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One Step at a Time: The Effects of an Early Literacy Text Messaging Program for Parents of Preschoolers

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  • Benjamin N. York
  • Susanna Loeb

Abstract

Large systematic differences in young children’s home learning experiences have long-term economic consequences. Many parenting programs place significant demands on parents’ time and inundate parents with information. This study evaluates the effects of READY4K!, an eight-month-long text-messaging intervention for parents of preschoolers that targets the behavioral barriers to engaged parenting. We find that READY4K! increased parental involvement at home and school by 0.15 to 0.29 standard deviations, leading to child gains in early literacy of about 0.11 standard deviations. The results point to the salience of behavioral barriers to parenting and the potential for low-cost interventions to reduce these barriers.

Suggested Citation

  • Benjamin N. York & Susanna Loeb, 2014. "One Step at a Time: The Effects of an Early Literacy Text Messaging Program for Parents of Preschoolers," NBER Working Papers 20659, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:20659
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    Cited by:

    1. Damgaard, Mette Trier & Nielsen, Helena Skyt, 2018. "Nudging in education," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 313-342.
    2. Eduard Marinov, 2017. "The 2017 Nobel Prize in Economics," Economic Thought journal, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences - Economic Research Institute, issue 6, pages 117-159.
    3. Committee, Nobel Prize, 2017. "Richard H. Thaler: Integrating Economics with Psychology," Nobel Prize in Economics documents 2017-1, Nobel Prize Committee.
    4. Ferman, Bruno & Lima, Lycia & Riva, Flávio, 2021. "Artificial Intelligence, Teacher Tasks and Individualized Pedagogy," SocArXiv qw249, Center for Open Science.
    5. Benjamin L. Castleman & Francis X. Murphy & Richard W. Patterson & William L. Skimmyhorn, 2021. "Nudges Don't Work When the Benefits Are Ambiguous: Evidence from a High‐Stakes Education Program," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 40(4), pages 1230-1248, September.
    6. Susan E. Mayer & Ariel Kalil & Philip Oreopoulos & Sebastian Gallegos, 2015. "Using Behavioral Insights to Increase Parental Engagement: The Parents and Children Together (PACT) Intervention," NBER Working Papers 21602, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Chris Ryan, 2016. "Parental Investments and Child Development: Counting Games and Early Numeracy," Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series wp2016n34, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne.
    8. Roland Fryer & Steven Levitt & John List, 2015. "Parental Incentives and Early Childhood Achievement: A Field Experiment in Chicago Heights," Framed Field Experiments 00587, The Field Experiments Website.
    9. Lindsay C. Page & Judith Scott-Clayton, 2015. "Improving College Access in the United States: Barriers and Policy Responses," NBER Working Papers 21781, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Matthew A. Kraft & Manuel Monti-Nussbaum, 2017. "Can Schools Enable Parents to Prevent Summer Learning Loss? A Text-Messaging Field Experiment to Promote Literacy Skills," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 674(1), pages 85-112, November.
    11. Peter Leopold S. Bergman & Eric W. Chan, 2017. "Leveraging Technology to Engage Parents at Scale: Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial," CESifo Working Paper Series 6493, CESifo.
    12. Page, Lindsay C. & Scott-Clayton, Judith, 2016. "Improving college access in the United States: Barriers and policy responses," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 4-22.
    13. Kuchirko, Yana A. & Coskun, Lerzan Z. & Duch, Helena & Castaner, Maria Marti & Gennetian, Lisa A., 2021. "Light-touch design enhancements can boost parent engagement in math activities," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    14. Cass Sunstein, 2015. "Nudges Do Not Undermine Human Agency," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 38(3), pages 207-210, September.
    15. Bergman, Peter & Denning, Jeffrey T. & Manoli, Dayanand, 2017. "Broken Tax Breaks? Evidence from a Tax Credit Information Experiment with 1,000,000 Students," IZA Discussion Papers 10997, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    16. Fryer, Roland G., 2016. "Information, non-financial incentives, and student achievement: Evidence from a text messaging experiment," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 109-121.
    17. Kelli Bird & Benjamin L. Castleman, 2016. "Here Today, Gone Tomorrow? Investigating Rates and Patterns of Financial Aid Renewal Among College Freshmen," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 57(4), pages 395-422, June.
    18. Ferman, Bruno & Lima, Lycia & Riva, Flavio, 2020. "Experimental Evidence on Artificial Intelligence in the Classroom," MPRA Paper 103934, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I1 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health
    • I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General
    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • I2 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education
    • I20 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - General
    • I25 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Economic Development

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