Identification of Initiative, Pedagogical Framework, & Organizational Goals

*Note: This initiative was written as part of a project in an EdS program. Names of schools and personnel have been redacted and this paper’s purpose is solely to demonstrate my abilities at planning initiatives.*

Outline of Initiative

The problem this project is attempting to address is the need for *redacted*’s (*redacted*) teachers and staff to communicate efficiently and frequently with students and parents using approved technology. While school employees, families, and students have grown familiar with and accustomed to regular communications using the free Remind communication tool, changes in the Remind company’s policies will now limit *redacted*’s access to the tool.  Since this application has been used to send home information that supports classroom instruction and also information, such as bus changes, that support family involvement, a replacement tool is needed. Of course, any new tool or process will need to be researched, vetted, and successfully implemented, provided that one can be identified that meets the school’s needs, is affordable, and meets standards required by *redacted*’s (*redacted*) technology department.

Pedagogical Framework

Ironically, an important first step in creating a smooth transition to a new messaging platform will be educating users about changes they will see in the immediate future with regard to Remind messages.  The policy changes should be included in the grade level meeting agendas to make sure that school employees understand the upcoming changes, and the school media specialist should design an informational post to be shared via Remind and school social media accounts giving parents clear and concise information about the reduction in Remind announcements as well as their continued ability to see direct messages while new platforms are being explored.

This project requires collaborative work among school administrators, teachers, the digital media specialist, and district technology specialists. A team must research and discuss possible alternatives, perhaps try different applications on a small scale, and ultimately choose the best alternative for school integration. In a sense, part of this component of the project will involve project-based learning.

Once confident in a solution, a scaffolding approach will be applied to training. First, the School Improvement Team (SIT) members will be trained. These members represent each grade level and subject area around the school, so their understanding of how to use the application will be very helpful when training other employees.

First, the *redacted* instructional technology specialists should create videos showing employees, parents, and students how to use the new application.  Instructional videos will be used for group training and for individual support at home.

Next, the SIT members can teach their teammates, with help from administrators and the digital media specialist, during grade-level meetings using the videos. Other school personnel who do not attend grade level meetings, such as the transportation coordinator, should be trained in a separate meeting by an administrator.

After all employees are trained, on a designated “family launch” day, administrators should send home letters and the digital media specialist should post on all school social media about how to use the application, including how to access instructional videos. Meanwhile, teachers should show the videos to students during class to offer group technological support in learning how to use the new system.

Initial Goals Established by Organization

Family Engagement

*redacted*’s mission is to “partner with our communities to provide opportunities in which relationships are nurtured and learning experiences are engaging.“ (Strategic Plan, 2023)  Additionally, in a letter dated November 14, 2022, *redacted* Principal *redacted* sent a letter to all *redacted* families regarding the school’s identification as a school for “Targeted Support & Improvement – Additional Targeted Support (TSI-AT),” in which she committed to address “family and community engagement.” (*redacted*, 2022) With all of this as context, the activities within this project align with and support the mission of the district and school administration.

Instructional Support

During a faculty meeting on August 2, 2023, Principal *redacted* relayed her expectations that grade levels or teams provide newsletters to parents at least monthly. Further, it is her requirement that all lesson plans be available for parent review. Her goal is that parents would be aware of and have access to the students’ curriculum, study materials, and important due dates, such as testing dates, in order to support learning at home. 

Remind Alternative

According to qualitative data from *redacted* teachers and staff members, goals would include finding an alternative that is:

• Intuitive in its use for employees, students, and families,
• Capable of sending and receiving both group and individual texts,
• Keeps personal information, such as faculty phone numbers, private,
• Free or very low cost, and
• Approved (and can be approved) according to the standards of *redacted*’s technology department for security as well as network integration purposes.

Identify Organizational Point of Contact and/or Initiative Lead

Organizational Point of Contact

The district instructional technology specialists, *redacted* and *redacted*, will serve as main district-level contacts for this initiative. They have the knowledge and skills to incorporate a new tool, and his role in the district is to work directly with schools and teachers to teach them how to use instructional technology effectively.

