Program. Aligned with Florida Early Learning and Developmental Standards for Four-year-olds, the six week VPK summer program served more than 1200 four-year-olds in 20 locations across the county this past summer.  The program includes pre- and post-program assessment and teacher surveys.

Launched in 2006, SciGirls WFSU Mag Lab is a to-week hands-on summer camp run by The National High Magnetic Field Laboratory and WFSU that inspires middle and high school girls to pursue careers in science. Campers are exposed to a wide range of science disciplines; participate in labs, lectures, demonstrations and walking tours. Local scientists and science educators lead the activities.

The SUPER WHY Camps build on the signature early literacy approach of the popular SUPER WHY television series, extending its unique interactive reading approach into the community.  Each day at Reading Camp, children transform into one of the SUPER WHY characters and take part in reading-based, branded SUPER WHY crafts, games and songs that practice the targeted early literacy skills of the day, letter identification, rhyming with word families, letter sounds and spelling and vocabulary and comprehension.

The PBS Kids Writers Contest is a great opportunity for Florida kids to express their creativity.  Part of a national initiative, the annual contest promotes reading and writing by inviting K-3 students throughout Florida to write and illustrate original stories.