Reducing Parent-School Information Gaps and Improving Education Outcomes: Evidence from High-Frequency Text Messages

Taryn Dinkelman, Samuel Berlinski, Matias Busso and Claudia Martinez A.
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Claudia Martínez A.

No 15949, CEPR Discussion Papers from C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers

Abstract: Grade retention and early dropout are two of the biggest challenges facing education systems in middle-income countries today, representing waste in school resources. We investigate whether reducing parent-school information gaps can improve outcomes that are early-warning signals for grade retention and dropout. We conducted an experiment in low-income schools in Chile to test the effects and behavioral changes triggered by a program that sends attendance, grade, and classroom behavior information to parents via weekly and monthly text messages. Our 18-month intervention raised average math GPA by 0.09 of a standard deviation and increased the share of students satisfying attendance requirements for grade promotion by 4.5 percentage points. Treatment effects were larger for students at higher risk of later grade retention and dropout. We find some evidence of positive classroom spillovers. Leveraging existing school inputs to implement a light-touch, cost-effective information intervention can improve education outcomes in lower-income settings.

Keywords: Education; Information experiment; Parent-school communication; Chile (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D8 I25 N36 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021-03
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-exp, nep-lam and nep-ure
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

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Working Paper: Reducing Parent-School Information Gaps and Improving Education Outcomes: Evidence from High-Frequency Text Messages (2021)
Working Paper: Reducing Parent-School Information Gaps and Improving Education Outcomes: Evidence from High-Frequency Text Messages (2021)
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