Behavioral Insights and Parenting Lab The University of Chicago

This is going to be a fantastic event for parents and researchers alike featuring Emily Oster and Jane Risen!

Think Better with Emily Oster May 7 - "How to Make Decisions that Work Best for You and Your Family"

"If Head Start disappears, working parents with few alternatives will lose child care options that enable them to earn a living," Kalil said. "Children who need extra support to thrive in school and into adulthood will instead fall even further behind." Threats to eliminate Head Start, which provides free or affordable childcare and early education to the most vulnerable families, have become real. We are glad our co-founder Ariel Kalil is speaking out about the harmful consequences of this action.

Trump Wants to Gut Head Start. He's Already Begun More than 800,000 students would lose access to early childhood education if Trump's draft budget proposal is enacted.

The The University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy just announced the launch of our responsive parenting tool Chat2Learn which now includes Chatty the AI chatbot! Chatty guides fun, effective adult-child conversations that build children's skills and curiosity. We're grateful to our partners in tech at MJ Ventures and our partners in global research at the The University of Chicago Development Innovation Lab and Midis Juntos. We're also thrilled to receive a new grant from Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) to evaluate our new AI-powered tool.

Behavioral Insights and Parenting Lab Introduces Mobile App to Spur Quality Parent-Child Conversation Chicago, IL, April 9, 2025 – The University of Chicago Behavioral Insights and Parenting Lab (BIP Lab) announced the launch of its mobile app, Chat2Learn, an award-winning, evidence-based messaging program for caregivers of 3-to-6-year-old children that guides engaging and effective adult-child co...

"It is a statement of fact that the gap between advantaged and disadvantaged kids is growing," says Ariel Kalil. Tune in to our co-director's conversation with Paul Rand in the Big Brains Podcast, discussing the exciting and important we are doing to address this skill gap in children. How? By closing parents' intention-action gap in their goals to better engage with their children.

What role do parents play in their children's success in school? The University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy Prof. Ariel Kalil examines how simple interactions—like reading 15 minutes a day—can close the achievement gap and spark learning. http://ms.spr.ly/6180qZrf2

We are so fortunate to have a research team at the Behavioral Insights and Parenting Lab The University of Chicago who works as hard as we can every day to build knowledge and evidence to make the world a better, fairer place to grow up, learn and thrive. Cheers to our wonderful 2025 team!

📢 Post-doc Position Alert! Join our dynamic team at the Behavioral Insights and Parenting Lab The University of Chicago. We work hard on interesting questions and have a lot of fun along the way. Please circulate widely; apply here and DM questions:
https://apply.interfolio.com/158743.

Yesterday, ED Michelle Michelini had the pleasure of speaking to 100 librarians across Chicago about the partnership between the Behavioral Insights and Parenting Lab The University of Chicago and the 81 libraries across the Chicago Public Library system to enroll families in Chat2Learn. Chat2Learn is a family engagement program backed by our research and designed to spark parent-child conversations that promote children's learning and curiosity. Families can sign up online https://biplab.uchicago.edu/chat2learn/ or text CHAT to 773-219-1861. Schools and organizations serving vulnerable families can enroll families directly. With gratitude to McCormick Foundation for making it possible to offer Chat2Learn to families across Illinois as a free resource.

Last week, we had the wonderful opportunity to co-host with Norwegian School of Economics (NHH) FAIR a multi-disciplinary workshop on Government Policy and Parenting at the University of Chicago Paris Center. We brought some of the best minds together to discuss a vision for education systems across cultural contexts that substantively supports and engages parents and families in children's education. Thank you our hosts Ariel Kalil, Susan Mayer, and Kjell Salvanes and to all our speakers and discussants. Thank you to our sponsors The University of Chicago International Institute for Research in Paris and France-Chicago Center, Sciences Po LIEPP.

Ask your 3-6-year-old, "How much do you think a newborn elephant weighs?" Share your kiddo’s response in the comments!

To discover more beautiful illustrations and fun conversation starters to share with your child, sign up for Chat2Learn today!

Chat2Learn Sign Up | Behavioral Insights and Parenting Lab Chat2Learn Sign Up Chat2Learn Sign Up Form - 2023 - English Please complete this form to enroll in the Chat2Learn text message program. You will start receiving messages on the first Sunday after you enroll. Only primary caregivers of children age 3 to 6 can enroll in Chat2Learn. Families should enr...

👏👏👏 Such an important callout for supporting more family structures.

Ariel Kalil: Multigenerational households are key to better support for kids of single mothers Single parents living with their child and a grandparent in a multigenerational household can help stabilize low-income families economically.

10 years of pioneering behavioral insights as a framework to support parent decision-making. 10 years of cutting edge research on supporting children's learning in the home environment. 10 years of re-defining education to prioritize parent engagement.

BIP Lab 10th Anniversary Video How is the University of Chicago working to understand the science of parent decision making? The Behavioral Insights and Parenting Lab (BIP Lab) at the Univ...

Parents of preschool and kindergarten children, don't miss out!

Check out Chat2Learn, a FREE & EASY text message program to promote your child's curiosity with small talks that makes a big difference. Build your child's skills and love of learning with 4-5 weekly chat inspirations, blending fun and learning activities backed by research.

Register today for a chance to win a $50 Amazon gift card!

Click here:

Chat2Learn Sign Up | Behavioral Insights and Parenting Lab Chat2Learn Sign Up Chat2Learn Sign Up Form - 2023 - English Please complete this form to enroll in the Chat2Learn text message program. You will start receiving messages on the first Sunday after you enroll. Only primary caregivers of children age 3 to 5 can enroll in Chat2Learn. Families should enr...