IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/aah/aarhec/2023-01.html

Supporting Language Development through a Texting Program: Initial Results from Denmark

Author

Listed:
  • Susanna Loeb

    (Center for Education Policy Analysis, Stanford)

  • Michala Iben Riis-Vestergaard

    (Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab, MIT)

  • Marianne Simonsen

    (Department of Economics and Business Economics, Aarhus University)

Abstract

This paper presents the results from a large-scale family-level randomized controlled trial evaluation of a texting program, TipsbyText, which had as its primary goal to enhance child language development through supporting parents and caregivers in creating playful, language stimulating activities. The program was delivered to parents of children aged 3-6 in Danish preschools and the evaluation combines the data from the randomized controlled trial with population-level register-based data. We measure outcomes immediately after program delivery and at one-year follow-up. While the program was generally well liked by parents and delivered as intended with relatively low dropout, TipsByText did not affect children’s language development, neither for the full sample, nor for any pre-defined subgroups. We discuss possible reasons for the lack of positive effects.

Suggested Citation

  • Susanna Loeb & Michala Iben Riis-Vestergaard & Marianne Simonsen, 2023. "Supporting Language Development through a Texting Program: Initial Results from Denmark," Economics Working Papers 2023-01, Department of Economics and Business Economics, Aarhus University.
    • Handle: RePEc:aah:aarhec:2023-01
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://repec.econ.au.dk/repec/afn/wp/23/wp23_01.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Christopher Doss & Erin M. Fahle & Susanna Loeb & Benjamin N. York, 2019. "More Than Just a Nudge: Supporting Kindergarten Parents with Differentiated and Personalized Text Messages," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 54(3), pages 567-603.
    2. Anderson, Michael L., 2008. "Multiple Inference and Gender Differences in the Effects of Early Intervention: A Reevaluation of the Abecedarian, Perry Preschool, and Early Training Projects," Journal of the American Statistical Association, American Statistical Association, vol. 103(484), pages 1481-1495.
    3. Esping-Andersen, Gosta & Garfinkel, Irwin & Han, Wen-Jui & Magnuson, Katherine & Wagner, Sander & Waldfogel, Jane, 2012. "Child care and school performance in Denmark and the United States," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 576-589.
    4. Susan E. Mayer & Ariel Kalil & Philip Oreopoulos & Sebastian Gallegos, 2019. "Using Behavioral Insights to Increase Parental Engagement: The Parents and Children Together Intervention," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 54(4), pages 900-925.
    5. James Heckman & Pedro Carneiro, 2003. "Human Capital Policy," NBER Working Papers 9495, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Jens Ludwig & Sendhil Mullainathan & Jann Spiess, 2019. "Augmenting Pre-Analysis Plans with Machine Learning," AEA Papers and Proceedings, American Economic Association, vol. 109, pages 71-76, May.
    7. Alexandre Belloni & Victor Chernozhukov & Christian Hansen, 2014. "High-Dimensional Methods and Inference on Structural and Treatment Effects," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 28(2), pages 29-50, Spring.
    8. Douglas Almond & Janet Currie & Valentina Duque, 2018. "Childhood Circumstances and Adult Outcomes: Act II," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 56(4), pages 1360-1446, December.
    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. Berlinski, Samuel & Giannola, Michele & Toppeta, Alessandro, 2026. "Effective Families or Effective Schools? Experimental Evidence on Fostering Children's Numeracy," IZA Discussion Papers 18485, IZA Network @ LISER.
    2. Patricia Justino & Marinella Leone & Pierfrancesco Rolla & Monique Abimpaye & Caroline Dusabe & Marie D Uwamahoro & Richard Germond, 2023. "Improving Parenting Practices for Early Child Development: Experimental Evidence from Rwanda," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 21(4), pages 1510-1550.
    3. Joana Elisa Maldonado & Kristof De Witte & Koen Declercq, 2022. "The effects of parental involvement in homework: two randomised controlled trials in financial education," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 62(3), pages 1439-1464, March.
    4. Apps, Patricia & Mendolia, Silvia & Walker, Ian, 2013. "The impact of pre-school on adolescents’ outcomes: Evidence from a recent English cohort," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 183-199.
    5. Mounu Prem & Juan F. Vargas & Olga Namen, 2023. "The Human Capital Peace Dividend," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 58(3), pages 962-1002.
    6. Emily Beam & Priya Mukherjee & Laia Navarro-Sola, 2022. "Lowering Barriers to Remote Education: Experimental Impacts on Parental Responses and Learning," Working Papers 2022-030, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.
    7. Jan Stuhler, 2018. "A Review of Intergenerational Mobility and its Drivers," JRC Research Reports JRC112247, Joint Research Centre.
    8. Angelini, Viola & Mierau, Jochen O. & Viluma, Laura, 2021. "Socioeconomic Conditions in Childhood and Mental Health Later in Life," GLO Discussion Paper Series 844, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    9. Elsner, Benjamin & Wozny, Florian, 2023. "Long-run exposure to low-dose radiation reduces cognitive performance," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    10. Maldonado, Joana Elisa & De Witte, Kristof, 2021. "The impact of information provision to parents: Experimental evidence on student outcomes," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 31(C).
    11. González, Libertad & Trommlerová, Sofia, 2022. "Cash transfers before pregnancy and infant health," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    12. Christian Posso & Jorge Tamayo & Arlen Guarin & Estefania Saravia, 2024. "Luck of the Draw: The Causal Effect of Physicians on Birth Outcomes," Borradores de Economia 1269, Banco de la Republica de Colombia.
    13. Gabriella Conti & Mark Hanson & Hazel Inskip & Sarah Crozier & Cyrus Cooper & Keith Godfrey, 2018. "Beyond Birth Weight: The Origins of Human Capital," Working Papers 2018-089, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.
    14. Clément de Chaisemartin & Nicolás Navarrete H., 2023. "The Direct and Spillover Effects of a Nationwide Socioemotional Learning Program for Disruptive Students," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 41(3), pages 729-769.
    15. Wicker, Till & Dalton, Patricio & van Soest, Daan, 2025. "Mental Accounting and Cash Transfers : Experimental Evidence from a Humanitarian Setting," Other publications TiSEM a92dc757-d6b5-4802-8639-c, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    16. Drange, Nina & Havnes, Tarjei & Sandsør, Astrid M.J., 2016. "Kindergarten for all: Long run effects of a universal intervention," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 164-181.
    17. Esposito Acosta,Bruno Nicola & Sautmann,Anja, 2022. "Adaptive Experiments for Policy Choice : Phone Calls for Home Reading in Kenya," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10098, The World Bank.
    18. Duque, Valentina & Schmitz, Lauren L., 2020. "The Influence of Early-life Economic Shocks on Long-term Outcomes: Evidence from the U.S. Great Depression," Working Papers 2020-11, University of Sydney, School of Economics.
    19. Sebastian Gallegos & Pablo Celhay, 2020. "Early Skill Effects on Types of Parental Investments and Long-Run Outcomes," Working Papers 2020-014, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.
    20. Joan Costa & Noelia Bernal & Patricia Ritter, 2019. "El efecto del Seguro Integral de Salud en la salud Infantil: evidencia de un diseño de regresión discontinua," Investigaciones, Consorcio de Investigación Económica y Social.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • I2 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education

    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:aah:aarhec:2023-01. 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: http://www.econ.au.dk/afn/ .

    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.