Math FUNdations: A Parent Math Texting Program

Last registered on January 23, 2023

View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title

Math FUNdations: A Parent Math Texting Program

RCT ID

AEARCTR-0010483

Initial registration date

January 10, 2023

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published

January 23, 2023, 7:44 AM EST

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

Country

United States of America

Region

Texas

Primary Investigator

Name

Kalena Cortes

Affiliation

Texas A&M University

Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name

Macarena Santana

PI Affiliation

Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile

Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status

In development

Start date

2023-02-20

End date

2023-12-31

Keywords

Education

Additional Keywords

Parent-child engagement, Text messaging, Mathematics

JEL code(s)

I21, I 24, I29

Secondary IDs

Prior work

This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.

Abstract

Parental engagement in a child’s learning is a key for academic success; however, especially for low-income families, there are several barriers to its frequency and effectiveness. We propose a small-scale randomized control trial (RCT) pilot of a new intervention, Math FUNdations, which is both a text- and app-based program that aims to inform parents, using simplified language, of the math learning standards their children need to meet by the end of fourth grade and also suggests to them how to convey positive emotions while interacting with their children about math. Our intervention describes simple, fun math activities parents can do with their children at home and provides step-by-step resources that help parents make the most of these moments together. After the twelve-week intervention, we will survey parents and assess the effect of the intervention on students’ math grades and test scores. We expect the intervention to decrease the level of parental and student math anxiety and increase the quantity and quality of parental-child engagement at home. This pilot will allow us to do a proof of concept of Math FUNdations and improve the content of the intervention for a larger scaled-up RCT study to be conducted at a later time.

External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation

Cortes, Kalena and Macarena Santana. 2023. "Math FUNdations: A Parent Math Texting Program." AEA RCT Registry. January 23. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.10483-1.0

Sponsors & Partners

Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)

Math FUNdations is both a text-based and app-based intervention that seeks to help parents engage in math learning with their elementary school children (grades 3 and 4), by addressing barriers for effective parental engagement. The underlying theory of action for Math FUNdations is to increase students’ math achievement via three main mechanisms together: (1) increase the quality of parental engagement in math at home, by decreasing parental and students’ math anxiety; (2) decrease parents’ misbeliefs about the math learning standards that need to be met by their children; and (3) increase the amount of parental engagement in math at home.

Text-based: Every week, we will send parents in the treatment group three texts suggesting simple, fun math activities they can do with their child at home, helping them convey positive emotions around math and informing them of the learning milestones in math that their children need to know by the end of fourth grade. Specifically,
• The ENCOURAGE texts will be sent on Mondays. These texts are designed to set a positive tone for interactions around math. The goal of these texts is to help parents be aware of their positive and negative emotions while interacting around math and, consequently, understand how they could convey their math anxiety to their children. The texts will provide tips to parents about how to minimize their math-anxiety-related behaviors.
• The ELEVATE texts will be sent on Wednesdays. These texts aim to inform parents, in a simple language, about what their children should know by the end of fourth grade. These texts will provide parents with a brief version of a Texas math standard (Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills [TEKS]). In addition, these texts will contain a link to the extended version of the learning standard.
• The ENGAGE texts will be sent on Fridays. These texts aim to provide parents with a simple (easy-to-achieve), fun math activity for helping their children. Parents will also receive a link to a step-by-step guide to the activity. Each of these at-home activities is matched to a 4th-grade standard based on Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS).

App-based: The technological component of Math FUNdations is the web app called Math with Meaning (MwM) developed by the Co-PI, Dr. Santana, who is CEO of our partnering Chilean Institution +Meaning. MwM allows for math activities to include images and be more dynamic, while permitting the researchers to collect data at the end of each activity. Parents do not need to download any app, as it is accessed directly through the internet browser (i.e., can be accessed through any PC or mobile phone). Importantly, MwM will also allow us to ask parents directly about their beliefs regarding what their child is learning in math vs. what their child really needs to know in math. Note that a link will be added to either the ELEVATE and/or ENGAGE texts.

Research Questions: This RCT pilot aims to address the following interrelated research questions: (1) What are the effects of the Math FUNdations on third and fourth grade students’ math outcomes (grades and test scores)? and (2) What are the effects of the Math FUNdations on the reported levels of parental math anxiety, parental self-efficacy for supporting their child in math, and students’ feelings about math (as perceived by parents)?

Intervention Start Date

2023-02-20

Intervention End Date

2023-06-30

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)

math grades, math test scores, and parent survey.

Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)

(1) Data from the texting platform will be used to examine opt-out rates. (2) Open-ended text responses from the parent survey will be used to examine parent perceptions of the program. (3) Other student outcomes: ELA grades, reading/writing test scores.

Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Randomization: To assign parents to one of the texting groups, we will employ person-level randomized control trial design. Specifically, we will randomly select half of participating parents to join the control texting group and half to join the treated texting group.

Below is the description of the two text messaging groups:

Texting group #1: This is the control group. This group of parents will receive texts not related to texting intervention.

The control group will receive one text every two weeks (6 weeks in total).

Texting group #2: Encourage-Elevate-Engage texts. This is the treatment group. Every week, the PI will send parents in the treatment group three texts suggesting simple, fun math activities they can do with their child at home, helping them convey positive emotions around math and informing them of the learning milestones in math that their children need to know by the end of fourth grade.

The treatment group will receive three texts per week for 12 weeks.

Experimental Design Details

Randomization Method

Randomization done in office by a computer

Randomization Unit

Individual parents

Was the treatment clustered?

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters

400 parents

Sample size: planned number of observations

400 parents

Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms

- Treatment: 200
- Control: 200
- Total: 400

Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)

Power Analysis: A sample size calculation conducted using G*Power 3.1 indicated that a sample of 352 students (i.e., 176 per experimental group) was required to allow for the detection of a difference of 0.30 SD on students’ outcomes, requiring an alpha of 0.05 and a power of 0.80, and using the difference between two independent means.

Supporting Documents and Materials

IRB