Mr. *redacted* and Ms. *redacted* aware of the ways that *redacted* integrated Remind as part of its approach to connecting learning from school to home, and he is driven to help find a way to address the need for a new tool. 

I will serve as the lead coordinator for this project. However, *redacted* has an existing Communications Committee (CC) composed of ten teachers representing diverse grade levels, subjects, communication needs, and technology comfort levels. The CC will serve as my planning team.  One of the teachers on the committee, *redacted*, will serve as a secondary leader for the project. Also, a *redacted* administrator attends all committee meetings as an informal but participating member.

Pending initial approval at the school level by administration, final approval of the project would be subject to review by the district director of technology, *redacted*. If the application alternative chosen by the team is not a free application, then *redacted*, *redacted* chief finance officer, would also need to sign his approval, which might require approval from the *redacted* Board of Education.

Scope of the Initiative

This project is intended to provide *redacted* faculty, staff, students, and parents with access to a communication tool that is effective and easy to use.  My approach is scaffolded, hands-on learning with feedback from each group of stakeholders.

The Organizational Context

Organizational Context for Teaching, Learning and Technology

This project supports *redacted*’s mission to partner with our local communities because it creates a venue to quickly inform the public and send reminders regarding school-based or district-sponsored events and activities. (Strategic Plan, 2023) Further, *redacted*’s vision, “Empowering all students and staff to succeed,” carried out in part by inviting communities to opportunities for free school supplies, free sports physicals, and additional support to address obstacles some students and families may face during their strive to thrive in public school. (Strategic Plan, 2023) 

Additionally, having a tool like the Remind application, enables the community, particularly parents, to ask questions or relay information directly to teachers. Because the application is based on text messaging, two-way communication is fast and efficient.  The resulting increase in regular communication between teachers and community members, plus students once they reach the age of 13, directly support *redacted*’s principal’s goal of increasing family engagement. (*redacted*, 2022)

Teachers currently use Remind to notify parents of learning topics, remind students of due dates, and share links to grade-level documents, such as daily learning agendas, curriculum materials, or grade-level newsletters.  Parents (and teenage students) use the information to plan their learning support at home.  By including parents in the information, parents can take a more consistent and active role in student learning.

*redacted* does not have a technology plan.  Mr. *redacted* is working with a colleague as well as the deputy technology chief, *redacted*, to write one, but no draft is currently available.

Outline of Organization Support

The district technology specialists will play a large role in support for this initiative.  They will provide technical assistance as well as professional development for teachers as the new application is scaffolded into use.

Depending on the financial implications of the team’s selection, financial support might come from the school level (such as using funds from the Parent-Teacher Organization) or funding may need to be requested from the district (Mr. *redacted*) for approval.

The CC will also be charged with providing group and one-on-one assistance as needed as new users need help with the installation or implementation of the new application. Their enthusiasm for the new technology will also impact school culture and teacher responsiveness to the tool.

Review of Literature

AI Integration

Research articles supplied by ChatGPT were fabricated, including the accompanying authors (see Appendix A for the inaccurate results). In contrast, Perplexity AI provided me with a list of more useful articles. However, some of them contained errors while others were incomplete citations, which were ultimately unhelpful  (see Appendix B for the search results).

Instead, I found Perplexity AI useful in helping me to identify seminal researchers in the field of school and family communications.  When asked, “who are the seminal researchers in the field of school communication?,” Perplexity AI suggested the following:

• Karen L. Mapp – Mapp is a senior lecturer on education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She is a leading expert on family and community engagement in education and has authored several books and articles on the topic.
• Joyce L. Epstein – Epstein is the director of the Center on School, Family, and Community Partnerships and a research professor of sociology at Johns Hopkins University. She is known for her work on the six types of involvement that parents can have in their children’s education.
• William Jeynes – Jeynes is a professor of education at California State University, Long Beach. He has conducted extensive research on the effects of parental involvement on student achievement and has authored several books and articles on the topic.
• Anne T. Henderson – Henderson is a senior consultant with the Community Involvement Program at the Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University. She is known for her work on family and community engagement in education and has authored several books and articles on the topic.
• James P. Comer – Comer is a professor of child psychiatry at the Yale University School of Medicine. He is known for his work on the Comer School Development Program, which focuses on improving the social, emotional, and academic development of children in schools.
• Ira Harkavy – Harkavy is a professor of education and the founding director of the Netter Center for Community Partnerships at the University of Pennsylvania. He is known for his work on university-community partnerships and has authored several books and articles on the topic.

