Educators agree that students who have engaged families tend to have better attendance in school and performance in the classroom. 

Engaging all families can be challenging for both families and the district, but it’s necessary to ensure equitable classroom practices and the highest possible learning outcomes for each student. Engaging with teachers can be challenging for families who aren’t native English speakers, while engaging all families regardless of their home language is a challenge for districts. According to the Texas Education Agency, Texas is second only to California in the number of Emergent Bilingual (EB) students enrolled, serving just under 20% of the nation’s total population of English learner students. While Spanish-speaking families make up about 90% of the Emergent Bilingual population, there are over 120 total languages represented in Texas.

While EB students receive much support inside the classroom, communicating with their families at home can be challenging. Often campuses have Spanish-speaking translators available to assist non-Spanish-speaking teachers and administrators; however, for languages not as common as Spanish, it can be difficult to find translation services.

With that as background, there are good solutions to working effectively with EB families.

2. Use Direct and Simple Language

When communicating with EB families, try to use clear and simple language. Avoid using slang or highly technical words that may be difficult to understand and difficult for the system to translate accurately.

4. Involve Families in the Learning Process

Involving families in the learning process can help to build a strong relationship between home and school. Teachers can involve families by providing regular updates on their child’s progress and performance, inviting them to school events, discussing attendance or discipline issues, and asking for their input on their child’s learning. This can help to build trust and support student success.

6. Share Specific Examples of Student Progress or Challenges

Use a communication program that also displays student data to provide specific examples of a student’s performance or areas for growth. For example, if a student is struggling in math, share specific math topics they are having problems with and what the family can work on together to help improve math understanding and performance.

Including All Families in Your Communications

As Emergent Bilingual families become a larger portion of our student population, it is important to include their families in the conversation. By making it easy for EB families to communicate with teachers in their preferred language, all families will feel supported by both the teacher and school district. And research shows the more we communicate with families, the more successful their children become.

SchoolStatus Connect can help your district to communicate effectively with Emergent Bilingual families in their home languages.

Often when districts are thinking about Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER), they’re thinking, “HVAC.”

But ESSER covers a lot more than infrastructure. The key to learning recovery post-Covid is attendance. School communication is an essential piece of that. Attendance is the #1 predictor of student success. So, it makes sense to think about how to put absenteeism prevention in place using ESSER funding.

Let’s take a look at some of the core areas for ESSER funding and how they relate to school/home communication.

1. Technologies for Educational Interaction

The more teachers communicate home, the more successful their students are. The reason is that it builds trust. Teachers share what’s happening in the classroom. Families feel informed and able to support their learners. The more families feel in-the-know, the more they appreciate the teacher’s efforts. Weekly updates communicate care. If they’re digital, then families can view them from any device.  Teachers can follow up with phone calls or translated text messages. This lets students know someone in the building cares about their presence. SchoolStatus Connect Advanced Tier empowers teachers to easily connect via translatable broadcast newsletters and 2-way translatable text messaging.

This kind of consistent communication is fundamental to productive learning recovery.

2. Reaching Multilingual and At-Risk Families

Right now, 1 in 5 students speak a different language at home and the numbers are rising. This means translation features are non-negotiable for school communications. In order for families to support their students, they need to be able to read the materials schools send home. At-risk families struggle with lack of access to technology. So, a solution needs to be easy to access. It shouldn’t require an app or extra download. It has to have options for type of contact. And it must translate into families’ preferred language with ease. The same goes for forms. Translated universal attendance measures, like the ones offered by SchoolStatus Attend, should focus on the positive. It’s never that families don’t care. Often, they simply can’t access the information or support they need to help their students succeed.

So let’s make sure all families feel included and able to take part in what’s happening at school.

3. Providing Mental Health Services and Supports

All families are dealing with fallout from the pandemic, but particularly at-risk families. This raises the stakes for districts, who must have means to get information home to all families. This is where the right school communication tools make all the difference. What’s required? School counselors need to share materials, surveys, and resources that reach all families. Second, they need the ability to do 1:1 outreach in a Family’s preferred format and language. Accessibility, translation, and mobile-friendly features aren’t up for discussion. They are a must-have. Any extra step is one more barrier to helping the families who most need our help. A careful school communication plan is as important to good schooling as great teachers. 

So, let’s make sure to put our federal dollars where they’ll do the most good–helping students to come to school, every day.

The purpose of a classroom newsletter is to keep all home adults informed–but how do you ensure you’re reaching them?

