IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/nbr/nberwo/30837.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Language Environment and Maternal Expectations: An Evaluation of the LENA Start Program

Author

Listed:
  • Flavio Cunha
  • Marsha Gerdes
  • Qinyou Hu
  • Snejana Nihtianova

Abstract

Research documents that parental beliefs influence early investments in children, which, in turn, determine early human capital and, eventually, other skills children acquire in later stages of the lifecycle, such as literacy. Our paper reports the results of an experimental evaluation of the LENA Start Program, a group- and center-based parenting program that teaches the science of early language development, models verbal interaction behaviors with children, and provides objective feedback to improve the early language environment. The intervention changes parental beliefs and impacts the quantity and quality of parental linguistic input.

Suggested Citation

  • Flavio Cunha & Marsha Gerdes & Qinyou Hu & Snejana Nihtianova, 2023. "Language Environment and Maternal Expectations: An Evaluation of the LENA Start Program," NBER Working Papers 30837, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:30837
    Note: CH
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.nber.org/papers/w30837.pdf
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text is generally limited to series subscribers, however if the top level domain of the client browser is in a developing country or transition economy free access is provided. More information about subscriptions and free access is available at http://www.nber.org/wwphelp.html. Free access is also available to older working papers.
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. James J. Heckman & Margaret L. Holland & Kevin K. Makino & Rodrigo Pinto & Maria Rosales-Rueda, 2017. "An Analysis of the Memphis Nurse-Family Partnership Program," NBER Working Papers 23610, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Sean Sylvia & Nele Warrinnier & Renfu Luo & Ai Yue & Orazio Attanasio & Alexis Medina & Scott Rozelle, 2021. "From Quantity to Quality: Delivering a Home-Based Parenting Intervention Through China’s Family Planning Cadres," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 131(635), pages 1365-1400.
    3. Hanushek, Eric A. & Schwerdt, Guido & Wiederhold, Simon & Woessmann, Ludger, 2015. "Returns to skills around the world: Evidence from PIAAC," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 103-130.
    4. Jorge Luis García & James J. Heckman, 2022. "Parenting Promotes Social Mobility Within and Across Generations," NBER Working Papers 30610, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Biroli, Pietro & Boneva, Teodora & Raja, Akash & Rauh, Christopher, 2022. "Parental beliefs about returns to child health investments," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 231(1), pages 33-57.
    6. Bhalotra, Sonia & Delavande, Adeline & Font-Gilabert, Paulino & Maselko, Joanna, 2020. "Maternal investments in children: the role of expected effort and returns," ISER Working Paper Series 2020-03, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    7. David S. Lee, 2009. "Training, Wages, and Sample Selection: Estimating Sharp Bounds on Treatment Effects," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 76(3), pages 1071-1102.
    8. Jin Zhou & Bei Liu & LU Mai, 2020. "The Impact of a Prototypical Home Visiting Program on Child Skills," Working Papers 2020-047, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.
    9. Paul Gertler & James J. Heckman & Rodrigo Pinto & Susan M. Chang & Sally Grantham-McGregor & Christel Vermeersch & Susan Walker & Amika Wright, 2021. "Effect of the Jamaica Early Childhood Stimulation Intervention on Labor Market Outcomes at Age 31," NBER Working Papers 29292, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Anna Vignoles & Augustin De Coulon & Oscar Marcenaro-Gutierrez, 2011. "The value of basic skills in the British labour market," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 63(1), pages 27-48, January.
    11. Orazio Attanasio & Teodora Boneva & Christopher Rauh, 2022. "Parental Beliefs about Returns to Different Types of Investments in School Children," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 57(6), pages 1789-1825.
    12. John List & Julie Pernaudet & Dana Suskind, 2021. "It All Starts with Beliefs: Addressing the Roots of Educational Inequities by Changing Parental Beliefs," Framed Field Experiments 00740, The Field Experiments Website.
    13. Richard J. Murnane & John B. Willett & Yves Duhaldeborde & John H. Tyler, 2000. "How important are the cognitive skills of teenagers in predicting subsequent earnings?," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 19(4), pages 547-568.
    14. Teodora Boneva & Christopher Rauh, 2018. "Parental Beliefs about Returns to Educational Investments—The Later the Better?," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 16(6), pages 1669-1711.
    15. Orazio Attanasio & Flávio Cunha & Pamela Jervis, 2019. "Subjective Parental Beliefs. Their Measurement and Role," NBER Working Papers 26516, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    16. Jeffrey M Wooldridge, 2010. "Econometric Analysis of Cross Section and Panel Data," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 2, volume 1, number 0262232588, December.
