Impact Evaluation of Parent Messaging Strategies on Student Attendance

Most school districts have policies in place to systematically address student absenteeism, which remains a considerable problem across grade levels in many parts of the country. Typical attendance practices include parent notification by letters, phone calls, parent meetings, home visitation, and, for students with significant numbers of absences, referrals to truancy programs and family courts. Such practices can be costly. Text messaging interventions are becoming increasingly popular -- in fields such as public health and prevention -- due to their low cost, scalability, and evidence of impact. School districts have increasing capacity to use technology to implement messaging interventions. Thus, an evaluation to determine whether a text messaging intervention can improve student attendance in a cost effective manner is warranted. To our knowledge, this project is the first multidistrict random assignment study of the impact of a text messaging intervention for parents on student attendance and achievement. In addition, consistent with the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015 (PL 113-235), which provides the legislative authority to conduct this study, this study will focus on low-performing schools with high levels of poverty and student absenteeism.

The latest form for Impact Evaluation of Parent Messaging Strategies on Student Attendance expires 2020-09-30 and can be found here.

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Federal Enterprise Architecture: Education - Elementary, Secondary, and Vocational Education