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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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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Francesconi, Marco & Heckman, James J., 2016. "Symposium on Child Development and Parental Investment: Introduction," IZA Discussion Papers 9977, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
    2. 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.
    3. Francesconi, Marco & Heckman, James J, 2015. "Symposium on Child Development and Parental Investment: Introduction," Economics Discussion Papers 16868, University of Essex, Department of Economics.
    4. Douglas Almond & Janet Currie & Valentina Duque, 2017. "Childhood Circumstances and Adult Outcomes: Act II," NBER Working Papers 23017, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. 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.
    6. 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.
    7. repec:aea:jecper:v:31:y:2017:i:4:p:125-44 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Avitabile, Ciro & Bobba, Matteo & Pariguana, Marco, 2017. "High School Track Choice and Liquidity Constraints: Evidence from Urban Mexico," IZA Discussion Papers 10506, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
    9. 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.
    10. 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.
    11. 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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