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The Hechinger Report
Early Childhood: Can simple text messages for parents boost reading scores for kids?
By Jackie Mader
Several years ago, officials in the San Francisco Unified School
District realized their attempt to engage parents in their child’s
literacy development was falling flat. Not all families could attend
the training workshops and those that did were presented with an
overwhelming amount of information. During the 2013-14 school year, the
district decided to try something simple: text message tips for
parents.
The district partnered with the Stanford University Graduate School of
Education, which designed a pilot program to test out the texts. The
results were encouraging: families who received literacy-related texts
did better on reading exams—in some cases improving two to three months
in some areas—than the children in families that did not receive the
text messages. Officials also saw a positive impact on parental
involvement at home and at school.
“It kind of reinforced the importance of family involvement and family
connectiveness,” said Meenoo Yashar, chief of the San Francisco Unified
School District’s Early Education Department. “It’s a very easy way for
a family to see something and be reminded that ‘Oh yeah, I could do
that.’”
The text messages, which are sent over the course of the week, offer
parents a simple fact about child development, followed by a tip for an
activity and then a suggestion for how to continue the learning. On a
Monday, for example, parents may receive a text noting that asking
children questions throughout the day helps build language skills. That
is followed on Wednesday by a tip to ask children a silly question in
the morning, like “If you could ride an animal to school, what would
you pick? Why?” On Friday, parents receive an additional suggestion to
ask children about one fun thing that happened during their day.
That pilot program evolved into a comprehensive family engagement
curriculum called Ready4K, run by the California-based company
ParentPowered. Ready4K has only become more popular, and some say,
beneficial, as families are now largely isolated at home due to the
coronavirus pandemic. This summer, more than 25 new community-based
organizations, school districts and Head Start agencies partnered with
Ready4K to reach families at home, including the New York City
Department of Education, which provided text messages for families
through the month of June. After the coronavirus-induced shutdown
occurred in San Francisco, the city’s school district rolled out the
program for all families with children ages 8 and under. Yashar said
the district is considering continuing the program into the next school
year, which the district recently announced will begin online.
The program is now used by nearly 130 organizations, including school
districts, Head Start agencies and national organizations. Parents can
‘opt in’ to receive three text messages each week covering everything
from naming emotions to building confidence and staying active through
movement.
Research has shown that sending parents tips through text messages is a
successful way to educate them on child development and can improve
academic performance. That’s largely because the format is so
accessible to parents and the information is short and easy to read.
Although some researchers caution that texting can’t necessarily combat
systemic problems in a child’s life, it can lead to some change. Some
schools have found attendance rates increase and course failure rates
decrease by simply texting parents information about their child’s
missed assignments or grade-point average. One recent study found
texting can also be used for other kinds of educational outreach, like
letting parents know if they are eligible for programs like Head Start.
Ben York, CEO of ParentPowered says the text messages and corresponding
curriculum are meant to be easy and simply build upon existing family
routines, like pointing out the letters on a shampoo bottle during bath
time or counting the number of steps on the way to the car, which makes
it easier for parents to carry out. “We understand parents are busy and
have lots of demands on their attention,” York said. That approach
seems to be working: Parents who use Ready4K regularly report that the
text messages help them see how easy it is to incorporate topics like
math and literacy into their day. “They start noticing everyday
learning moments that we’re not even texting about,” said Rebecca
Honig, Head of Content for Ready4K. “It becomes this empowering tool
that allows parents to sort of look at every opportunity within their
day as a learning opportunity.”
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