I should note that this list of researchers was useful as a starting point. However, the bulk of their work seemed outdated.  I conducted multiple searches using various databases to find current research, even by these recommended authors.

Literature Review

The resources important to my project include:

• Mapp, K., Lander, J., & Carver, I. (2017). Powerful partnerships : a teacher’s guide to engaging families for student success. Scholastic.
  • Summary: This book provides administrators and teachers with ideas for improving parent and school communication throughout the school year.
• Epstein, J. L. (2018). School, family, and community partnerships in teachers’ professional work. Journal of Education for Teaching, 44(3), 397–406. https://doi-org.proxy006.nclive.org/10.1080/02607476.2018.1465669
  • Summary: This article relays results from an international study about the future of effective communication between teachers and families.
• Jeynes, W. H. (2023). A Meta-Analysis: The Association Between Relational Parental Involvement and Student and Parent Outcome Variables. EDUCATION AND URBAN SOCIETY. https://doi-org.proxy006.nclive.org/10.1177/00131245231179674
  • Summary: This research suggests that the positive impacts of parent involvement stretches across population groups.
• Baquedano-López, P., Alexander, R. A., & Hernandez, S. J. (2013). Equity Issues in Parental and Community Involvement in Schools: What Teacher Educators Need to Know. Review of Research in Education, 37, 149–182.
  • Summary: Parent communication from parents can help increase parent perception of their involvement in their child’s learning.

The literature shows an indication that improved parental involvement, via increased communication between schools and families, improves student outcomes across a variety of subgroups. Improved communication creates teamwork and collaboration between home and school in helping a student learn.

Other Organizations

I also used Perplexity AI to help me identify a list of communication tools used by other districts.  Based upon the request asking “what is the best tool for teacher communication,” Perplexity AI generated the list:

• Remind – This tool enables two-way communication between teachers and students and allows teachers to track student progress.
• ClassDojo – This tool is designed for parent-teacher communication and offers the ability to send messages to parents in their preferred language.
• Klassly – This tool provides instant messaging and announcements to encourage active engagement between students, teachers, and parents.
• TalkingPoints – This tool allows teachers to send messages to individuals or the whole class, send all types of media and polls, set office hours, schedule messages, and create templates.
• Google Classroom – This tool is designed for teachers to create and manage classes, assignments, and grades, and communicate with students.
• Zoom – This tool is a video conferencing platform that can be used for virtual parent-teacher conferences or meetings with other teachers.
• Edmodo – This tool is a social learning platform that allows teachers to create and manage classes, assignments, and grades, and communicate with students.
• Seesaw – This tool is a digital portfolio platform that allows teachers to share student work with parents and communicate with them.
• ClassTag – This tool provides instant messaging and announcements to encourage active engagement between students, teachers, and parents.
• Bloomz – This tool is designed for parent-teacher communication and offers the ability to send messages, share photos, and schedule conferences.
• Socrative – This tool is a student response system that allows teachers to create quizzes and polls and receive instant feedback from students.
• Genially – This tool allows teachers to create interactive presentations and infographics to engage students and communicate information.

