This document summarizes insights from a survey of parents, students, and grandparents about their preferences for different communication tools. Some key findings include: - Parents prefer text messages and phone calls for crisis communications, while emails and websites are preferred for general information. Younger parents are more likely to use social media. - Text messaging became significantly more popular for all types of communications during school closures due to COVID-19. - Students most commonly access information from school websites and class portals, but communicating via text increased sharply when schools closed. - Grandparents prefer phone and text communications and are less comfortable with apps, reflecting their lower digital skills on average.

1. Dr. Julie A. Evans
CEO, Project Tomorrow
@JulieEvans_PT
Boomer, GenX, Millennial
Parents: what really
works for communications
and engagement?
Insights from the
Speak Up Research

2. Getting to know each other!
Dr. Julie Evans
CEO of Project Tomorrow
@JulieEvans_PT
jevans@tomorrow.org

3. ▪ Nonprofit education organization supporting K-12 education since 1996
▪ Mission is to ensure today’s students are well prepared for the future
▪ Programs and research focus on role of innovation and new learning models
within the education ecosystem.
About Project Tomorrow
www.tomorrow.org
Speak Up Research Project: national research to help educators,
policymakers and business leaders make better decisions about
how to support new learning experiences for students
Professional Learning, Evaluation & Efficacy Studies:
customized studies and experiences that support local decision-
making and implementations of new learning models

4. ▪ Insights from the Speak Up Research:
o Fast facts and big questions about district
communications and engagement strategies
o Findings from an exclusive analysis of parents’
preferences for communications
o New! Students’ preferences for communication tools
▪ Additional resources for you
▪ Let’s talk! Your insights, comments and questions
Boomer, GenX, Millennial Parents:
what really works for communications and engagement?
Today’s discussion topics:

5. Fast Facts from the Speak Up Research
▪ 81% of schools and districts now report using mobile-enabled, social media
tools for school-to-home communications and engagement
o 56% increase from 2015/16 to 2019/20
▪ Goals for using these tools:
✓Sending school and district information to parents
✓Sharing positive news
✓Developing brand and supporting positive reputation
✓Crisis communications
▪ Crisis communications:
o 2015/16: only 1 / 4 of districts were using a mobile app for this purpose
o 2019/20: 52% of districts now are tapping into a mobile app to send
alerts or share crisis information

6. Big questions today:
✓How can we make sure that we are using the right tools to
reach the right audiences at the right time?
✓What tools do parents want their child’s district, school and
teacher to use for communications?
✓How do those tool choices differ by message?
✓What factors influence parents’ preferences?
✓What tools work best for student communications?
✓How can we be more inclusive with our communications?

7. Speak Up survey results from
20,000 parents nationwide
Boomer, GenX, Millennial Parents:
what really works for communications and engagement?
▪ Landmark report from Project
Tomorrow and Blackboard examining
parent preferences for
communications by generation
▪ Reality check:
Parents of school-aged children
represent multiple generations who
have different views and valuations
on the use of online and digital tools
for communications

8. What generation do you identify with?
o Baby Boomer
o Gen X
o Millennial
o Gen Z
Getting to know each other
… some more!

9. What really works: Parents and communications
Defining the generations:
Baby Boomer:
birth years 1944 – 1964
Generation X:
birth years 1965 – 1980
Millennials:
birth years 1981 – 1996
Source: Pew Research
▪ M1: 1988 – 1996 (under 29 years of age)
▪ M2: 1981 – 1987 (between 30 and 39 years of age)
Generation Z:
Birth years 1997 - ?

10. Defining the generations:
Baby Boomer: birth years 1944 – 1964
Gen X: birth years 1965 – 1980
Millennials: 1981 – 1996
Gen Z: birth years 1997 - ?
What defines a generation?
✓ Philosophies of their parents about parenting
✓ Economic well-being while growing up
✓ Use of various technologies in life, work and education
What really works: Parents and communications

11. Generations of parents with school-aged children
Grade of
child(ren) in
school
Millennial Parents
Gen X
Parents
Baby Boomer
ParentsM 1
(Under
29 years
of age)
M 2
(Between 30-
39 years of
age)
Pr-K to Gr 5 89% 75% 48% 25%
Gr 6 to Gr 8 8% 18% 28% 27%
Gr 9 to Gr 12 3% 7% 29% 48%
What really works: Parents and communications