    17. John A. List & Julie Pernaudet & Dana Suskind, 2021. "It All Starts with Beliefs: Addressing the Roots of Educational Inequities by Shifting Parental Beliefs," NBER Working Papers 29394, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    18. Flávio Cunha & Irma Elo & Jennifer Culhane, 2013. "Eliciting Maternal Expectations about the Technology of Cognitive Skill Formation," NBER Working Papers 19144, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    19. Patricia Leahy‐Warren & Geraldine McCarthy & Paul Corcoran, 2012. "First‐time mothers: social support, maternal parental self‐efficacy and postnatal depression," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 21(3‐4), pages 388-397, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Cunha, Flávio & Elo, Irma & Culhane, Jennifer, 2022. "Maternal subjective expectations about the technology of skill formation predict investments in children one year later," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 231(1), pages 3-32.
    2. John List & Julie Pernaudet & Dana Suskind, 2021. "It All Starts with Beliefs: Addressing the Roots of Educational Inequities by Changing Parental Beliefs," Framed Field Experiments 00740, The Field Experiments Website.
    3. John A. List & Ragan Petrie & Anya Samek, 2023. "How Experiments with Children Inform Economics," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 61(2), pages 504-564, June.
    4. Flavio Cunha & Irma Elo & Jennifer Culhane, 2021. "Maternal Subjective Expectations about the Technology of Skill Formation Predict Investments in Children One Year Later," Working Papers 2021-018, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.
    5. Beam, Emily A. & Mukherjee, Priya & Navarro-Sola, Laia, 2022. "Lowering Barriers to Remote Education: Experimental Impacts on Parental Responses and Learning," IZA Discussion Papers 15596, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Bhalotra, Sonia & Delavande, Adeline & Font-Gilabert, Paulino & Maselko, Joanna, 2022. "Maternal Investments in Children : The Role of Expected Effort and Returns," CAGE Online Working Paper Series 637, Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE).
    7. Bhalotra, Sonia & Delavande, Adeline & Font-Gilabert, Paulino & Maselko, Joanna, 2020. "Maternal investments in children: the role of expected effort and returns," ISER Working Paper Series 2020-03, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    8. Bhalotra, Sonia & Delavande, Adeline & Font-Gilabert, Paulino & Maselko, Joanna, 2022. "Maternal Investments in Children : The Role of Expected Effort and Returns," The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) 1423, University of Warwick, Department of Economics.
    9. Biroli, Pietro & Boneva, Teodora & Raja, Akash & Rauh, Christopher, 2022. "Parental beliefs about returns to child health investments," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 231(1), pages 33-57.
    10. Jorge Luis García & James J. Heckman, 2022. "Parenting Promotes Social Mobility Within and Across Generations," NBER Working Papers 30610, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Jessen, Jonas & Schmitz, Sophia & Waights, Sevrin, 2020. "Understanding Day Care Enrolment Gaps," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, issue Forthcomi.
    12. Jonas Lau-Jensen Hirani & Hans Henrik Sievertsen & Miriam Wust, 2020. "The Timing of Early Interventions and Child and Maternal Health," Bristol Economics Discussion Papers 20/720, School of Economics, University of Bristol, UK.
    13. Armin Falk & Fabian Kosse & Pia Pinger, 2020. "Mentoring and Schooling Decisions: Causal Evidence," CESifo Working Paper Series 8382, CESifo.
    14. Wang, Haining & Cheng, Zhiming & Smyth, Russell, 2022. "Parental misbeliefs and household investment in children's education," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    15. Hirani, Jonas Cuzulan & Sievertsen, Hans Henrik & Wüst, Miriam, 2020. "Missing a Nurse Visit," IZA Discussion Papers 13485, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
      • Miriam Wüst & Jonas Lau-Jensen Hirani & Hans Henrik Sievertsen, 2021. "Missing a Nurse Visit," CEBI working paper series 20-09, University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics. The Center for Economic Behavior and Inequality (CEBI).
    16. Chang, Simon & Cobb-Clark, Deborah A. & Salamanca, Nicolás, 2022. "Parents’ responses to teacher qualifications," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 197(C), pages 419-446.
    17. Michele Giannola, 2022. "Parental Investments and Intra-household Inequality in Child Human Capital: Evidence from a Survey Experiment," CSEF Working Papers 650, Centre for Studies in Economics and Finance (CSEF), University of Naples, Italy, revised 06 Dec 2022.
    18. Lekfuangfu, Warn N. & Odermatt, Reto, 2022. "All I have to do is dream? The role of aspirations in intergenerational mobility and well-being," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    19. Jonas Lau-Jensen Hirani & Hans Henrik Sievertsen & Miriam Wüst & Johannes Wohlfart, 2020. "Missing a Nurse Visit," Discussion Papers 20-09, University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics.
    20. Ersoy, Fulya, 2023. "Effects of perceived productivity on study effort: Evidence from a field experiment," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 207(C), pages 376-391.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:30837. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/nberrus.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.