As school districts work to drive down persistently high absenteeism, many studies have examined how best to bring families into the fold, keep them apprised of their students’ missed class time, and tear down barriers that get in the way of more frequent attendance.
But there’s another, often-overlooked factor that districts might do well to incorporate into their attendance-boosting strategies, according to a new analysis: paying attention to the time of day when they’re sending attendance-related messages to parents and caregivers, and how early in the school year they’re getting started with those communications.
“The takeaway is that early, empathetic outreach at the right moment can change behavior rather quickly,” said Kara Stern, the director of education for School Status, the company that conducted the analysis of 3.3 million text messages schools sent to families.
The analysis by the company, which offers schools a variety of communication products, spanned four years and included 205 districts. It found that families were most likely to engage with and respond to messages about their child’s absences when the school sent them around 8 a.m. and between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. on weekdays. During those windows, parents responded, on average, within 11 minutes, the report said, and they responded 73% of the time.
The higher engagement makes sense because the morning window is when parents are preparing their children for school and getting themselves ready for the day and are more likely to be on their phones. In the afternoon window, parents might be picking up their children from school, waiting for the school bus to drop kids off, or getting ready to head home from work, the report said.
“For families working non-traditional hours or multiple jobs, these windows may look different. Yet, the principle holds: messages that arrive during natural transition points in the day are more likely to be seen and answered,” the report said. “These are the moments when school is already top of mind or when there’s a brief pause to check in.”
Messages with specific and action-oriented language were more engaging. For example, a message that said a child had missed four days this month was better received than one that said, “We’ve noticed some absences.” Additionally, direct offers of help—like, “Reply if you need support with transportation or health concerns”—outperformed those with lengthy explanations of the district’s attendance policy, the report said.
The offer of help comes across as more collaborative and empathetic than regurgitating a policy that can feel daunting or punitive, Stern said.
“That’s really a game changer,” she said.
Schools are shifting away from punitive approaches to absenteeism
In recent years, districts have largely altered their approaches to absenteeism, focusing more on addressing the underlying causes for absences—like transportation struggles, health concerns, or housing instability—rather than jumping directly into punishing students or families for missed class time. It’s an approach backed by several studies and advocates that have found punitive approaches don’t improve students’ attendance, but rather further damage families’ connections to schools and their staff members.
The School Status report also found that families were more responsive to schools’ communications throughout the entire year when their first interaction happened early in the school year—in August or September, depending on the district’s first day of school.
Additionally, districts were most successful in curbing absences when they reached out in some way prior to the student becoming chronically absent—meaning before they had already missed 10% of school days for any reason.
“When you are a parent and you hear from a teacher or a principal right at the beginning of the school year, saying, ‘Hey, this is who I am, and I’m here to help your child succeed, and to help you help your child succeed,’ that makes a really big difference than if you don’t hear from them until November when there’s a problem,” Stern said. “If you get that outreach at the beginning of the school year, you are building a relationship and a point of connection with someone in the building.”
