The move is being trialled in 100 secondary schools and will see parents and carers sent personalised texts to update them on the number of days of school their child has missed over the last half term.
Called BITUP the trial is being run by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) and Youth Endowment Fund (YEF) along with research company Behavioural Insights Team (BIT). A smaller trial of the initiative boosted attendance by four percentage points, according to their evaluation.
This is one of two research projects to tackle persistent absenteeism in schools involving the three organisations to be announced this week.
They are also launching a randomised controlled trial to combat bullying, absenteeism and challenging behaviour, called Grassroots, where researchers will work with pupils through fortnightly sessions to look at how they interact with each other.
“Together, they’ll identify how student interactions in their school could be improved, think about what they might do to encourage their peers to have positive interactions, and make sure their initiatives are visible to others, for example, through posters and social media content,” said researchers.
Grassroots has already been trialled in schools in the US where evaluation showed it reduced conflict and bullying by 25 per cent over a year. The UK evaluation will also see whether it improves attendance levels.
NEW: Today we’re opening recruitment for two new trials, in partnership with @YouthEndowFund!
— EEF (@EducEndowFoundn) February 22, 2023
These trials will test the effectiveness of programmes designed to improve attendance and reduce exclusions in secondary schools.
Find out more: https://t.co/XuMfKbUn5u
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“We know that pupils who are persistently absent from school are less like to achieve well academically,” said EEF chief executive Becky Francis.
“Improving attendance is also a real and immediate priority for schools. But we just don’t know enough about the best ways to improve attendance. Teachers deserve a much clearer picture of how best to support their pupils who are persistently absent.”
YEF executive director Jon Yates added: “Absence from school not only limits a child’s ability to succeed academically, but also puts them at increased risk of harm. Through our research with EEF, we’ll learn more about what works to keep children engaged at school and away from the streets.
“When you’re growing up, your peers have a huge impact on your behaviour and attitude towards school. The Grassroots programme is a really interesting model. It uses the social dynamics of the classroom to challenge damaging behaviour like bullying and create positive places to learn. It’s made a difference in the US. We want to test if it has an impact here.”
Last year, EEF found that personalised letters and text messages to parents of children who were persistently absent could boost attendance rates. The findings emerged from its review of more than 70 studies aimed at improving attendance.
