Partnering for improvement: How PPS, EveryDay Labs and A+ Schools are working to increase student attendance 

By A+ Schools and EveryDay Labs

For the past three years, EveryDay Labs has worked with the Pittsburgh Public Schools to increase student attendance, in partnership with A+ Schools, through the generous support of The Richard King Mellon Foundation. EveryDay Labs’ mission is to improve student outcomes by reducing absenteeism. They do this by supporting families through evidence-based, personalized communication and by supporting staff. This includes sending “nudges”—texts or mailed letters that let parents or guardians know how many days their child has missed and offer support for whatever might be keeping a child out of school. In the first two years of the partnership, PPS has seen reductions in the numbers of students who are “chronically absent,” which is defined as missing more than 10% of their school year for any reason. Through the partnership, PPS and EveryDay Labs have helped educators and families get the tools and information they need to keep students in school and learning every day.

Students who missed 5% or more of school days were eligible to receive nudge messages. In the 2023-24 school year alone:

• 139,699 text nudges were sent.

• 37,129 mail nudges were sent.

• 12,320 households received personalized communications.

• 3,200+ families responded to the EveryDay Labs ChatBot or called the Family Support Team.

Families report feeling supported and better understanding the impact of missed learning. Comments included:

• “I appreciate the communications because I want to know what’s going on with my students in school.”

• “Thank you very much for following through on the absence notice so that we’re all on the same page. That’s terrific.”

The results

EveryDay Labs judges the impact of the communications by measuring the change in attendance rates before and after a family receives one or more mail or text nudges. Overall, of the 12,421 at-risk or chronically absent students whose families received one or more text and/or mail nudges, 60% (7,450) improved their attendance.

EveryDay Labs also looks within the overall numbers to see in greater detail how attendance is improving. Students are grouped into tiers, including “Satisfactory,” “At-Risk,” “Moderate Chronic,” “Severe Chronic,” and “Extreme Chronic.” Last year, we saw:

• 82% (4,459) of At-Risk students remained At-Risk or improved to Satisfactory.

• 43% (5,331) of all students improved by one or more attendance tiers.

• 39% (2,709) of chronically absent students improved to non-chronically absent (Tier 1).

• Student attendance increased the most in grades 2, 4, and 6.

Looking specifically at the 7,007 students who were chronically absent when their families received the first nudge message, as of May:

• 39% improved to non-chronically absent.

• 28% (1,962) improved to At-Risk.

• 11% (747) improved to Satisfactory.

• 47% (2,013) of students who remained chronically absent nevertheless improved their attendance.

Impact and return on investment for PPS and A+ Schools

In the 2023-24 school year, the partnership resulted in 3.4 million minutes of instructional time recovered and 7,764 staff hours saved. For every $100 spent, 5.9 student absences were prevented and 4.9 hours of staff time was saved.

This investment not only ensures that more students are on track for academic success, but it also helps school teams as they work to support students and families. The ongoing partnership between EveryDay Labs, A+ Schools, and PPS is poised to continue making a significant impact on student attendance and success.

If you are concerned about your child’s attendance, or you want more information about the EveryDay Labs partnership with PPS, contact us at info@aplusschools.org or 412-256-8536.