Game Changer: Impact of a Reading Intervention on Cognitive and Non-cognitive Skills

Arbeitspapier

We evaluate a reading intervention involving 600 third-grade students in Chilean schools catering to disadvantaged populations. The intervention features an adaptive computer game designed to identify and improve weaknesses in literacy and cognitive skills, and is complemented by a mobile library and advice to parents to increase student's interest and parental involvement. We first quantify the impact on non-cognitive skills and academic perceptions. We find that, after just three months of intervention, treated students are 20–30 percent of a standard deviation more likely to believe that their performance is better than that of their peers, to like school, to have stronger grit, and to have a more internal locus-of-control. Gains in aspirations and self-confidence are particularly large for students that we identify as at-risk-of-dyslexia. These improvements are reflected in better performance on a nation-wide, standardized language test. Our results show that non-cognitive skills, particularly of at-risk-of-dyslexia students, can be changed through a short, light-touch, and cost-effective education technology intervention.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: IZA Discussion Papers ; No. 16937

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Education and Inequality ; General Welfare; Well-Being
• Subject: field experiment ; computer-based reading intervention ; non-cognitive skills ; Chile ; dyslexia

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): De Vera, Micole ; Garcia-Brazales, Javier ; Rello, Luz
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
• (where): Bonn
• (when): 2024

Further information

• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:42 AM CET