First day of the Behavioural Exchange conference! My favourite session was on using behavioural science to improve educational outcomes of disadvantaged youth.
Researchers carried out a longitudinal study to increase educational outcomes in a low-income area of Chicago, USA. They ran a number of ongoing trials in an custom-built preschool. Of the various approaches investigated, bringing in parents and giving them educational skills works best. This starts with a financial incentive, a bonus for them or savings for their children’s university education, and then involves ongoing training about how to read to their kids, how to help develop their cognitive skills, and how to have engaging conversations with their kids about what they’re learning. This might seem basic or intuitive but it is not.
Education is a resource that middle and upper class families pass onto their kids. If you’re a first generation university graduate (like me), you’d understand how even though your parents or guardians want you to succeed, they may not have the time or skills or knowledge to help you navigate the school system.
For racial minority kids from working class backgrounds, the behavioural interventions that have the greatest impact must involve communities and include group-based play. Latin children have higher returns because they have larger extended family networks (grandparents, aunts, uncles) who can more readily step into the parental classes if a parent is unable to make it. In comparison, Black and white kids did not have the same extended networks of people, who have enough free time, to invest in these interventions, and therefore did not have the same outcomes.
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