Panel Paper:
The Mpact Initiative: Using Behavioral Tools to Improve Children's Early Math Skills
Friday, November 8, 2019
Plaza Building: Concourse Level, Governor's Square 14 (Sheraton Denver Downtown)
*Names in bold indicate Presenter
Economically disadvantaged parents spend less time engaged in educational activities with their children compared to more advantaged children. Parental time in enriching activities is linked to children’s future and educational success. We focus on present bias as one possible explanation of the gap in parental engagement in educational activities between economically disadvantaged and more economically advantaged parents. Present bias is the tendency to overweight short-term rewards (i.e. to spend time in leisure) over long-term benefits (i.e. to spend time in developmental activities with children), thus leading to procrastination and a failure to invest. As a result, present-oriented parents underinvest in their children's development.
At the Behavioral Insights and Parenting Lab, we designed the Math for Parents and Children Together (MPACT) intervention to test the effectiveness of a low-cost, behaviorally-informed treatment on parental engagement and children’s early math skills. MPACT is a 12-week randomized controlled trial with more than 1,400 parents of preschool-age children attending 29 Head Start Centers in the City of Chicago. We collected data from parent surveys, teacher surveys, parents’ scores on two time-preference tasks, and children’s math test scores at baseline and immediately following the 12-week intervention. In addition, child assessments are administered at 6 months and 12 months post-intervention.
The intervention is ongoing. However, we will present empirical findings from our baseline parent and teacher surveys and child assessments. We find that children in our sample scored one standard deviation below the average child in the U.S. on early math skills; MPACT parents’ math anxiety is negatively correlated with children’s math skills; MPACT parents’ growth mindset is positively correlated with test scores; and parents and teachers report positive returns on their time investment in children’s math skills.
At the Behavioral Insights and Parenting Lab, we designed the Math for Parents and Children Together (MPACT) intervention to test the effectiveness of a low-cost, behaviorally-informed treatment on parental engagement and children’s early math skills. MPACT is a 12-week randomized controlled trial with more than 1,400 parents of preschool-age children attending 29 Head Start Centers in the City of Chicago. We collected data from parent surveys, teacher surveys, parents’ scores on two time-preference tasks, and children’s math test scores at baseline and immediately following the 12-week intervention. In addition, child assessments are administered at 6 months and 12 months post-intervention.
The intervention is ongoing. However, we will present empirical findings from our baseline parent and teacher surveys and child assessments. We find that children in our sample scored one standard deviation below the average child in the U.S. on early math skills; MPACT parents’ math anxiety is negatively correlated with children’s math skills; MPACT parents’ growth mindset is positively correlated with test scores; and parents and teachers report positive returns on their time investment in children’s math skills.