12. Mobile devices:
▪ Smartphones: 98% of parents have
smartphones with no statistically
significant differences by age, income or
community type
▪ Smartwatches:
o 18% of Baby Boomer parents
report wearing a smartwatch
o 35% of Millennial parents report
wearing a smartwatch
(2019-20 school year data)
What really works: Parents and communications

13. Social media: who uses these tools regularly within their
personal lives?
Social media
tools
Millennial Parents
Gen X
Parents
Baby Boomer
Parents
M 1
(Under
29 years
of age)
M 2
(Between
30-39 years
of age)
Facebook 53% 55% 52% 44%
YouTube 52% 34% 26% 24%
Instagram 37% 30% 23% 12%
Snapchat 33% 11% 5% 4%
Twitter 7% 7% 10% 7%
What really works: Parents and communications

14. Examine by message and tool
1. Crisis or alert
communications
2. General information
about school or district
activities
3. Teacher communications
about student
performance or needs in
class
What really works: Parents and communications

15. Top preferences of parents for ….
Crisis or alert communications
1. Auto phone messages (73%)
2. Text message to mobile phone (48%)
3. Push notification or alert sent through mobile app
(47%)
4. Mobile app (36%)
5. School or district Facebook sites (28%)
What really works: Parents' preferences

16. General information about
school or district activities
1. General email blast or updates to school or district
websites (68%)
2. Auto phone messages (62%)
3. School or district Facebook sites (62%)
4. Mobile app (53%)
5. Twitter announcements (45%)
Top preferences of parents for ….
What really works: Parents' preferences

17. Teacher communications about
student performance or needs in class
1. Personal email from teacher to parent (83%)
2. Text message to mobile phone (64%)
3. Mobile app (39%)
4. Auto phone messages (30%)
5. Push notification or alert sent through mobile app
(27%)
Top preferences of parents for ….
What really works: Parents' preferences

18. New findings from the 2019/20 school year:
Text messaging as a strategic tool for communications
and engagement
For crisis or alert communications:
2018/19 school year:
48% of parents chose text messaging
as preference
2019/20 school year:
80% of parents chose text messaging
as preference
What really works: Parents' preferences

19. New findings from the 2019/20 school year:
Text messaging as a strategic tool for communications
and engagement
Communications
Purpose
Millennial Parents
Gen X
Parents
Baby
Boomer
Parents
M 1
(Under 29
years of
age)
M 2
(Between
30-39 years
of age)
Crisis or alert
communications
77% 79% 81% 78%
General information 57% 49% 49% 48%
Teacher
communications
58% 46% 42% 42%
What really works: Parents' preferences

20. New findings from the 2019/20 school year:
Text messaging as a strategic tool for communications
and engagement
For teacher – home
communications:
Before school closures:
42% of parents chose text
messaging as preference
During school closures:
68% of parents chose text
messaging as preference
What really works: Parents' preferences

21. Reality check: 5.7 million school-aged children in homes with grandparents
as education guardians
Grandparents are less comfortable with many mobile + social
tools being adopted by schools and districts for crisis
communications
Grandparents are 3X more likely to say their tech skills are at the
beginner level than parents
▪ Text messaging to a mobile device for crisis communications?
o 48% of parents say this is effective
o Only 28% of grandparents say texting is effective
▪ Use of mobile app?
o Only 1 in 3 grandparents say this is an effective tool for
them
What really works: Understanding grandparents’ needs

22. What is most important to parents in terms of school
communications and engagement?
✓ Convenience
✓ Push, not search
✓ Personalized, not
standardized
✓ Timeliness and currency
✓ Realization that they are
busy
✓ High impact/high ROI
type results
What really works: Parents' preferences

23. ▪ Insights from the Speak Up Research:
o New! Students’ preferences for
communications tools
Boomer, GenX, Millennial Parents:
what really works for communications and engagement?
What online and digital tools are
students using now to get information
about class or school?
What are their preferred tools for
this information?
Speak Up survey results from 110,467
K-12 students during the 2019/20 school year

24. What do you think?
What do you think is the #1 digital or online tool
that students in grades 6-12 say they use
to keep updated on what is going on
at school or in their class?
Put your answer in the chat box now!

