Research

We test every aspect of our programming locally and nationally. Rockman et al Cooperative (REA), an independent research and evaluation company, serves as Twin Cities Public Television’s external research and evaluation partner. REA develops and implements a robust research and evaluation plan that informs the design and refinement of TPT’s transmedia resources and systematically investigates the impacts of these RTL-funded materials on young learners’ development of foundational workforce-aligned executive functioning and self-regulation skills. They also oversee partnerships with Garibay Group and TERC, who bring additional expertise in culturally responsive research and informal learning with families to our research consortium.

Articles

How Out-of-School Educators are Supporting Children’s Executive Functioning Skills After the COVID-19 Pandemic

What Caregivers Think About Children’s Executive Functioning Skills and Self-Regulation Strategies

Helping Young Children Learn and Think About Different Careers

How to Talk to Young Children about Careers and Support their Curiosity about the Future

Designing Flexible Afterschool Programming to Support Educators and Children Alike

Balancing Digital and Analog Activities in Afterschool Programs with Young Children

Self-Regulation Strategies for Children in Afterschool Spaces

Foregrounding Equity and Representation in Children’s Media

Research Findings

Caregiver Thoughts on Careers

We wanted to know more about how caregivers talk to their 5–8-year-olds about careers, so we asked caregivers across the country: 686 via survey and 30 in interviews. They told us it was important to expose their children to a broad range of careers and to ground these conversations in their children’s interests and in their communities.

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Caregiver Thoughts on Coping Strategies

We asked caregivers about the strategies they use when their 5–8-year-old children are dealing with something difficult. They used a lot of different strategies, but told us they most often helped their children to take deep breaths and count to 10.

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Caregiver Thoughts on Everyday Success Skills

We asked 686 caregivers of 5–8-year-olds which skills were most difficult for their child. They told us responding well to disappointment, managing emotions, self-correcting behaviors, thinking before saying something, and sticking with difficult tasks.

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Presentations

In July 2022, we presented with Rockman et al Cooperative and Garibay Group at the 21st Century Community Learning Centers Summer Symposium. During the workshop, we talked with informal education practitioners about the challenges they face when partnering with researchers, what they'd hope to see in ideal partnerships, and how to get there. Then we compiled all of our notes into a document that we shared out with the workshop participants.

View the slides and group discussion takeaways!

We also shared content and curriculum from our family program. In response to the disruptions in the lives of children and families during the COVID-19 pandemic, we aimed to empower children and families by enhancing their executive function skills and coping strategies while building a community based on shared experiences. In this interactive presentation, participants engaged in a coping strategy exercise, which we use with children as a way to self-regulate and prepare for tasks that require executive functioning skills. Participants also played an analog game that promotes awareness of executive function skills.

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In July 2022, we also presented at the Connected Learning Summit with our research partners Rockman et al Cooperative and Garibay Group. In this multimedia video presentation and virtual reception, we discussed lessons learned during our relationship-building efforts with community-based organizations.

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In March 2023, we presented twice at the National AfterSchool Association Convention in Orlando, FL. In "Regulation Station: Supprting Self-Regulation Strategies with Children in Out-of-School-Time Contexts," we introduced self-regulation strategies and guided attendees through a three-step strategy together. Then we discussed how to integrate self-regulation strategies into afterschool programming with K–2 children.

Try the two strategies yourself!

We also led an interactive session with Rockman et al Cooperative on how to select research methods and communicate findings based on what afterschool practitioners want to measure and who they want to share findings with, including parents, funders, or the community at large.

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In April 2023, we presented with Rockman et al Cooperative at the American Educational Research Association’s conference in Chicago, IL. Here, we shared findings from our national needs assessment (including surveys, interviews, and focus groups), which was conducted with informal educators and caregivers of 5–8-year-olds to inform the curriculum and program structure.

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