Screen time that teaches: study tests if TV shows can boost Kids' ABCs
NCT ID NCT06796790
First seen Jun 24, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026 · Updated 1 time
Summary
This study looks at whether guiding caregivers to use educational media or storybooks with their children can improve early reading skills. About 450 children aged 3.5 to 4.75 years will take part. Caregivers will be trained to use either a Super Why! media program or storybooks at home for 12 weeks. Researchers will measure skills like letter knowledge and rhyming to see which approach works best.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- Media instruction and storybook intervention
- What this could lead to
- If successful, this could provide simple, home-based ways to improve early literacy skills in young children, especially those from low-income families.
- What could go wrong
- This is an early-stage behavioral study with no direct medical outcome. Results may not apply to all children or settings, and adherence to the home program may vary.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Not a phased trial
Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.
- Participants
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About 450 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Jul 2025
- Expected to finish
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Aug 2029
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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42 to 57 months
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Accepted
You do not need to have the condition being studied to take part.
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Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: * between 42 and 57 months at enrollment * minimally verbal in English * caregiver sufficiently proficient in English * does not have severe intellectual disability Exclusion Criteria: * under 42 months * over 57 months at enrollment * severe intellectual disability * not proficient in English
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
How to take part
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
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The places running it
1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.
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The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
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A doctor treating you
A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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The Ohio State University Crane Center for Early Childhood
RECRUITINGColumbus, Ohio, 43201, United States