Similarly, I requested “what are the best free tools for teachers to communicate with parents,” and it supplied the following resources:

• Klassly – This tool provides instant messaging and announcements to encourage active engagement between students, teachers, and parents.
• Classting – This tool is designed for parent-teacher communication and offers the ability to send messages, share photos, and schedule conferences.
• LivingTree Engage – This tool provides a private social network for teachers, parents, and students to communicate and share information.
• ParentSquare – This tool is designed for parent-teacher communication and offers the ability to send messages, share photos, and schedule conferences.
• Remind – This tool enables two-way communication between teachers and students and allows teachers to track student progress.
• TalkingPoints – This tool allows teachers to send messages to individuals or the whole class, send all types of media and polls, set office hours, schedule messages, and create templates.
• ClassDojo – This tool is designed for parent-teacher communication and offers the ability to send messages, share photos, and track student behavior.
• Bloomz – This tool is designed for parent-teacher communication and offers the ability to send messages, share photos, and schedule conferences.
• ClassTag – This tool provides instant messaging and announcements to encourage active engagement between students, teachers, and parents.
• Seesaw – This tool is a digital portfolio platform that allows teachers to share student work with parents and communicate with them.
• FreshGrade Classic – This tool is a digital portfolio platform that allows teachers to share student work with parents and communicate with them.
• Edublog – This tool is a blog platform that’s free to use for individual teachers. It supports photo, audio, and video content, and it has security settings to manage privacy.
• Koalendar – This tool is an appointment scheduling tool that allows teachers to schedule regular parent-teacher conferences and be open for meetings and consultations so that parents and guardians know they are committed to building a communicative relationship.

While I can vet some of these resources independently, the best pedagogical approach to selecting an appropriate tool is to approach the selection as a collaborative group with the CC first and other stakeholders as we proceed through the process.  Some of these tools have been used in our school prior, are used currently but not in the way that the Remind application has been used, or have been used by members of the CC, independently or with prior institutions.  Having prior knowledge of the capabilities and limitations of several of the suggested alternatives to Remind will help make the process more efficient, so our collaborative experience will help expedite the selection process.

Potential Impact on Teaching and Learning

With research indicating that over half of teens in the United States have a personal cell phone, one can presume that parents own cell phones at a much higher rate. (Kamenetz, 2019)  As a result, enabling text communication between parents and teachers (as well as students and teachers) creates a connectivity that has been unavailable in past generations.

As a result, parents can be invited as partners into the learning experiences of their children in a timely manner, and they can communicate back and forth quickly with educators to address any needs or concerns to help support student learning.  According to Jeynes (2023), regular communication has a positive impact on student learning which is seen across a variety of subgroups.  One can conclude that improved and increased communication will foster efficacy and equality in the educational environment, leading to positive student learning outcomes.

Needs Assessment

In a survey of *redacted* Technology Specialist, Ms. *redacted*, on September 14, 2023, it became clear that she, and her colleague, Mr. *redacted*, understand the need for teachers at *redacted* to replace the Remind application with another system that allows text communication between teachers and families while maintaining appropriate security and being mindful of budget constraints.  According to Ms. *redacted*, there have been rumors that the district is considering buying district-wide Remind, but neither of her superiors (the district technology officers) have acknowledged any such thoughts.

Ms. *redacted* told me that she works directly with teachers in training for instructional technology, so she recognizes that text-enabled technology used for timeliness and ease of communication with families is an important part of supporting the local goals of increasing parent engagement and improving student achievement. She was unaware of any good alternatives off-hand but indicated her willingness to work on this project to find a solution.

Further, Ms. *redacted* relayed that the district does not have a technology plan at the moment. She said that Mr. *redacted* began a draft of a technology plan with her last school year, but it is just at the brainstorming level of writing at this time and has not been discussed with the chief or deputy chief of technology.  Creating a technology plan is a need she identified, but she also admitted that such a project is not a priority in the department at the moment.

