2. Reach Out to Parents from Diverse Backgrounds
Many teachers choose to create systematic ways to communicate with parents, such as sending home weekly emails or notes, posting information to websites or blogs, or using electronic gradebooks. However, it can often be unclear if parents are receiving messages and/or acting on the information. In addition, many of these methods rely on the parent having frequent Internet access, which may exclude parents from certain backgrounds.
Cell phones have become one of the most common ways people communicate. In 2014, 90 percent of U.S. households had a cell phone, and nearly all cell phones users frequently send and receive text messages (Pew Research Center, 2014). Additionally, “virtually all text messages are opened (by comparison, the email open rate in education is about 36 percent)” (York & Loeb, 2014). Using text messages to communicate with parents can significantly increase parent contact, while greatly reducing the amount of time a teacher spends contacting parents.
Pew Research Center. (January 2014). Mobile technology fact sheet. Available at: http://www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheets/mobile-technology-fact-sheet/.
York, B. N., & Loeb, S. (2014). One step at a time: The effects of an early literacy text messaging program for parents of preschoolers. National Bureau of Economic Research. Working Paper 20659. Retrieved from http://www.nber.org/papers/w20659. p. 32.
Cell phones have become one of the most common ways people communicate. In 2014, 90 percent of U.S. households had a cell phone, and nearly all cell phones users frequently send and receive text messages (Pew Research Center, 2014). Additionally, “virtually all text messages are opened (by comparison, the email open rate in education is about 36 percent)” (York & Loeb, 2014). Using text messages to communicate with parents can significantly increase parent contact, while greatly reducing the amount of time a teacher spends contacting parents.
Pew Research Center. (January 2014). Mobile technology fact sheet. Available at: http://www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheets/mobile-technology-fact-sheet/.
York, B. N., & Loeb, S. (2014). One step at a time: The effects of an early literacy text messaging program for parents of preschoolers. National Bureau of Economic Research. Working Paper 20659. Retrieved from http://www.nber.org/papers/w20659. p. 32.