Madison Promise Online Program's Approach to Communication

Overview

Between January 2022 and June 2023, the district featured below was one of 20 participants in The Learning Accelerator (TLA)’s Strategy Lab: Virtual & Hybrid program to address a problem of practice related to virtual and hybrid learning environments. Through their participation in Strategy Lab, this team was guided through a multi-step process to identify their unique goals and gaps before determining and designing measurable solutions to their challenge. The Strategy Lab program was based on the Real-Time Redesign (RTR) toolkit, which takes participants through a rapid, research-based, and field-tested process for making targeted improvement toward more equitable, effective, and engaging virtual/hybrid learning and included:

• Conducting a needs assessment, which included self- and team-assessments as well as empathy interviews

• Researching potential strategies to address the root cause(s) of their problem and achieve desired student outcomes

• Designing a measurable solution

• Conducting and measuring a pilot

• Planning for continuous improvements

For approximately 18 months, this district worked in Strategy Lab’s cohort model to identify and address a problem of practice specific to their virtual program – in this case, family engagement. The district team gathered data, explored potential solutions, and then designed, implemented, measured, and reflected on a pilot program created to address family engagement.

To learn more about TLA’s research on effective instruction as it relates to family engagement, please visit our Insight: Family Engagement in Virtual and Hybrid Learning.

Madison Promise Online Program

Madison Promise Online Program, a virtual school in the Madison Metropolitan School District in Wisconsin, serves 125 students in grades 4-11 and describes their instructional model as a combination of synchronous and asynchronous learning. They joined Strategy Lab to understand how to solicit and encourage family engagement for students who are not succeeding academically.

Understanding the Challenge

The team identified two challenges:

1. The need to identify ways to better communicate with and engage families; and

2. The need to set clear expectations for virtual/hybrid learning.

Evidence from their team assessment revealed that district leaders believed they are beginning to articulate clear expectations for virtual/hybrid learning as well as beginning to provide accessible communication for families. The evidence they shared indicated that 75% of the students identified as global majority, with eight different languages being spoken at home. Despite this, the school has only provided Spanish translations for families.

Data collected in the district’s workbook revealed a disconnect between teacher, student, and family expectations of virtual/hybrid learning. Some families seemed to take a hands-off approach with their children while others seemed to complete everything for their child. To address this challenge, the district offered voluntary virtual chat sessions in the evenings, though family attendance rates during these sessions were low. In addition, when students were not meeting their potential, the school would also call families directly. At the same time, when the team considered the challenge through an equity lens, they noted a need to be flexible in “allowing the [family] to connect in a way that works best for them.”

As the team worked through myriad activities associated with the Strategy Lab needs-assessment process, they identified a problem of practice: the challenge of how to establish better communication channels with families. To address this issue, the team decided to design and pilot a program that focused on opening the lines of communication with families to address the unique academic needs of each child.

Designing and Piloting a Measurable Solution

The leadership team designed a pilot consisting of weekly video conference check-ins with teachers, students, and families. This pilot built upon data collected during the needs assessment process in which teachers relayed that biweekly check-ins would help them build stronger relationships with struggling students, and it was further expanded to include families who needed technical support for tools and platforms required by the school.

The pilot consisted of one-hour synchronous sessions in which students would join via Zoom and then move into breakout rooms based on their specific needs. The Associate Superintendent of Technology directly emailed the families of students who were failing at least two courses and invited them to what they called “Ketchup Hour” (the name of the weekly check-in). During these sessions, teachers rotated through the breakout rooms to assist students and their families.

According to data collected during the pilot, teachers and families found value in the weekly check-ins. The district team also noted that students who attended “Ketchup Hour” raised their grade in at least one class. Encouragingly, several families also attended “Ketchup Hour” with their child, creating additional opportunities for two-way communication with families. School leadership shared that although many of the students most in need of academic support did not attend the check-ins, their school counselor had been able to build a relationship with their families as a result of the pilot and consequently identified the reasons that prevented these students from attending the weekly check-ins.

A second team assessment revealed that the school is now consistently calling and texting families as they found this approach from the pilot to be more effective than simply emailing. The school leadership team also shared that while their school’s population is too small to have English-language support, they use the student’s home-school resources (e.g., translators, social workers, psychologists) as necessary.

Currently, the district team is planning to use the lessons they learned from this pilot to scale the program for the upcoming year. They are preparing to build into their schedule a study hall and identify more high-touch support opportunities for struggling students. In addition, the team is looking to adjust their current practices to increase family engagement. This plan aligns with the reason why they joined Strategy Lab: to understand how to solicit and encourage family engagement for students who are not succeeding academically.