In discussing the initiative with Ms. *redacted*, the following needs must be addressed for project success:

• Find an application that is text-enabled, affordable, and secure
  • Gain approval from the chief technology officer
  • Gain approval from the chief finance officer (or other funds authority, pending funding requirement/need)
  • Update technology infrastructure as necessary
• Create a collection of training materials for different stakeholders, including
  • Administration
  • Teachers/Staff
  • Families
• Schedule and provide on-campus training settings
  • Provided by district technology specialists as well as CC members
  • Prepare for increased user support needed, especially at the beginning of the integration
  • Make support contact information readily available to all stakeholder groups

Logic Model

Initial Planning of Logic Model

Need and Objective	Activities	Resources	Outputs	Goals	Impact	Risk Management
Need School needs a way to effectively and efficiently communicate with parents now that Remind is no longer a free option. Objective Replace the Remind application with an alternative communication app that meets criteria established by stakeholders and district technology leaders.	Create social media posts to communicate upcoming Remind changes to families. Create a collaborative team of stakeholders to research and try alternative applications. Regular meetings to progress in product selection quickly. Create a collaborative list of criteria (needs and wants) along with an accompanying data/feedback collection form to help select the application. Conduct experiments with various applications to determine suitability. Obtain price quotes from suitable applications as necessary. Select an alternative application as a team with approval from administration and district media specialists. Secure funding as necessary. Provide scaffolded training to CC team members, grade-level teams, staff, parents, and students. Create training documents and videos to ease the integration of the new application for all stakeholders. Share training resources by sending documents home and by posting on school social media.	Data Feedback collection form Technology Chromebooks Smartphones Access to applications (unblocked by filters as appropriate) Internet access Human Capital SCS technology specialists Administrators Faculty/Staff Students Finance Director (potentially) Financial Dependent on the selected application for whether funds are needed and, if so, the amount Parent-Teacher Organization (PTO) funding (potentially) School discretionary funding (potentially) District-level funding (potentially) Consider grant funding	Data collection Meeting notes Social media posts Alternative communication tool Training materials	Short-term Keeping parents, teachers, administrators, media specialists, and other stakeholders informed of changes Selection of alternative communication application by the team Approval of selection by administrators and chief technology officers Secured funding as needed Long-term Regular communication with parents with a text-enabled communication tool Easy integration of new tool for all stakeholders Matching or increased stakeholder usage of new tool versus current participation with the Remind application Timely and efficient two-way communication between school and families	Increased family engagement in student learning Improved student achievement based on increased family engagement	Include technology specialists in all steps of the process to avoid wasting time on applications that cannot be approved based on district data security or other technology standards. Set collaborative expectations for testing applications (timelines, amount of usage, etc.) to ensure similar and useful data comparisons when choosing an application. Choose team members with a variety of technology skill levels to see potential challenges in training all stakeholders and include any areas of struggle in training materials. Ensure the initial set of criteria is adequate and that the data collection form is explained well to ensure consistency. Revise criteria as needed during the process. Consider grants if funding cannot be secured from the school, PTO, or district.

Logic Model

Infrastructure Support

A robust and comprehensive infrastructure is needed to support the technology of this project. This infrastructure includes *redacted* Chromebook capabilities and limitations as well as district internet access since staff and faculty will be using the communication application primarily on school-based equipment.

The school will need high-density wireless networks, appropriate bandwidth, and overall network infrastructure permissions or even upgrades to support the use of communication tools. Schools also need IT support to configure the application and to train stakeholders in its usage.

Schools need consistent and adequate funding to support technology infrastructure, digital resources, and staff development, which can be a challenge. Historically monies to support school technology initiatives have been fulfilled by the PTO, school discretionary funds, or district budgeting. However, these resources are limited, so grant funding will need to be considered.

Implementation Timeline

Communication Plan

Creating a communication plan for stakeholders when implementing a new communication application is crucial for a smooth transition and ensuring that everyone is well-informed and engaged. 

Phone calls will be necessary to ensure compliance with district technology specialist requirements and restrictions. Email will be used to relay meeting dates and times.  Team meetings will be the main form of communication, including all stakeholders. The applications that are tried will also be used for communication, though those communications will be valuable in the usage of the tool, not as part of relaying important project information.

Parents and families, students, administrators, teachers, staff, and school and district media specialists will be actively involved in the in-person team collaboration.  Online surveys will be used to collect and analyze team member input as well.

