nam a22 2c 4500 1970157755 DE-627 20260430103708.0 cr uuu---uuuuu 260430s2026 xxu|||||o 00| ||eng c (DE-627)1970157755 (DE-599)KEP127373438 (NBER)w35103 (DE-627-1)127373438 DE-627 ger DE-627 rda eng XD-US D83 jelc D91 jelc I21 jelc L15 jelc O15 jelc Gray-Lobe, Guthrie aut Nudging Parents out the Door The Impacts of Parental Encouragement on School Choice and Test Scores Guthrie Gray-Lobe, Michael Kremer, Joost de Laat, Oluchi Mbonu, Cole Scanlon Cambridge, Mass National Bureau of Economic Research April 2026 1 Online-Ressource illustrations (black and white) Text txt rdacontent Computermedien c rdamedia Online-Ressource cr rdacarrier NBER working paper series no. w35103 This study evaluates a large-scale SMS outreach program to engage caregivers of students in private primary schools in Kenya. Using a two-stage randomization design, we tested two types of weekly SMS messages: growth-mindset encouragement and personalized performance information. We find two main effects: First, outreach improved test scores by 0.07 standard deviations, with particularly strong gains among initially lower-performing students. This improvement generates 12 learning-adjusted years of schooling per US$100 spent--making it highly cost-effective relative to other education interventions. Second, outreach increased student exit rates by 4.7-5.0 percentage points, with effects concentrated among higher-achieving students (5.7 to 6.6 percent-age points). We develop a theoretical model of vertically differentiated schools where parental engagement affects both learning production and school choice. The model shows that when parents update their understanding of education production through engagement programs, they become more sensitive to perceived school quality differences. This increased sensitivity can lead lower-quality schools to forgo implementing engagement programs--even when costless--as enhanced parental discernment accelerates student exits. Our findings suggest a role for third-party provision of parent engagement programs in competitive education markets Hardcopy version available to institutional subscribers Reproduktion Hardcopy version available to institutional subscribers Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making Analysis of Education Information and Product Quality; Standardization and Compatibility Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration Kremer, Michael oth de Laat, Joost oth Mbonu, Oluchi oth Scanlon, Cole oth National Bureau of Economic Research oth https://www.nber.org/papers/w35103 X:NBER Verlag lizenzpflichtig 1 http://dx.doi.org/10.3386/w35103 X:NBER Resolving-System lizenzpflichtig 1 ZDB-194-NBW BO 000 xxxxxcx a22 zn 4500 001 4961104566 003 DE-627 004 1970157755 005 20260430160622 008 260430||||||||||||||||ger||||||| 040 DE-25 DE-627 DE-25 092 n 852 Elektronischer Volltext - Universitätslizenz 852 DE-25 852 1 00 85640 https://www.redi-bw.de/start/unifr/NBER-online/10.3386/w35103 912 ZDB-194-NBW 935 ebok ebnb e268 938 30-04-26 8 939 2026-04-30 l01 000 xxxxxcx a22 zn 4500 001 4961112178 003 DE-627 004 1970157755 005 20260430160646 008 260430||||||||||||||||ger||||||| 040 DE-14 DE-627 DE-14 852 DE-14 852 1 00 85640 http://dx.doi.org/10.3386/w35103 935 NABZ 939 2026-04-30 l01 000 xxxxxcx a22 zn 4500 001 4961088935 003 DE-627 004 1970157755 005 20260430160526 008 260430||||||||||||||||ger||||||| 040 DE-77-001 DE-627 DE-77-001 092 n 852 DE-77-001 852 1 00 85640 http://dx.doi.org/10.3386/w35103 Online-Zugriff über die Universität Mainz 912 ZDB-194-NBW 935 pack 939 2026-04-30 l01