Teachers always check for understanding with students. Bringing that same know-how to classroom newsletters ensures that every Family and caregiver can easily access the info they need to help their learners succeed.

That’s why a simple check for equity is so valuable. 

The difference between equity and equality is like the difference between an accessible building entrance and an entrance with steps only.

Without a ramp, everyone has the same door to enter. However, for some, reaching that entrance presents significant obstacles. Installing a ramp ensures that individuals with mobility challenges can access the building just as effortlessly as those without.

Check for Clarity

As you scan your update for clarity, here’s what you should look for:

1. Headers

2. Bullets & numbered lists

3. Alt text with every image

4. Subject line guideposts

By guideposts, I mean calling out key items as a head’s up. For example, “Need to Know Info for Monday’s Field Trip” vs. “4th Grade News.”

Check for Translatability

Did you know one in five K12 students speaks a different language at home?

By 2025, it will be 1 in 4. So, it stands to reason schools should be sending translatable communications. Operating from the assumption that your school newsletter is translatable, there are two other important steps you need to take:

1. Include directions for how to access the translation tool, if it’s not automatic
2. Include explanatory text along with screenshots of flyers, since those aren’t translatable

If there are segments of your class newsletter that don’t translate, only some of the information is making it home.

Check for Mobility

Is your update:

1. Posted everywhere your readers are?
2. Easy to read on mobile? 

If you’re reading this and nodding yes to #2, how do you know? Did you send yourself a test email and read it on your phone? If not, go ahead and try it – it’s pretty illuminating. If you see long blocks of text, I guarantee you will switch into skim mode. it’s not easy to read blocks of text mobile… Just look at this example:

These days, 85% of folks access email on their cell phones. The fact is, if you’re not explicitly writing for a palm-sized medium, you’re putting blockers in your readers’ way.

Check for Connectivity

This one is a little more subjective. 

Checking for connectivity means questioning how you’re creating a sense of the personal in your classroom newsletter. Ask yourself: “What in my update gives families the idea I know & care for my students?” Or: “In what ways do I bring families into my classroom?” And finally, do you offer your readers multiple options for how to connect with you?

Checking every box on your equitable communications checklist will go a long way towards boosting both family engagement and student success. Need help getting started? 

What 2-Way Communication Does

Imagine if information in a classroom was only one-way. What would that look like? Perhaps it would be a teacher who didn’t allow students to speak. The teacher lectures, writes notes on the whiteboard for students to copy, gives assignments, then administers tests. Here’s what the teacher doesn’t do: take questions, engage in discussion, or provide individualized feedback or support for future success.

Makes no sense, right? Without 2-way communication in the classroom, no meaningful learning—or engagement—is really happening.

The same goes for school–home relationships. If the communication is only one-way—from teacher to family—it’s simply an information download. No room for conversation or personalization. While school–home communication is essential for sharing information, its underlying purpose is to build relationships. Strong, engaging relationships require 2-way communication.

How SchoolStatus Connects

School–home communications are as integral to a student’s educational progress as the choice of curriculum or instructional method in the classroom. When a teacher reaches out to communicate a concern, families can engage and reply on the spot with follow-up questions—without having to download an app or learn a new language. 

SchoolStatus Connect helps schools encourage stronger engagements with families via a centralized communication hub for all channels—SMS, portal, email, and phone. 2-way conversations are automatically translated into the family’s preferred language. Plus, it’s easy to see communication history throughout each student’s time in the district. SchoolStatus Connect also offers alternatives on the portal so families can choose how, where, and in what language they want to receive messages.

Inclusive 2-way messaging helps families ask questions when they arise—before things like attendance and behavioral issues become chronic problems. Direct responses from the school build trust through transparent conversations. This also provides opportunities for positive reinforcement, inspiring families to keep up the good work by hearing how best to support their students.

Home adults must have easy access to communicating with teachers in their preferred language. Otherwise, neither side will likely understand. No one wants their message to get lost in translation. In many cases, translatable 2-way text messaging is most effective. 

From academic achievement to behavior management to attendance, strong, consistent school-home communication is integral to student success. We have the digital capability to ensure healthy 2-way conversations. Let’s use it!

Learn More About SchoolStatus Connect

Request a Demo to see how SchoolStatus can partner with your school or district to:

• Build engagement and trust with families
• Increase family involvement
• Break through digital clutter
• Strengthen school-home communication
• Bridge communication gaps with auto-translation and multi-channel messaging