Big Bird, Cookie Monster and the rest of the Sesame Street Muppets are some of the few characters starring on childrens’ programming that qualifies as educational, according to the results of a new study by University researchers.

The study, conducted by the organization Children Now, included University professor Barbara Wilson and graduate student Kristin Drogos. It examined programs that claimed to be “educational/informational” by commercial stations.

Of these programs, 13 percent were rated as “highly educational,” 23 percent as “minimally educational” and 63 percent as “moderately educational.”

“The amount of minimally educational programs has increased,” Drogos said. “This study highlights the need for thought about what is going into educational television.”

A study had not been conducted for about eight years, but the purpose of this study was to evaluate the educational value of programming, not to examine why television is the way it is, Drogos said.

The programs were judged based on six criteria: lesson clarity, integration, involvement, applicability, importance and reinforcements. Each episode was given an evaluation of low, medium or high in each of these categories and a corresponding number of points.

“Television stations need to pay attention to the criteria,” Drogos said. “They should look at ways to include them when creating an educational show.”

Some producers have educational/informational consultants, who they go to for advice on how to improve their programming.

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, two-thirds of infants and toddlers watch a screen for an average of two hours a day, kids younger than six watch an average of about two hours of screen media a day, primarily television and videos or DVDs, and those between the ages 8 to 18 years spend nearly four hours a day in front of a television screen.

Tracey Cole, the station manager of WAND-TV, the local NBC affiliate, said producers have to verify that programs they show meet children’s educational television needs.

“Each syndication company is responsible for getting FCC approval,” he said. “The programs have to fit into the guidelines the FCC has set forth.”

Cole said the stations also have to file quarterly children’s programming reports to certify the programs were actually broadcast, and they met the standards.

Matthew Foster, principal of Bottenfield Elementary School in Champaign, said it is difficult to know what the stations are lacking unless a child’s requirements are specified.

“Each child has individual needs,” he said. “Programming depends on the age of the child and what skills he or she needs.”

William Taylor, principal of South Side Elementary School in Champaign, said stations are lacking actual instructional shows, like “Sesame Street” and “The Electric Company.”

“The tough thing is to be able to provide instructional shows like those while at the same time holding children’s interest for 30 or 60 minutes,” he said.

Both principals said they agree there are better things for children to be doing than watching television.

“There’s always something to watch, always an excuse not to get up and go outside and play,” Taylor said.

Foster said he believes that when children play together, they learn how to form relationships and mediate their own problems.

However, he added there can be both good and bad information on television.

“It puts the responsibility on parents to know what their kids are being exposed to,” Foster said.

Drogos said she’d like to see a serious effort made to increase the value of shows.

“What are the lessons?” she said. “Are they something the average American child needs to become a healthy adult?”