Improving Early Literacy Skills
Reading aloud to children has many benefits, but low-income families in the United States often struggle to find the time.
Research shows that cognitive development in early childhood is best promoted if parents create learning opportunities for their children in the home environment. Reading aloud is a key activity. Unfortunately, many young low income children in the United States are not read to on a regular basis. Some parents find it challenging to carve out time each day to engage with their children in educational activities, and parents’ busy lives make it hard to create and stick to a routine of reading and other learning activities.
Our Work
Children and Parents Engaged in Reading (CAPER)
Parents and Children Together (PACT)
Evaluation of the Big Word Club Program
Learning Curiosity
Project CAPER
Children and Parents Engaged in Reading (CAPER) is an eleven-month reading intervention that uses behavioral tools to increase the amount of time English and Spanish speaking parents spend reading to their pre-school-aged children, with the aim of improving children’s literacy skills. Generously supported by Valhalla Charitable Foundation.
For more information please see the link below:
Children and Parents Engaged in Reading (CAPER) One-Pager
Project PACT
The PACT (Parents and Children Together) Study was a six-week experimental intervention developed for English- and Spanish-speaking parents with children enrolled in Head Start programs in Chicago. Participating parents borrowed an electronic tablet with an application called A Story Before Bed, a recordable storybook app with over 500 books in its digital library. Generously supported by an anonymous foundation and the Center for Human Potential and Public Policy.
For more information please see the link below:
Parents and Children Together (PACT) One-Pager
Big Word Club (BWC) Collaboration
In partnership with J-PAL North American at MIT, we evaluated the effectiveness of the Big Word Club (BWC), a web-based program of activities intended to help elementary school-aged children learn new vocabulary words by introducing one new word per day throughout the school year. To complete this evaluation, we collaborated with 47 schools in Colorado, Arizona, and Texas.
For more information please see the link below:
Executive Summary of Evaluation
Learning Curiosity
Learning Curiosity is a six-month experimental intervention delivered by text message for English- and Spanish-speaking parents with children age 3-5. The study examines the efficacy of two contrasting approaches to help low-income parents improve the school-readiness of their children in the home environment. Generously supported by J-PAL North America and the Becker Friedman Institute for Economics at the University of Chicago.
For more information please see the link below:
Learning Curiosity Overview
Flash Facts
NBER Working Paper
Using Behavioral Insights to Increase Parental Engagement
Journal of Human Resources
Using Behavioral Insights to Increase Parental Engagement: The PACT Intervention
Project PACT Video
Behavioral Tools Can Promote Parent Investments in Children’s Education
Chicago Harris Alumni Magazine
Parents and Children Together (PACT)
UChicago News
Texts and tablets more than double time parents spend reading to kids
The Hechinger Report
Text-based tips may help parents and preschoolers learn
Discover More
Decreasing Chronic Absenteeism
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Promoting Early Math Skills