The Effects of An Automatic Notification Tool to Increase Participation in Advanced High School Courses

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Sunday 9:45 am - Gold 1
  In Roundtable Session: Beyond Access: How Policy, Data, and Tools Shape Students’ Educational Opportunities

Abstract

We developed an automatic notification tool as a scalable alternative to automatic enrollment policies, which use universal screening and a behavioral nudge to increase equitable enrollment in advanced courses. The tool is embedded into the Course Planner of a large student information system (SIS). We conducted a large-scale RCT of the tool, randomizing 110 schools in 44 districts to one of three conditions: a short-form notification, a long-form notification, or no notification. We report impact findings for whether students planned, scheduled, and were rostered into 10th-grade advanced courses; students’ performance in 10th grade courses; and whether students planned and scheduled advanced courses for 11th grade.

Authors

• Megan Austin, American Institutes for Research

• Michael Kruse, American Institutes for Research

• Matthew J. Farmer, American Institutes for Research

• Preeya Pandya Mbekeani, American Institutes for Research

• Sara Mitrano, American Institutes for Research