Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP8020
Authors: Francesco Avvisati; Marc Gurgand; Nina Guyon; Eric Maurin
Abstract: This paper presents a randomized field experiment conducted in a set of French middle schools located in a deprived educational district near Paris. Parents in test groups were invited to participate in a simple program of training sessions on how to get better involved in their children?s education. At the end of the school-year, we find that treated families effectively increased their school- and home-based involvement activities. Children of families who were directly targeted by the program developed more positive behavior and attitudes in school, and had less literacy problems. Importantly, for all behavioral outcomes we find large spillover effects of the program on classmates of treated families. This experiment proves that schools are able to increase parents' awareness and that parental inputs have strong effects on pupil behavior. Our results on spillovers demonstrate that similar initiatives can be effective even in case of low parental take-up of the program.
Keywords: Child support; Classroom peer effects; Cluster randomized trial; Parental involvement
JEL Codes: I21; J13; J18
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Parental involvement program (J13) | Parental involvement in school-related activities (I21) |
| Parental involvement in school-related activities (I21) | Truancy (J22) |
| Parental involvement in school-related activities (I21) | Disciplinary sanctions (Y80) |
| Parental involvement program (J13) | Academic performance (D29) |
| Parental involvement program (J13) | Improved behaviors and academic performance of non-participating classmates (C92) |