top of page
Writer's pictureAllHere Education

Reminding Students and Families of Importance of Attendance Actually Improves Attendance

With the rate of chronic absenteeism on the rise throughout the country, many educators and school administrators are wondering about new ways to improve attendance amongst their students. Researchers have studied cost-effective ways to reduce absenteeism in schools and found that drawing upon family support is one of the best ways to ensure that students participate in learning. 


Using the framework of behavioral science, researchers conducted a study in which they organized outreach to families about the importance of attendance in early grades. Sending letters to families emphasizing the positive impact of attendance for students in lower grades and specifically informing them of their students’ absences led to higher attendance rates and a greater understanding amongst families about the value of attending school. 


The study focused on messaging campaigns for elementary school families because of the lack of awareness about the importance of attendance in early schooling. Even though lower attendance rates in grades K-5 have a proven negative impact on future student achievement, many families are under the impression that attendance in elementary school is less critical. Letters underscoring the negative impact of absenteeism in elementary school helped to spread awareness about how families can set their students up for success in early years. 


Reminding families about the importance of attendance is critical to getting elementary age students back in class, as families can play an integral role in making sure their students attend school. The results of this study were significant, finding that chronic absenteeism rates dropped by 15%. 


Many schools and districts are interested in this type of outreach to families, but few have the time to organize the individualized messaging. AllHere can help by automating communications through two-way text messages. 


AllHere’s AI Chatbot uses similar concepts to this study by sending out personalized text messages to families reminding them about the importance of attendance and notifying them about their students’ up-to-date absences. Artificial intelligence technology allows for the chatbot to automate all of this messaging, meaning that school staff do not have to send the texts themselves. 


Changing family perspectives about the importance of attendance for elementary school students is proven to be a way to reduce chronic absenteeism. AllHere’s AI Chatbot uses messaging themes similar to this study and adds automated text messaging technology, which saves school staff time.

bottom of page