Leveraging Parents through Low-Cost Technology: The Impact of High-Frequency Information on Student Achievement

Abstract

We partnered a low-cost communication technology with school information systems to automate the gathering and provision of information on students’ academic progress to parents of middle and high school students. We sent weekly, automated alerts to parents about their child’s missed assignments, grades, and class absences. The alerts reduced course failures by 27%, increased class attendance by 12%, and increased student retention, though there was no impact on state test scores. There were larger effects for below-median GPA students and high school students. Over 32,000 text messages were sent at a variable cost of $63.