25. What really works: Students’ preferences
What digital or online tools are students using to keep updated on
what is going on at school or in their class?
Before school closures:
1. School/class websites – 59%
2. Class portals – 47%
3. Personal emails from teacher – 45%
4. Texts from classmates – 42%
5. Checking classmates’ social media – 32%
Source: 110,467 K-12 students in the 2019/20 school year

26. What digital or online tools are students using to keep updated on
what is going on at school or in their class?
Before school closures:
1. School/class websites – 59%
2. Class portals – 47%
3. Personal emails from teacher – 45%
4. Texts from classmates – 42%
5. Checking classmates’ social media – 32%
During school closures:
1. School/class websites – 65%
2. Personal emails from teacher – 58%
3. Auto phone messages – 45%
4. Class portals – 45%
5. Texts from classmates – 42%
What really works: Students’ preferences
Source: 110,467 K-12 students in the 2019/20 school year

27. What digital or online tools are students using to keep updated on
what is going on at school or in their class?
Text messages from teachers to students
– 2X increase during school closures
▪ Gr 6-8 students: from 16% to 30%
▪ Gr 9-12 students: from 18% to 37%
What really works: Students’ preferences

28. Examine by message and tool
1. Crisis or alert
communications
2. General information
about school or district
activities
3. Teacher communications
about student
performance or needs in
class
What really works: Students’ preferences

29. Examine by message and tool
1. Crisis or alert
communications
✓ Mobile app alert – 41%
✓ Auto phone message – 40%
✓ Text message – 37%
2. General information
about school or district
activities
✓ Update to websites – 59%
✓ General email blast – 58%
✓ Instagram post – 54%
✓ YouTube video – 50%
✓ Snapchat post – 46%
3. Teacher communications
about student
performance or needs in
class
✓ Personal email – 51%
✓ Text message – 47%
✓ Auto phone message – 43%
What really works: Grade 9-12 students’ preferences

30. Social Media
Tools
Students in grades 6-8 Students in grades 9-12
Use often + all
the time
Use rarely +
never
Use often + all
the time
Use rarely +
never
76% 10% 72% 10%
45% 42% 65% 19%
31% 46% 56% 30%
44% 45% 54% 47%
6% 89% 14% 75%
What really works: Students and their social media usage

31. Summary of Key Findings
✓ Think strategically about inclusive communications but realize you may need
to overcome assumptions and myths
✓ Importance of considering a range of digital or online tools
✓ One size rarely fits all with communications tools – especially online and
digital tools
✓ Differentiation by message and tool is critically important
✓ Parents are more interested than ever in “push, not pull” formats for
communications
✓ Students have always been an important audience – more so today than ever
before with school closures
✓ Don’t forget about the grandparents in your community who are serving as
as education guardians for their grandchildren

32. More resources available at
www.tomorrow.org
Collection of national Speak Up reports and infographics
Targeted and thematic reports on topics such as:
Educational Equity
Digital learning trends
School communications
Mobile learning
Blended learning outcomes
Latest presentations, podcasts and webinars
Services: consulting, workshops, evaluation and efficacy studies
✔We have expertise in the evaluation of new learning environments including mobile
implementations, online resources, blended learning and digital content usage
The Speak Up surveys will open for the 2019/20 school year in September.
All schools and districts are eligible to use the survey tools and receive full
data report at no cost. More information: www.tomorrow.org/speakup

33. More resources available at
www.tomorrow.org
Are our K-12 students
ready for online
learning at home?
Inequitable access to
technology in
majority minority
schools
Differences in
students’ perceptions
of their social –
emotional well-being
in school

34. New report series from Blackboard
and Project Tomorrow
90 Days that Changed K-12
Teaching and Learning
4 Executive Briefs:
▪ The Shift to Digital Learning
▪ Spotlight on Equity in Learning
▪ Strengthening the Role of Communications
▪ Sponsoring Student Ownership of Learning
https://tomorrow.org/speakup/2020-90-Days-That-Changed-K-12-Teaching-Learning.html

35. Your questions,
thoughts,
comments,
ideas
Let’s talk!

36. Thank you for joining
us today!
Dr. Julie A. Evans
CEO, Project Tomorrow
@JulieEvans_PT
jevans@tomorrow.org
949-609-4661