Of course, the larger community of these stakeholders who are not involved in the team will receive communications using school social media and eventually using the newly selected technology. Social media posts, printed materials, and instructional videos will be important venues for training.  Phone and email support will continue to be available for ongoing technology support from district technology specialists, and social media posts from the school digital media specialist will continue to remind stakeholders to install and use the new app.

Budget Development

Realistically, a free alternative application would be the most sustainable solution.  Otherwise, the main budgetary need would be based on the cost associated with the use of a particular application. Input from the *redacted* PTO suggests a willingness to pay for an application, but, as with any technology program, recurring or annual fees can become difficult over time, preventing the PTO from having available funds for new projects.

The bottom line is that all stakeholders prefer a fee alternative to Remind. If not, a one-time fee for lifetime usage of a program would be preferred to annual billing.

If the team reaches an agreement, the PTO is likely to donate the money given that the recommendation would be coming from a team representative of both teachers and parents.  However, the PTO would be limited in funding, so the team will need to consider that, if the program costs more than the PTO’s financial ability (likely a maximum of $2,000), school discretionary funds might be needed to make up the difference.  School discretionary funds are also limited.

A third level of possible funding would include district funding possibilities.  The chief finance officer would need to be contacted to discuss funding opportunities at the district level.

Finally, specific fundraising or grant funding could be used to cover the cost of the application.  However, it is important to continue to consider the sustainability of the project.  Using an application consistently for communications is important, so the team should avoid a choice that might be short-lived due to budget constraints.

The importance of weighing free, low-cost, or one-time fee applications against other applications, even if perhaps having fewer features, must be understood by all team members.  The list of criteria for selecting an application must include budgetary constraints as a significant component in the selection process.

Vendor Selection

The team will create a list of possible applications and their associated vendors.  Some suggestions include Discord, Classting, Bloomz, ClassDojo, ClassTag, Seesaw, FreshGrade, ParentSquare, Discord, and AppleTree.  The team will research costs for each alternative application, with the district and school media specialist team members focusing on determining the applications’ security and infrastructure compatibility. 

The team will then participate in cycles of test runs for the different possibilities of applications, using formal and informal feedback and quantitative and qualitative data, to ultimately choose the best application.  Once narrowed down to three to five applications, the project manager will request formal quotes from potential vendors, as necessary. Costs will be considered in determining a final recommendation. The final application selection will determine the vendor.

If a cost is associated with the final selection, the project manager will submit the final invoice to the school administrators for approval.  If school discretionary funds or PTO funds are unable to cover the costs, the quote will be sent to the district finance officer for approval of the vendor and recommendations for funding options.

Professional Development

Initially the social media specialist must create posts to explain the ways and the reasons that parent and teacher communication will be impacted on the current application, Remind.  The school’s social media includes a daily video that is shared with students daily during homeroom, so these posts should reach students, parents, the community, and faculty and staff.

The district media specialists will create videos and graphics, both for print and social media, explaining how to install and use the tool.  One set of resources will be focused on teacher and staff usage while another set will be focused on installation and usage by students, parents, and the community.  These specialists are well-versed in creating these types of materials, given the current district collection of instructional materials, created by these technology specialists for topics relevant to their department.

Next, during a CC Team meeting, the materials developed by the tech specialists will be used to make sure that each CC Team school faculty member is adequately prepared to provide the next level of training.  Then, CC Team faculty members will train their corresponding teacher groups, using the same training materials.  Administrators will train staff outside of the traditional classroom teachers.  All staff and faculty training will occur during the school day via regularly scheduled weekly grade-level meetings.

Then school and district media specialists will provide training materials for parents, students, and the community.  Instructional videos for students can be shared via the daily news show.  Resources for parents can be shared via all school social media platforms using graphics created by the media specialists.  Teachers, trained prior, will use the new application regularly to encourage families and students to use the new application.

School and district media specialists will continue to offer technical support for all stakeholders, both by having the training materials available on the school website and by offering one-on-one phone support.  The existing help ticket system will work sufficiently to accomplish this goal.

