Manual enrollment processes create systemic barriers that disadvantage both families and districts in today's competitive educational environment. Paper-based systems consume significant administrative resources, creating cost and processing delays that districts cannot afford during periods of enrollment decline. Traditional enrollment barriers impose substantial costs on families, including learning costs to understand complex requirements, compliance costs for completing extensive paperwork, and psychological stress from navigating fragmented processes.

Districts using manual processes or rudimentary SIS modules for enrollment struggle with data accuracy and administrative burden precisely when resources are most constrained. The complex and archaic nature of traditional systems creates information asymmetries that favor well-connected families over those who most need school choice options. When families lack clear information about school options and admission processes, they often make suboptimal decisions that reduce their chances of successful placement. While this insight is most relevant for districts with some sort of school choice framework (e.g., charters, magnets, application-based pathways, transfer applications), a clean enrollment workflow is fundamental to the success of any school.

To address both district workload and systemic barriers facing families, a new approach is needed—one that streamlines enrollment and improves access for all.

TetherEd's smart matching platforms translate cutting-edge academic research on market design and behavioral economics into practical tools that solve real-world enrollment challenges. The underlying research reveals critical insights about how families actually navigate school choice processes and where traditional systems fail them.

Academic studies demonstrate that families engage in costly, sequential search for schools, often stopping prematurely because they systematically overestimate their admission chances. This behavioral pattern, documented across multiple educational contexts, leads to suboptimal matches and increased risk of non-placement. Families facing near-zero probability of placement at their preferred schools still believe they have a high likelihood of success, causing them to under-search for alternatives. For districts, this translates to potential attrition to outside options and consequent revenue losses when families don’t get placed into their preferred schools.

In response, smart matching platforms address this fundamental behavioral challenge with intertwined components:

• Centralized choice exploration. Consolidating school information, real-time seat availability, and virtual tours radically simplifies the search process for families. Just like other apps have aggregated data on housing or restaurants, TetherEd’s “Education Explorers” empower families to make informed choices and discover new options, all within a seamless, user-friendly platform.
• Expert lottery management. Lottery algorithms are often opaque, with vendors struggling to differentiate various options to district partners. TetherEd is different. With direct contributions and revisions to the science of lottery management, we not only manage lotteries, but we are also able to advise districts on the lottery policies that best fit your district’s conditions. 
• Real-time, AI feedback. By providing real-time, personalized feedback about admission probabilities using aggregated application data, TetherEd helps families make more informed decisions during the search process. When families receive warnings about high non-placement risk, research shows they respond by adding more schools to their applications, reducing their risk substantially. 

Each of these components were built in direct response to the gaps in current systems, as uncovered by academic studies. While each intervention can work independently as a standalone feature or as an add-on to a district’s existing system, TetherEd also packages them together into a true smart matching platform.

Just as research uncovered the problems that families face, follow up studies have also validated TetherEd’s approach through large-scale implementations that demonstrate consistent improvements in both family satisfaction and system efficiency. Interventions nationally in Chile as well as in New Haven, Connecticut demonstrate effectiveness across different cultural and policy contexts. Key findings include:

• Implementation increased enrollment. When families who started with risky applications were then provided guided, timely feedback, their acceptance odds increased dramatically. 6 in 10 students who otherwise would have faced waitlists—and potentially considered outside options—instead adjusted the applications to increase their chances of enrolling in one of their preferred schools. Crucially, students considered high-quality schools beyond the handful of popular, often-oversubscribed schools often present in districts.
• Implementation increased long-term academic achievement. Follow-up studies confirmed that these interventions help fulfill the original promise of school choice: elevating access to high-quality schools that meet the needs of all students. Indeed, students with access to the smart matching platform for their kindergarten lottery tested 0.2 standard deviations higher at the end of elementary school compared to peers.

At the district level, these findings translate to fewer lottery-induced headaches, more seats filled at quality schools, and more realized revenue to continue operating smoothly.

Digital transformation in K-12 enrollment represents more than technological modernization—it embodies a fundamental shift toward evidence-based, equity-focused approaches to school choice. Districts implementing smart matching platforms position themselves to serve families more effectively while operating more efficiently in an increasingly competitive educational marketplace.

The convergence of demographic pressures, competitive challenges, and technological capabilities creates an imperative for districts to modernize enrollment processes immediately. However, successful implementation requires more than simply digitizing existing paper forms. Effective digital transformation leverages behavioral research insights, integrates seamlessly with existing systems, and prioritizes equity outcomes alongside operational efficiency.

TetherEd's approach demonstrates that rigorous academic research can translate into practical solutions that benefit both families and districts. For districts ready to move beyond traditional enrollment limitations, smart matching platforms offer a proven pathway to better outcomes for families, students, and administrators alike.