ParentPowered Research
ParentPowered programs meet the highest standards for evidence-based educational resources. The ParentPowered methodology has been shown to increase family engagement at home and school and increase child learning by 2 to 3 months over the course of a school year.
Ongoing national family surveys, with over 450,000 parent responses to date, show that ParentPowered positively impacts a wide range of students and families in diverse educational settings across the country.
The ParentPowered Approach
Our founder, Dr. Benjamin N. York, and colleagues from Stanford University first studied the methodology used by all ParentPowered programs during the 2013-14 school year.
The research study, a randomized controlled trial (RCT), was conducted in partnership with the early education department of a large, diverse urban district serving the city’s lowest-income preschool families.
In the study, one set of parents received a carefully-crafted curriculum, called Ready4K. The curriculum delivered fun FACTS, easy TIPS, and GROWTH activities via text message. These messages focused on how to promote children’s literacy development by building on existing family routines.
The research showed:
- These parents reported engaging in more home literacy activities with their children.
- Teachers reported increased involvement at school among the parents in the treatment group.
Subsequent RCTs showed:
- Outcomes for students were even more wide-ranging when families received a whole child curriculum.
- Receiving messages that were personalized and differentiated to the student were 63% more effective than general messages.
The research on the Ready4K curriculum became the approach that the ParentPowered team has used for all curricula since 2016. ParentPowered also uses a continuous improvement cycle to ensure families and schools receive the highest quality experience possible.
ParentPowered meets the highest standards for evidence-based programs
By leveraging the ParentPowered approach our programs meet the most rigorous Head Start and ESSA Tier 1 standards. Here’s what the research has shown:
2-3 Months Literacy Gains
Research on the ParentPowered approach showed increased involvement at home and at school, and children gained up to 2 to 3 months of important literacy skills.
Parents found Ready4K texts helpful in engaging children in early math skill building.
%
Learned New Math Tips
Source: Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital study
Parents report that ParentPowered helps make learning a part of their daily lives.
%
Made Learning a Part of Every Day
Source: ParentPowered national family survey
The Ready4K approach outperformed other digital family engagement tools in a head–to–head study.
%
Found Activities Easy To Do
Source: Midwest early education study
Studies on the Approach Used by ParentPowered
When Behavioral Barriers are Too High or Low – How Timing Matters for Parenting Interventions
(Cortes, Fricke, Loeb, Song & York, 2019) This study compares the effects of an early childhood text-messaging program sent during the weekend to the same program sent on...
One step at a time: The effects of an early literacy text messaging program for parents of preschoolers
This study evaluated the effectiveness of a home literacy-focused text messaging program for parents of preschoolers designed to break down the complexity of supportive parenting.
More than just a nudge: Supporting kindergarten parents with differentiated and personalized text-messages
(Doss, Fahle, Loeb & York, 2018) We study effects of a text-based program for parents of kindergarten children, distinguishing a general program from one adding...
Too little or too much? Actionable Advice in an Early-Childhood Text Messaging Experiment
(Cortes, Fricke, Loeb & Song, 2018) This study investigates whether actionable advice alone drives the results of text-message based parenting programs and whether additional...
The results of this research have been highlighted in:
