1. Leveraging the Untapped
Power of Parents
California School Attendance Review Board
November 19, 2015
REDUCING CHRONIC ABSENTEEISM,
IMPROVING ACHIEVEMENT &
INCREASING FUNDING
2. 2
Source: “In School + On Track 2015” Attorney General’s
2015 Report on California’s Elementary School Truancy &
Absenteeism Crisis
83% of students chronically absent
in kindergarten & 1st grade cannot
read on-level by 3rd grade
Students not reading on-level in 3rd
grade are 4X more likely to drop out
High school dropouts are 8X more
likely to be incarcerated than
people with high school diplomas
Absent Kids Have Harder Lives
4. 4
Experienced, Growing Companies
• Goal today
– Share the academic research on
communication and absenteeism
– Show how we have used that research
to create a chronic absenteeism solution
• Joint venture
– Athena’s Workshop founded 2012
– PeerPower Inc. founded in 2013
• Address chronic absenteeism by combining
– Texting technology of Athena’s Workshop
– Academic comparison reports expertise of
PeerPower
6. 6
How Much New Funding is 3% Worth?
10,000 Students
x 180 Days
X 3% Additional Attendance
X $40 ADA
$2,160,000
7. 7
Parents
Parents often have not calculated how small absences add up.
Parents that don’t visit the school or district website don’t get the
message about the importance of attendance.
Source: “In School + On Track 2015” Attorney
General’s 2015 Report on California’s Elementary
School Truancy & Absenteeism Crisis
“A lack of parental
understanding … can lead
to higher rates of
absenteeism, as parents
may not fully understand
the negative outcomes.”
Oh, I have a role to play?
8. 8
Ad Council Found Messages That Help Parents
Understand Importance of Attendance
Source: “In School + On Track 2015” Attorney
General’s 2015 Report on California’s Elementary
School Truancy & Absenteeism Crisis
Attendance Matters
Early attendance
= later success
Absences Add Up
2 absences per
month = chronic
absence
Believable and
persuasive
Fact that education
is sequential was
new information for
Parents
Believable and
persuasive
Parents did not
realize that 2
absences per month
was excessive
9. 9
Communications To Build Relationships
Shared
Accountability
Data
Messages
Regular Messages
to Engage Parents
and Students
Actionable
Data Reports
Sent to Parents
Shared
Accountability to
Help Parents
Become Part of
the Solution
Building Relationships between Teachers, Parents and
Administrators to Address Issues Directly
10. 10
1. Kraft and Rogers University Study
Source: “The underutilized potential of teacher-
to-parent communication: Evidence from a field
experiment” by Matthew Kraft, Brown
University and Todd Rogers, Harvard University
Study
Design
Results
• 435 at risk, minority,
low-income students
• Previous year’s
attendance 88.96%
• Increased Attendance
3.2%
• Increased Pass Rate 41%
“Reduced student absenteeism appears to be a key
student behavior affected by messages.”
• Summer Credit
Recovery Program
• 4 Weekly Text Messages
of two types
11. 11
2. Rogers and Duncan Study
Study
Design
Results
• Urban, Philadelphia PA
• 57% graduate
• Chronically absent
• 5.0% -10% Reduced
Absenteeism with
comparison
Source: Forthcoming “A Randomized Experiment
Using Absenteeism Information to ‘Nudge’
Attendance” by Todd Rogers, Harvard University and
Teresa Duncan, ICF International
“One of the most effective strategies for increasing graduation
rates is a concerted effort to increase student attendance.”
• Two different messages
• With comparison and
without
12. 12
3. Bergman Study
Study
Design
Result
• Middle & High School
• 242 students in LAUSD
• 90% low income
• Six months
• Teachers sent messages
about homework, tests
• 79% preferred texts
• 28% Reduced Class
Cutting
• Increased GPA .19
standard deviation
Source: “Parent-Child Information Friction and
Human Capital Investment: Evidence from a
Field Experiment” by Peter Bergman, Columbia
University
“More information allows parents to induce more effort from their children,
which translates into significant gains in achievement.”
13. 13
Research Summary
3.2%
5.0%
28.0%
• Increased attendance with 4 text
messages about improvement
(Kraft and Rogers)
• Reduced Absenteeism with
comparison attendance reports
(Rogers and Duncan)
• Reduced cutting class by sending
text messages about missing work
(Bergman)
All three studies focused on low income, chronically absent students and used
regular messages to engage parents and improve student performance
14. 14
Our Solution Offers Weekly text messages
Tina missed two
homework
assignments this
week – I know
she can do better.
Before and after analysis of
effectiveness using
Attendance Works tool
Professional Development to
communicate effectively via text
Reports on individual student’s
attendance and performance,
sent via text to parents
Unlimited texting for teachers
and administrators to answer
questions and concerns
15. 15
Weekly Text Messages
Combination of messages from administration, teachers, Athena’s
Workshop and PeerPower
– Importance of attending school
every day
– Your child’s attendance (from
district resources)
– Your child’s academic
performance (from district
resources)
– Your child can improve (teacher
input)
– Unlimited text messages to build
relationship between parents,
teachers and administrators
Parents
Attendance
Value
Teacher
Input
District
Data
Texting
16. 16
Examples of Messages
Tina missed two
homework
assignments this
week – I know
she can do better.
Early Attendance =
Later Success
Your Student:
12 Absences
Typical Classmate:
4 Absences
17. 17
Unlimited One-Way, Two-Way & Group Text
All phone numbers are masked; everyone
identified with full name
Parents will be able to reply to
the teacher, engaging parents in
their child’s education
Permanent Message Log with
password protection –
FERPA & COPPA compliant
English- Spanish translation.
18. 18
Training
Professional Development
Three webinar style trainings for teachers and
administrators:
1. Mechanics of how to use texting platform
2. How to effectively communicate with parents
about importance of attendance
3. How to engage parents to support the elements
of academic success (homework, studying, etc.)
19. 19
Measureable Results
• Before messaging
• After messaging at the end of the
school year
• Standardized tool that allows
comparison between years
20. 20
We can address
your chronic
absenteeism
this school year.
We do want to emphasize that because we are established companies with established technologies we are able to start right away, as early as January 5th text messaging. The research shows that if you have a chronic absenteeism problem now, you will still have one in June, unless you do something dramatic to change the situation. Our goals for this solution are that is be a collaborative solution using district resources, teacher input, individualized reports, technology, and research that has worked to address this problem. It had decrease chronic absenteeism, improve academic performance, and because of the way California funds schools through ADA had to pay for itself, and had to be implemented quickly. At the beginning we said that children that do not attend school every day, are chronically absent end up having harder lives. Our solution, research shows, should help create the relationships and knowledge that get children to school every day, and
Then they will have better lives. (pause)
Thank you very much for this opportunity to speak with you today. Thank you David for inviting us, we do appreciate it. We would be happy to answer any questions you may have.
