Adoption of Effective Practices in Schools | Todd Rogers || Radcliffe Institute

TL;DR

The speaker discusses the difficulties of scaling effective practices in education, highlighting the differences in adoption between two interventions: attendance awards and absenteeism reduction programs. He also explores the role of evidence and decision-making by leaders in determining whether interventions are adopted or not.

Transcript

• Thank you, Meredith, for that nice introduction. What I want to start with is I'll just give a brief overview of my background as it relates to the work we're about to do, and then we'll launch into it. So I am a behavioral scientist, which means I work on developing scalable interventions that use the insights of psychology and other fields to c... Read More

Key Insights

• 🏆 Attendance awards, despite being a common practice, can be counterproductive and decrease subsequent attendance.
• 😒 Absenteeism reduction programs that use personalized messages have consistently shown a significant reduction in chronic absenteeism.
• ❓ Decision-makers often prioritize anecdotal evidence over randomized experiments, which can hinder the adoption of effective practices.
• 🧑‍🏫 Scaling interventions that require teacher behavior change can be challenging, as teachers may be resistant and districts may lack stability.

Questions & Answers

Q: How effective are attendance awards in improving student attendance?

Attendance awards, which are commonly used in schools, were found to actually decrease subsequent attendance in a randomized experiment. Students who received awards showed up to school less after receiving them, potentially due to a form of selection bias where awards were given to those who already had excellent attendance.

Q: What is the impact of absenteeism reduction programs?

Absenteeism reduction programs, which involve sending personalized messages to inform parents about their child's absences, have proven to be highly effective in reducing chronic absenteeism. These programs have consistently shown a 10% or more reduction in absenteeism, leading to improvements in student performance.

Q: Why do leaders prefer anecdotal evidence over randomized experiments?

The speaker suggests that leaders, such as superintendents, may prefer anecdotal evidence because it feels more relatable and tangible. They may also have a limited understanding of the importance of randomized experiments in establishing causality. This preference for anecdotal evidence can undermine the adoption of effective practices.

Q: What are the challenges in scaling interventions that require teacher behavior change?

Interventions that require teachers to change their behavior, such as implementing attendance reduction programs, face challenges in scaling. Teachers may be resistant to change or already overwhelmed with other initiatives. Additionally, district stability is crucial for successful implementation, as changes in leadership and backend systems can hinder the adoption and sustainability of interventions.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• The speaker presents two interventions: attendance awards and absenteeism reduction programs. While attendance awards are a common practice in schools, a randomized experiment showed that they actually decreased subsequent attendance. On the other hand, absenteeism reduction programs, which use personalized messages to inform parents about their child's absences, have consistently reduced chronic absenteeism and are scaling rapidly.

• The speaker highlights the difference in adoption between the two interventions. Attendance awards, despite being counterproductive, are widely implemented in schools, while absenteeism reduction programs face challenges in scaling due to the need for teachers to change their behavior.

• The importance of evidence is discussed, with the speaker pointing out that decision-makers, such as superintendents, often prioritize anecdotal evidence from individuals over randomized experiments. This leads to ineffective pilot studies that can actually hinder progress.