School choice policies in districts across the country are turning school selection and enrollment — as early as kindergarten — into a complex, multistep process. Families, particularly those with limited resources, may struggle to fully participate in these processes.

Understanding where and why some families face challenges with the application process can help a school system identify aspects that may need simplification or clarification and direct interventions toward the families or communities at greatest risk of not completing the process as designed. With support from the Walton Family Foundation and in collaboration with the New York City Department of Education’s Office of Student Enrollment, MDRC used its Center for Applied Behavioral Science’s behavioral diagnosis and design process to identify application and enrollment barriers faced by kindergarten-eligible families across NYC, especially families living in shelters and families whose home language is not English. The team then worked with the Department of Education to develop an intervention to address those barriers using insights from behavioral science. MDRC is rigorously evaluating the intervention for the kindergarten application period for the 2019-2020 school year.