Further, the school media specialist should continue to post at least bi-weekly on social media with various posts encouraging parent usage of the application, with a more concerted effort as the new school year begins.

Assessment Plan

To determine whether this initiative is a success, first, the CC Team should analyze school app data usage of Remind, before its change, versus the school usage of the new application.  Ultimately, success would be if the same percentage or higher of the major stakeholder subgroups (teachers, parents, and students) used the new application as those same groups had used the Remind application.

Qualitatively, the team should collect informal feedback from teachers and staff members during grade-level meetings.  Before these meetings, teachers should collect informal qualitative feedback about the application from their homeroom students so that student viewpoints can be shared as well during this grade-level discussion.

The principal should collect feedback from parents by asking for feedback during a PTO meeting.  The administrator should then present any feedback to the CC Team for consideration.

Success, from a quantitative perspective, would be comparing feedback to the goals.  For example, considering any criticisms:

• Is the application to support instruction?
• Does the application meet the need for two-way text, fast, efficient, communication among parents, teachers, and students? 
• Is its data secure, with the appropriate infrastructure to work properly?  
• Is it sustainable?

External Funding Opportunities

An ideal outcome would not require external funding. However, if the chosen alternative is cost-based, the first potential solution would be internal school discretionary funds.  While very limited, these funds are recurring annually, allowing for continued funding if needed.

A second source of funding would be budgeting by the *redacted* PTO.  This organization currently funds other technology initiatives within the school, and, quite frankly, would be an appropriate source of money for a project that improves connections between parents and teachers, in addition to other stakeholders.  If the budgetary requirement for the project is reasonable in light of PTO’s funds balance, this source is the most likely candidate for providing the financial support needed for this project.  Further, the PTO, upon recommendation by its members, could provide recurring funding from year to year to keep the application active in the school.

Less attractive avenues for funding would include requesting money from the district finance department or seeking community-involvement grants. Of course, district funding is often focused on projects across the county rather than programs for a single school, and grants are generally non-recurring, making both of these options less appealing as sources for monetary support.

The only anticipated cost for the project, outside of printing student and parent instructional materials in-house, which is essentially negligible, is the potential cost of the application. Most applications, like Remind, require a yearly subscription fee, generally based on the number of students in a school or district.

References

Baquedano-López, P., Alexander, R. A., & Hernandez, S. J. (2013). Equity Issues in Parental and Community Involvement in Schools: What Teacher Educators Need to Know. Review of Research in Education, 37, 149–182.

Epstein, J. L. (2018). School, family, and community partnerships in teachers’ professional work. Journal of Education for Teaching, 44(3), 397–406. https://doi-org.proxy006.nclive.org/10.1080/02607476.2018.1465669

Hill, N. E., & Tyson, D. F. (2009). Parental involvement in middle school: A meta-analytic assessment of the strategies that promote achievement. Developmental Psychology, 45(3), 740–763. https://doi-org.proxy006.nclive.org/10.1037/a0015362 

*redacted*. (November 14, 2022). [Letter to *redacted* parents regarding targeted school support and improvement, 2022] Retrieved from *redacted*

Jeynes, W. H. (2023). A Meta-Analysis: The Association Between Relational Parental Involvement and Student and Parent Outcome Variables. EDUCATION AND URBAN SOCIETY. https://doi-org.proxy006.nclive.org/10.1177/00131245231179674

Kamenetz, A. (2019, October 31). It’s A Smartphone Life: More Than Half Of U.S. Children Now Have One. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2019/10/31/774838891/its-a-smartphone-life-more-than-half-of-u-s-children-now-have-one

Mapp, K., Lander, J., & Carver, I. (2017). Powerful partnerships : a teacher’s guide to engaging families for student success. Scholastic.

OpenAI. (2023). ChatGPT (Sept 27 version) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com/chat    

OpenAI. (2023). Perplexity AI (Sept 27 version) [Large language model]. https://www.perplexity.ai/ 

Strategic Plan. (2023). *redacted*

Timberly L. et al. (2016). Identifying Barriers: Creating Solutions to Improve Family Engagement. School Community Journal, 26(2).

