PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Peter Bergman
AU  - Eric W. Chan
TI  - Leveraging Parents through Low-Cost Technology
AID  - 10.3368/jhr.56.1.1118-9837R1
DP  - 2021 Jan 01
TA  - Journal of Human Resources
PG  - 125--158
VI  - 56
IP  - 1
4099  - http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/56/1/125.short
4100  - http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/56/1/125.full
SO  - J Hum Resour2021 Jan 01; 56
AB  - 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 percent, increased class attendance by 12 percent, 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. More than 32,000 text messages were sent at a variable cost of $63.