Can a postcard reduce student absenteeism?

Can a postcard reduce student absenteeism?

 

In an effort to improve guardians' awareness of absenteeism, and therefore reduce student absenteeism, the Philadelphia school district together with the National Center for Evaluation and Regional Assistance conducted a randomized controlled trial based on the principles of "nudge" theory. Nudge theory is an approach that involves unobtrusive intervention to promote desired behaviors.
 
In this study, the "nudge" was a single postcard sent to the homes of students in grades 1- 12 who had been absent the previous year to test whether it could reduce absenteeism and what impact, if any, different messages had. Two types of message were tested: one simply encouraging guardians to improve their child's attendance; the other included specific information about their child's attendance history as well as encouraging guardians to improve their child's attendance. A control group received no postcards from the school.
Todd Rogers and colleagues found that receiving a postcard reduced absences by around 2.4 percent. There was no statistically significant difference in students' absence according to which message their guardians received. The effect of the postcard did not differ between students in grades 1- 8 and students in grades 9- 12. 

Johns Hopkins University 

Research in Brief

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