Kelty, N. E., & Wakabayashi, T. (2020). Family Engagement in Schools: Parent, Educator, and Community Perspectives. SAGE Open, 10(4). https://doi-org.proxy006.nclive.org/10.1177/2158244020973024 

Appendix A

ChatGPT Research

When searched for “can you create a list of research articles about school communication tools for families with APA citations with summaries,” the following were the ChatGPT results:

Doe, J., & Smith, J. (2020). Parent-Teacher Communication in the Digital Age: Exploring the Use of Communication Apps in K-12 Schools. Journal of Educational Technology, 45(3), 321-337.

Summary: This study investigates the efficacy of communication apps in K-12 schools for enhancing parent-teacher communication and engagement. The research explores the impact of digital communication tools on the quality of interactions between parents and educators.

Johnson, S., & Williams, M. (2019). The Impact of School-Parent Communication Apps on Parent Involvement and Student Achievement. Educational Psychology, 40(2), 145-162.

Summary: This research examines the influence of school-parent communication apps on parent involvement and its potential connection to student academic performance. It explores whether these apps facilitate increased parent engagement in their children’s education.

Davis, E., & Brown, M. (2018). Utilizing Mobile Apps for Parent-School Communication: A Case Study of Best Practices. Journal of School-Community Relations, 37(4), 521-536.

Summary: Through a case study approach, this article identifies and discusses best practices for implementing mobile apps in parent-school communication. It delves into strategies and outcomes that lead to successful communication and collaboration between schools and families.

Lee, J., & Smith, D. (2017). Parental Engagement Through Technology: A Study of the Efficacy of School Communication Apps. Educational Technology Research and Development, 65(2), 421-438.

Summary: This study assesses the effectiveness of school communication apps in promoting parental engagement. It examines how the use of technology affects parents’ involvement in school activities and communication with teachers.

Rodriguez, M., & Harris, C. (2016). The Use of Social Media for Parent-School Communication: Exploring the Implications for Family Engagement. Educational Policy, 31(2), 243-267.

Summary: Investigating the use of social media platforms as communication tools between schools and families, this research explores the implications for family engagement. It examines the benefits and challenges of social media in this context.

Appendix B

Perplexity AI Results

When prompted with “can you create a list of research articles about school communication tools for families with APA citations with summaries + links”, resources supplied by Perplexity AI included:

Timberly L. et al. (2016). Identifying Barriers: Creating Solutions to Improve Family Engagement. School Community Journal, 26(2). 

Summary: This article discusses the barriers and limitations to parent involvement in schools and the importance of educators becoming aware of diverse family dynamics. The study engaged 50 parents and 76 staff across six schools in facilitated discussions about their school. 

Kelty, N. E., & Wakabayashi, T. (2020). Family Engagement in Schools: Parent, Educator, and Community Perspectives. Sage Journals. 

Summary: This article discusses the importance of family engagement in children’s lives and how it predicts their success in school and in life. The article presents perspectives from parents, educators, and the community.

American Psychological Association. (n.d.). Parent Engagement in Schools. 

Summary: This article provides research, tools, guidelines, and an action team approach about parental involvement, family engagement, and community partnerships that can be used to promote positive education and health behaviors among children and adolescents.

Note: I could not validate this resource.

Fan, X., & Chen, M. (2001). Parental Involvement in Middle School: A Meta-Analytic Assessment of the Strategies That Promote Achievement. American Psychological Association. 

Summary: This article conducted a meta-analysis on the existing research on parental involvement in middle school to determine whether and which types of parental involvement strategies promote achievement.

Hill, N. E., & Tyson, D. F. (2009). Parent Involvement and Children’s Academic and Social Development in Elementary School. PMC – NCBI. 

Summary: This article discusses the importance of parent involvement in children’s academic and social development in elementary school. The article presents programs that encourage parent involvement by inviting parents to participate in activities at school and facilitating parent-teacher communication.