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

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-...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe Journal of human resources Vol. 54; no. 3; pp. 537 - 566
Main Authors York, Benjamin N, Loeb, Susanna, Doss, Christopher
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Madison University of Wisconsin Press 01.07.2019
Subjects
Barriers
Early literacy
Effects
Home education
Intervention
Literacy
Parent participation
Parenthood education
Parents & parenting
Preschool children
Preschool education
Standard deviation
Text messaging
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Summary: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.
ISSN:0022-166X
1548-8004
DOI:10.3368/jhr.54.3.0517-8756R