Program Description
ParentPowered delivers three text messages to family members per week for fifty-two weeks, tailored to their student’s age or grade and available in more than ten languages. These text messages contain age-differentiated insights, activities and learning-expansions aligned to the learning standards of all 50 states, ESSER, Title I, III, IV and V, the Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework, PFCE Framework and Quality Improvement initiatives. The whole child curriculum covered in these messages includes language and literacy, math and science, social and emotional learning, physical development and health and safety. ParentPowered allows schools and districts to craft their own text messages with local resources, upcoming events and program reminders.
Districts and schools have on demand access to family engagement data and analytics from the text messages, the ability to deliver quarterly family engagement surveys to families and produce end-of-year impact reports through the ParentPowered Dashboard. Additionally, ParentPowered provides targeted support through shareable guides to help with home learning.
Program Outcomes
The impact of the ParentPowered READY4K! early literacy text-messaging program has been evaluated through a randomized controlled trial (RCT) conducted in partnership with the San Francisco Unified School District during the 2013-14 and 2015-16 school years. Over 1,000 parents of preschool children participated, with half randomly assigned to receive weekly text messages containing informational, actionable, and motivational content aimed at promoting literacy engagement at home. Results from the RCT showed that children whose parents received READY4K! texts performed significantly better than the control group on the Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening (PALS) assessment (effect size = +0.11), earning a Strong rating on Academic Performance. Notably, the largest gains were observed among children in the lower half of the baseline skill distribution (effect size = +0.31), indicating the program’s effectiveness in supporting students most at risk of falling behind. Additionally, teachers reported improved parental involvement at school (effect size of +0.14), earning a Promising rating for Family Engagement.
A follow-up extension of the study further explored the impact of the READY4K! program on kindergarten students, focusing on whether personalized and differentiated messaging based on each child’s developmental level would enhance outcomes compared to general literacy messages. Findings indicated that children in the READY4K! group performed higher on the Fountas and Pinnell Benchmark Assessment System (BAS) than those in the control group (effect size = +0.09), with the largest literacy gains observed among students in the personalized text arm of the treatment (effect size = +0.18). Additionally, effects on parent interactions with teachers showed an increase across parent and teacher ratings (effect size – +0.10), suggesting that the READY4K! program modestly improved communication between parents and educators. Across both analyses, average effect sizes for Academic Performance was +0.10 and +0.11 for Family Engagement.
Staffing Requirements
No additional staffing required.
Professional Development/Training
No additional PD/Training required.
Technology
Families need access to receiving text messages.