Students at Woodcrest Elementary are fired up to be in school, especially when attendance can earn them gift cards, sneakers and even stocks.
“Some students look forward to coming to school every day, but it incentivizes them even more because they get to earn something,” said Mercede Washington, a teacher at Woodcrest Elementary School.
Woodcrest in South Los Angeles is one of a number of schools nationwide using a rewards platform called Knowlej. Its goal: boost attendance and keep students engaged.
“You cannot teach a child who’s not in their seat to learn,” said Jemila Gaston, Principal of Woodcrest Elementary School. “This is where they come to do it. They receive the love, they receive the education, and they can transfer that into their real life.”
When Principal Gaston arrived four years ago, chronic absenteeism was 68%.
“We’re using this platform because it really brings to light a lot more of who is at school and who’s not at school. And from that, conversations occur. And in those conversations, we learn,” Gaston said.
Former teacher and principal Amen Rahh created Knowlej after seeing how simple rewards motivated his own students. He coded an early version of the platform himself during the pandemic.
“There is a debate of extrinsic and intrinsic motivation, and we like to believe that those things should be connected,” said Amen Rahh, CEO & Founder of Knowlej.
“Right now we’re at 50,000 kids across the country. So we’re still a long way from our goal of reaching one million. But it’s a start, right?” Rahh added.
Today, the startup partners with major brands to provide incentives for attendance streaks, completed assignments and more.
“We have shown a decreased chronic absenteeism up to 20% in the schools that work with us,” Rahh said.
After three years with the program, Woodcrest says its absentee numbers have been cut in half, and students are showing up excited to learn – and earn.
“There are a lot of folks that don’t believe kids should be rewarded for learning. And we like to believe that we are reimagining that approach because the results speak for themselves,” Rahh said.
Next up, Knowlej is rolling out a debit card where rewards can be loaded directly, including options like college tuition credits.