Sending e-mail messages emphasizing social norms reduced school directors’ absenteeism by 4% on average, equivalent to seven full days of school. The Project Working with the Peruvian Ministry of Education (MINEDU) and the UK’s Behavioural Insights Team (BIT), we tested whether attendance could be influenced by sending different behaviorally informed messages by email. One email message conveyed the current level of attendance of one’s school district - the “social norm” - while the other built on teachers’ pro-social motivations by highlighting the positive effect of teacher attendance on student performance. Using a randomized experiment, we tested the effect of each email on teacher and director attendance, as measured in administrative surveys and payroll data. Close to 100,000 teachers and principals in 27,000 schools around Peru were divided into three groups How to encourage and received either no email (control) or one of two behaviorally informed messages. school principals not In order to measure effects on attendance, we planned to play hooky our trial to be implemented in schools that we knew would be visited by the Ministry of Education for spot checks, controlling for the fact that not all schools Research shows that teacher and administration would be visited at the same time. During these spot absences can negatively affect students’ reading checks, survey staff check directly to see if teachers and math abilities. are present in classrooms, which offers a more objective measure than the one reported by school In Peru, data from random spot checks conducted by principals (who our qualitative research revealed are the Peruvian Government found that, on average, 7% likely to under-report their teachers’, and their own, of teachers and 17% of principals are absent on any absences). This strategy provided us with comparable given day. This corresponds to teachers missing 12.5 outcome data, at no additional cost for the Ministry. days and principals missing 30.5 days of school a year, This “embedding” method is a great example of how and can affect outcomes for students. So, how do we we aim to design trials that are both rigorous and get teachers and principals to turn up to school? cost-effective for governments. The Results Social norms emails significantly increased E-mails had no impact on average attendance of principals. teachers’ attendance. There was an increase in attendance of 4%, which There are three main reasons that may explain why corresponds to approximately seven fewer missed there is an impact on principals but not on teachers. days of school a year per principal out of a total First, we may not be using the right communication of 179 days - a substantial effect, especially for an tool. Only 17% opened the first e-mail and 12% the intervention that had near zero cost to the second. Second, teachers’ attendance was higher at Peruvian government. baseline, which could mean that principals’ attendance had a greater room for improvement. Third, we didn’t use the most impactful messages. For example, we didn’t try personalized messages on attendance relative to peers due to Ministry’s protocols on how to communicate with teachers. IMPACT OF BEHAVIORAL E-MAILS ON PRINCIPAL ATTENDANCE (%) of principals present during spot visits 100 80 60 40 20 83% 87% 85% 0 Control Norms Prosocial **p<0,01 , *p<0.05 Note: Sample is restricted to principals who provided email address. Total N=2,182 Policy Implications Our results overall suggest that sharing information For teachers, it will be worth exploring different on attendance norms may be an effective low-cost communication methods where the information is tool to reduce absenteeism among more likely to be seen. In future work, it directors. As in other fields, would be interesting to test other cost- behavioral science has shown that Behavioral science has effective ways to reach out to teachers individuals care about what others shown that individuals care such as adding behavioral messages on in their group are doing. Social pay slips, SMS messages, or other official norms have been effective in, among about what others in their communications. These will be more other things: encouraging recycling, group are doing. complicated to implement than e-mails, reducing energy and water but would present an opportunity to consumption, and in this instance, make direct links between absences and encouraging school teachers and administrators their negative consequences on pay, for example, which to show up. should be a strong motivator. About eMBeD The Mind, Behavior, and Development Unit (eMBeD), the World Bank’s behavioral science team in the Poverty and Equity Global Practice, works closely with project teams, governments, and other partners to diagnose, design, and evaluate behaviorally informed interventions. By collaborating with a worldwide network of scientists and practitioners, the eMBeD team provides answers to important economic and social questions, and contributes to the global effort to eliminate poverty and enhance equity. 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