The Inequity of Opt-in Educational Resources and an Intervention to Increase Equitable Access

Billions of dollars are invested in opt-in educational resources to support struggling students. Yet there is no guarantee these students will use these resources. We report results from a school system’s implementation of on-demand tutoring. The take-up was low. At baseline, only 19% of students ever accessed the platform, and low-performing students were even less likely to log in. We conducted a randomized controlled trial ( N = 4,763) testing behaviorally informed messages directed at students and/or their parents to increase participation. Communications to students alone had no impact, whereas those to parents and students together increased usage by 46%. We found suggestive evidence that receiving these communications led to a four-percentage point decrease in course failures. Nonetheless, take-up remained low, highlighting that opt-in resources may increase—instead of reduce—inequality. Without targeted outreach, opt-in educational resources are unlikely to reach many students who could benefit.