Among the various production companies responsible for educational television programs, there is a vast range in the degree to which research plays a role in these productions. Many producers rely on little or no research input, limited, perhaps, to occasional consulting by educational advisers or a test of the appeal of a pilot episode. By contrast, a smaller number of producers use research more extensively. As Gerald Lesser (1974) has recounted, the latter approach was originated in the late 1960s by the Children's Television Workshop (CTW), the producer of numerous, highly respected educational television series such as Sesame Street, The Electric Company, Square One TV, Ghostwriter, and Dragon Tales.

Under the model of production that has come to be known as the "CTW Model," television producers, educational content specialists, and researchers collaborate closely throughout the life of a television series, from...