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Parental Incentives and Early Childhood Achievement: A Field Experiment in Chicago Heights

Author

Listed:
  • Roland G. Fryer, Jr.
  • Steven D. Levitt
  • John A. List

Abstract

This article describes a randomized field experiment in which parents were provided financial incentives to engage in behaviors designed to increase early childhood cognitive and executive function skills through a parent academy. Parents were rewarded for attendance at early childhood sessions, completing homework assignments with their children, and for their child’s demonstration of mastery on interim assessments. This intervention had large and statistically significant positive impacts on both cognitive and non-cognitive test scores of Hispanics and Whites, but no impact on Blacks. These differential outcomes across races are not attributable to differences in observable characteristics (e.g. family size, mother’s age, mother’s education) or to the intensity of engagement with the program. Children with above median (pre-treatment) non cognitive scores accrue the most benefits from treatment.

Suggested Citation

  • Roland G. Fryer, Jr. & Steven D. Levitt & John A. List, 2015. "Parental Incentives and Early Childhood Achievement: A Field Experiment in Chicago Heights," NBER Working Papers 21477, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:21477
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    Cited by:

    1. Andreoni, James & Kuhn, Michael A. & List, John A. & Samek, Anya & Sokal, Kevin & Sprenger, Charles, 2019. "Toward an understanding of the development of time preferences: Evidence from field experiments," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 177(C), pages 1-1.
    2. Francesconi, Marco & Heckman, James J., 2016. "Symposium on Child Development and Parental Investment: Introduction," IZA Discussion Papers 9977, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Avitabile,Ciro & Bobba,Matteo & Pariguana,Marco, 2015. "High school track choice and financial constraints : evidence from urban Mexico," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7427, The World Bank.
    4. Francesconi, Marco & Heckman, James J, 2015. "Symposium on Child Development and Parental Investment: Introduction," Economics Discussion Papers 16868, University of Essex, Department of Economics.
    5. 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.
    6. Alexander Cappelen & John List & Anya Samek & Bertil Tungodden, 2016. "The Effect of Early Education on Social Preferences," Framed Field Experiments 00584, The Field Experiments Website.
    7. Roland G. Fryer, Jr, 2016. "The Production of Human Capital in Developed Countries: Evidence from 196 Randomized Field Experiments," NBER Working Papers 22130, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. John List & Fatemeh Momeni & Yves Zenou, 2020. "The Social Side of Early Human Capital Formation: Using a Field Experiment to Estimate the Causal Impact of Neighborhoods," Natural Field Experiments 00722, The Field Experiments Website.
    9. Omar Al-Ubaydli & John A. List & Danielle LoRe & Dana Suskind, 2017. "Scaling for Economists: Lessons from the Non-Adherence Problem in the Medical Literature," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 31(4), pages 125-144, Fall.
    10. Falk, Armin & Kosse, Fabian & Pinger, Pia, 2020. "Mentoring and Schooling Decisions: Causal Evidence," IZA Discussion Papers 13387, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    11. Andreoni, James & Di Girolamo, Amalia & List, John A. & Mackevicius, Claire & Samek, Anya, 2020. "Risk preferences of children and adolescents in relation to gender, cognitive skills, soft skills, and executive functions," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 729-742.
    12. Sadoff, Sally & Samek, Anya, 2019. "Can interventions affect commitment demand? A field experiment on food choice," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 90-109.
    13. Charness, Gary & List, John A. & Rustichini, Aldo & Samek, Anya & Van De Ven, Jeroen, 2019. "Theory of mind among disadvantaged children: Evidence from a field experiment," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 174-194.
    14. Varshney, Nishank & Lee, Sangyoo & Temple, Judy A. & Reynolds, Arthur J., 2020. "Does early childhood education enhance parental school involvement in second grade?: Evidence from Midwest Child-Parent Center Program," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    15. Avitabile, Ciro & Bobba, Matteo & Pariguana, Marco, 2017. "High School Track Choice and Liquidity Constraints: Evidence from Urban Mexico," IZA Discussion Papers 10506, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    16. Martorell, Paco & Miller, Trey & Santibañez, Lucrecia & Augustine, Catherine H., 2016. "Can incentives for parents and students change educational inputs? Experimental evidence from summer school," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 113-126.
    17. Frisancho, Veronica, 2020. "The impact of financial education for youth," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    18. Bergman, Peter & Edmond-Verley, Chana & Notario-Risk, Nicole, 2018. "Parent skills and information asymmetries: Experimental evidence from home visits and text messages in middle and high schools," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 92-103.
    19. Kevin P. Mongeon & Shawn W. Ulrick & Michael P. Giannetto, 2017. "Explaining university course grade gaps," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 52(1), pages 411-446, February.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I20 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - General
    • J01 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General - - - Labor Economics: General

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