Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

Previous research shows that information asymmetries can exist within families and that providing detailed information to parents about their child's academic performance can significantly improve student achievement. Many school districts accomplish the latter at scale via technology that places student information online for parents. This paper uses data from a Learning Management Company operating in 15 school districts and a two-stage experiment across 59 schools to study the adoption of this technology by parents along extensive and intensive margins, as well as spillovers and effects on student outcomes. Parental demand for information responds to information on its potential returns; adoption follows a typical S-shape; significant spillovers occur along intensive but not extensive margins; and student achievement improves as a result.