IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecoedu/v88y2022ics0272775722000395.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Engaging girls in math: The unequal effects of text messaging to help parents support early math development

Author

Listed:
  • Doss, Christopher
  • Fricke, Hans
  • Loeb, Susanna
  • Doromal, Justin B.

Abstract

This study assesses the effects of two text messaging programs for parents that aim to support the development of math skills in prekindergarten students. One program focuses purely on math, while the other takes an identical approach but focuses on a combination of math, literacy, and social-emotional skills. We find no evidence that the math-only program benefits children's math development. However, the combination program shows greater promise, particularly for girls. Quantile regressions indicate that the effects are concentrated in the lower half of the outcome distribution. We discuss and provide evidence for various hypotheses that could explain these differences.

Suggested Citation

  • Doss, Christopher & Fricke, Hans & Loeb, Susanna & Doromal, Justin B., 2022. "Engaging girls in math: The unequal effects of text messaging to help parents support early math development," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:88:y:2022:i:c:s0272775722000395
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2022.102262
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272775722000395
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.econedurev.2022.102262?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kalena E. Cortes & Hans D.U. Fricke & Susanna Loeb & David S. Song & Benjamin N. York, 2019. "When Behavioral Barriers are Too High or Low – How Timing Matters for Parenting Interventions," NBER Working Papers 25964, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Castleman, Benjamin L. & Page, Lindsay C., 2015. "Summer nudging: Can personalized text messages and peer mentor outreach increase college going among low-income high school graduates?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 144-160.
    3. Stefano DellaVigna, 2009. "Psychology and Economics: Evidence from the Field," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 47(2), pages 315-372, June.
    4. Kraft, Matthew A. & Rogers, Todd, 2015. "The underutilized potential of teacher-to-parent communication: Evidence from a field experiment," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 49-63.
    5. Justine S. Hastings & Jeffrey M. Weinstein, 2008. "Information, School Choice, and Academic Achievement: Evidence from Two Experiments," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 123(4), pages 1373-1414.
    6. Fricke, Hans & Grogger, Jeffrey & Steinmayr, Andreas, 2018. "Exposure to academic fields and college major choice," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 199-213.
    7. Fricke, Hans & Kalogrides, Demetra & Loeb, Susanna, 2018. "It’s too annoying: Who drops out of educational text messaging programs and why," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 173(C), pages 39-43.
    8. Sade Bonilla & Thomas S. Dee & Emily K. Penner, 2021. "Ethnic studies increases longer-run academic engagement and attainment," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 118(37), pages 2026386118-, September.
    9. Strittmatter, Anthony, 2019. "Heterogeneous earnings effects of the job corps by gender: A translated quantile approach," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    10. Dean Karlan & Margaret McConnell & Sendhil Mullainathan & Jonathan Zinman, 2016. "Getting to the Top of Mind: How Reminders Increase Saving," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 62(12), pages 3393-3411, December.
    11. Todd Rogers & Avi Feller, 2018. "Reducing student absences at scale by targeting parents’ misbeliefs," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 2(5), pages 335-342, May.
    12. Benjamin N. York & Susanna Loeb & Christopher Doss, 2019. "One Step at a Time: The Effects of an Early Literacy Text-Messaging Program for Parents of Preschoolers," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 54(3), pages 537-566.
    13. Christopher Avery & Thomas J. Kane, 2004. "Student Perceptions of College Opportunities. The Boston COACH Program," NBER Chapters, in: College Choices: The Economics of Where to Go, When to Go, and How to Pay For It, pages 355-394, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Kalena E. Cortes & Hans Fricke & Susanna Loeb & David S. Song & Benjamin N. York, 2021. "Too Little or Too Much? Actionable Advice in an Early-Childhood Text Messaging Experiment," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 16(2), pages 209-232, Spring.
    15. Anthony Strittmatter, 2019. "Heterogeneous Earnings Effects of the Job Corps by Gender Earnings: A Translated Quantile Approach," Papers 1908.08721, arXiv.org.
    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. Cortes, Kalena E. & Fricke, Hans & Loeb, Susanna & Song, David S. & York, Ben, 2019. "When Behavioral Barriers Are Too High or Low: How Timing Matters for Parenting Interventions," IZA Discussion Papers 12416, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Kalena E. Cortes & Hans Fricke & Susanna Loeb & David S. Song, 2018. "Too little or too much? Actionable Advice in an Early-Childhood Text Messaging Experiment," NBER Working Papers 24827, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Cortes, Kalena E. & Fricke, Hans & Loeb, Susanna & Song, David S. & York, Benjamin N., 2023. "When behavioral barriers are too high or low – How timing matters for text-based parenting interventions," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    4. Damgaard, Mette Trier & Nielsen, Helena Skyt, 2018. "Nudging in education," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 313-342.
    5. Christopher J. Doss & Erin M. Fahle & Susanna Loeb & Benjamin N. York, 2018. "More than Just a Nudge: Supporting Kindergarten Parents with Differentiated and Personalized Text-Messages," NBER Working Papers 24450, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Adam M. Lavecchia & Heidi Liu & Philip Oreopoulos, 2014. "Behavioral Economics of Education: Progress and Possibilities," NBER Working Papers 20609, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Jabbari, Jason & Roll, Stephen & Bufe, Sam & McKay, Jessica, 2022. "“Take my word for it”: Group Texts and Testimonials Enhance State and Federal Student Aid Applications," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    8. Bleemer, Zachary & Zafar, Basit, 2018. "Intended college attendance: Evidence from an experiment on college returns and costs," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 184-211.
    9. Hermes, Henning & Lergetporer, Philipp & Peter, Frauke & Wiederhold, Simon, 2021. "Behavioral Barriers and the Socioeconomic Gap in Child Care Enrollment," IZA Discussion Papers 14698, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    10. Henning Hermes & Philipp Lergetporer & Frauke Peter & Simon Wiederhold, 2021. "Application Barriers and the Socioeconomic Gap in Child Care Enrollment," CESifo Working Paper Series 9282, CESifo.
    11. 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.
    12. Noam Angrist & Peter Bergman & Moitshepi Matsheng, 2022. "Experimental evidence on learning using low-tech when school is out," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 6(7), pages 941-950, July.
    13. Eduard Marinov, 2017. "The 2017 Nobel Prize in Economics," Economic Thought journal, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences - Economic Research Institute, issue 6, pages 117-159.
    14. French, Robert & Oreopoulos, Philip, 2017. "Behavioral barriers transitioning to college," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 48-63.
    15. Maria De Paola & Francesca Gioia & Fabio Piluso, 2020. "Does Reminding of Behavioural Biases Increase Returns from Financial Trading? A Field Experiment," International Journal of Economics and Finance, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 12(2), pages 1-1, February.
    16. Oreopoulos, Philip, 2020. "Promises and Limitations of Nudging in Education," IZA Discussion Papers 13718, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    17. 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.
    18. 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.
    19. Essl, Andrea & Steffen, Angela & Staehle, Martin, 2021. "Choose to reuse! The effect of action-close reminders on pro-environmental behavior," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).
    20. Bergman, Peter & Lasky-Fink, Jessica & Rogers, Todd, 2020. "Simplification and defaults affect adoption and impact of technology, but decision makers do not realize it," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 66-79.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Educational economics; Human capital; Behavioral economics; Early childhood education; Randomized controlled trials;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality

    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:eee:ecoedu:v:88:y:2022:i:c:s0272775722000395. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/econedurev .

    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.