3-248 - Text Me: Promoting Family Engagement and Child Outcomes Through Texting

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

The rise of mobile technologies presents novel opportunities to support families and children. Texting is a promising tool due to its wide adoption; 99% of American adults aged 18-49 have a cell phone, with over 90% having a smart phone (Pew Research, 2018).

This session aims to heighten the national conversation in child development concerning texting-based strategies aimed at improving family engagement in early childhood programs, and ultimately, children’s outcomes. The papers and discussion present results from three cutting-edge RCTs and focus on key conceptual issues relevant to texting as a tool to enhance family and child well-being.

The first paper describes the results from an RCT of a texting-based family-preschool engagement intervention focused on low-income children's vocabulary development. The second paper presents results from an RCT of the first behaviorally-informed intervention targeting absenteeism among low-income preschool children. The final paper serves as an opportunity to discuss findings from three behaviorally-informed RCT studies that used texting as a medium to convey and reinforce early learning and parenting content.

Each of the presenters will reflect on key issues regarding texting as a tool to enhance family and child well-being. The discussant, a national expert in early childhood education and policy, will reflect on the programs and paradigms presented, as well as the considerations for research and programming at local and national levels. In so doing, we aim to provide a robust understanding of the promise and limitations of texting as a tool in the service of supporting families and their children’s development.

Sub Unit

• Technology, Media & Child Development

Chair

• Emily Snell, Temple University

Discussant

• Christina Weiland, University of Michigan

Individual Presentations

• Can Texting Support Vocabulary Growth? Results from the Text to Talk Study - Presenting Author: Emily Snell, Temple University; Non-Presenting Author: Barbara Wasik, Temple University; Non-Presenting Author: AnneMarie Hindman, Temple University

• Using Behavioral Insights to Increase Attendance at Subsidized Preschool Programs: The Show Up to Grow Up Intervention - Non-Presenting Author: Ariel Kalil, University of Chicago; Non-Presenting Author: Susan Mayer, University of Chicago; Presenting Author: Sebastian Gallegos, Inter-American Development Bank

• Insights on Family Engagement From Three Text-Based Early Learning Interventions Among Parents of Low-Income Children - Presenting Author: Michelle Spiegel, University of California, Irvine; Non-Presenting Author: Yana Kuchirko, New York University; Non-Presenting Author: Zoelene Hill, New York University; Non-Presenting Author: Lerzan Z Coskun, NYU; Non-Presenting Author: Lisa Gennetian, Institute for Human Development and Social Change, NYU