Promoting Math in Young Children: Leveraging Pediatric Clinics to Reach Underrepresented Children in Rural Communities

Promoting Math in Young Children: Leveraging Pediatric Clinics to Reach Underrepresented Children in Rural Communities

The goals of this clinical trial to examine how pediatricians prescribing early math enriching texts to the parents of their patients affects the early math skills of under-resourced pre-kindergarten-aged children in rural Oregon. The main question it aims to answer is: What is the impact of the text intervention on early math skills in preschool-aged children? Participants will be randomized to receive the early math text intervention or standard of care. Researchers will compare pre-and-post math performance between the intervention and control group.

The goals of this clinical trial to examine how pediatricians prescribing early math enriching texts (TipsbyText) to parents of 3-4 year olds affects the math skills of under-resourced pre-kindergarten-aged children in rural Oregon. The main question it aims to answer is: What is the impact of the text intervention on early math skills in preschool-aged children using the Research-based Early Math Assessment (REMA-Brief)? Two secondary questions of the study are: What is the impact on child literacy using the Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening Tool (PALS-PreK) and parent confidence using the Development and Research in Early Math Education (DREME)? Participants will be randomized to receive intervention (the early math text intervention) or control (no texts). Researchers will compare pre-and-post math performance on the REMA-Brief (primary outcome), PALS-PreK (secondary child outcome) and DREME (secondary parent outcome) between the intervention and control group.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Parents of participants must be at least 18 years of age
• Child must be 3 or 4 years old at the time of screening
• Child receives care at a participating Oregon Rural Practice-based Research Network (ORPRN) clinic
• Parent and child can communicate in English or Spanish
• Parent is able to give informed consent
• Child is eligible for Medicaid services

Exclusion Criteria:

• Parent is not able to receive text messages
• Parent is not able to read text messages
• Child is too ill to participate
• Parents who are unable to complete study activities
• Child has a sibling currently enrolled in the study
• Child has a developmental delay including neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism or syndromes associated with developmental delay (e.g. cerebral palsy, seizure disorders, attention deficit / hyperactivity disorder). Isolated expressive speech delay is not a developmental exclusion criteria.