Under a Watchful Eye: How colleges are tracking students to boost graduation

Monday August 26 at 9am & 7pm

Colleges need more students to graduate, so many are embracing a tool used by corporations and social media companies to track the clicks and movements of their customers: big data. Colleges collect a trove of information on their students, and private companies are helping them make predictions about who's at risk of dropping out, or who's unlikely to succeed in a major, so students can get extra help or be steered to subjects where they're more likely to do well.

Reporter Jill Barshay of the Hechinger Report teams up with APM Reports to examine the growing use of predictive analytics to get more students across the finish line and deliver more revenue to school - and how that's reshaping the college experience.

Students on the Move: Keeping uprooted kids in school

Tuesday August 27 at 9am & 7pm

Frequent moves are hard on kids. A growing body of research says children with unstable housing are more likely to struggle in school and more likely to drop out - and millions of children in the United States face housing challenges.

This documentary focuses on two groups who often change addresses - homeless kids and children of migrant farm workers - and explores efforts to help these students do well in school.

At a Loss for Words: What's wrong with how schools teach reading

Wednesday August 28 at 9am & 7pm

There's an idea about how people read words that's deeply embedded in teaching practices and curriculum materials used in most elementary school classrooms. While the idea has been disproven by cognitive scientists, it continues to be taught in teacher preparation programs, promoted in professional development sessions, and marketed by publishers.

This documentary - a follow-up to last year's "Hard Words: Why aren't kids being taught to read?" - investigates where the idea comes from, why it holds on, and how it harms kids.

Join us for Esme & Roy on the 24/7 WITF-PBS Kids Channel

From the makers of Sesame Street comes Esme & Roy to PBS Kids. Esme & Roy are best friends--and the best monstersitters in Monsterdale! This new preschool series brings viewers along on relatable monster adventures and is packed with playful learning, humor, heart, and musical monster-y fun.

Esme & Roy begins August 30 on 24/7 WITF-PBS Kids Channel. 

Learning through Play

A primary educational goal of Esme & Roy is to model how children best learn through play and to foster a range of play patterns using everyday objects and learning across content areas. When children play, they are:
• Motivated by their own interests
• Cognitively, physically and socially engaged
• Curious and try new things!

As play guides, Esme & Roy set up different type of play to solve problems and help the little monsters learn a range of lessons while extending their interest through play!

Join us for Esme & Roy Saturday and Sunday at 10:30am on the 24/7 WITF-PBS Kids Channel. 

WITF features a 24/7 feed of PBS Kids Programming all day, every day. Learn where you can find this channel to watch on TV or watch the channel through the PBS Kids Video App.

Support for WITF-PBS Kids 24/7 is made possible with generous support from the The Anne M. And Philip H. Glatfelter, III Family Foundation.

This summer WITF and PBS bring the universe to you with SUMMER OF SPACE. This summer's theme commemorates America's journey into space.

The celebration officially kicks off July 8 at 8pm with a new space-themed ANTIQUES ROADSHOW "Out of This World" and the epic three-part special "Chasing the Moon" from AMERICAN EXPERIENCE, charting the worldwide race to space during the 1950s and '60s.

On July 10 at 9:00pm, NOVA "Back to the Moon" explores how new scientific discoveries are fueling excitement for a return to the lunar surface, and its five-part series "The Planets" beginning July 24 brings to life the dramatic story of our solar system--from Saturn's 45,000-mile-wide rings, to Mars's ancient waterfalls, to the raging winds of Neptune, and more.

8 DAYS: TO THE MOON AND BACK on July 17 at 9:00pm tells the story of Apollo 11 with rare mission audio and CGI recreation of the crew experience. 

WHEN WE WERE APOLLO features an intimate and personal look at the Apollo Space Program through the lives and experiences of some of its most inspiring behind-the-scenes figures: engineers, technicians, builders and contractors who spent the better part of a decade working to get us to the moon and back. WHEN WE WERE APOLLO broadcasts July 19 at 9:00pm. 

The three-part mini-series ANCIENT SKIES begins July 24. Discover the centuries of knowledge, experimentation and engineering that helped our ancestors explore outer space.

On July 26 at 9:00pm, SPACE CHASE USA explores the extraordinary events that transformed the small town of Cocoa Beach, Florida into a bustling center for the American space program. Featuring a trove of archival material and interviews with long-time residents, former Apollo astronauts, and Cape Canaveral-based engineers and employees, the program charts the history of the space program in Florida during the 1950s and 1960s.

We encore the FARTHEST VOYAGER on July 31 at 10:00pm. Learn how NASA's epic Voyager missions, launched in 1977, revolutionized our understanding of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and their dazzling moons and rings. In 2012, Voyager 1 left our solar system and ushered humanity into the interstellar age.

The Summer of Space also extends to WITF's radio programming:

THE RACE TO THE MOON features diverse voices - all of whom recollect the Moon landing with fondness and pride: Viktor Yazdovsky, whose father helped prepare dogs for space orbit in the USSR; Joe Guion, who pulled the first space-traveling monkeys out of their capsule; Colonel Frank Borman, commander of NASA's Apollo 8 mission; Fred Hayes of the stricken Apollo 13 mission; and Harrison Schmitt, one of the last astronauts walk on the lunar surface. Hear these stories July 5 at 9:00am and 7:00pm.