Written by Paige DeLozier
As December ends and a new year begins, it’s important to reflect on what this year held for TalkingPoints and our partners.
For TalkingPoints, 2024 was a year of understanding; understanding how far we’ve come, where we’re going, and who is coming with us on the journey ahead.
Making connections – One billion messages
Nine years as an organization brings many milestones; this year was no exception. Educators and families using TalkingPoints sent their one-billionth message this year!
Imagine the countless positive check-ins, meaningful connections, and helpful conversations behind that milestone. We’re deeply grateful to be the preferred platform for teachers and families enabling over a billion messages for student success.
Taking family engagement universal
TalkingPoints, the leading Universal Family Engagement platform, unveiled new features for 2024-2025 that reflect its research-based, mission-driven focus.
The new features encompass all three aspects of Universal Family Engagement, enabling educators and families to connect like never before.
Embedded best practices
Scaled family engagement
Data-informed guidance
Making an impact
Tulsa Public Schools research
TalkingPoints added to our suite of rigorous research through a new, quasi-experimental study in partnership with Tulsa Public Schools, further validating our impact on student outcomes.
Tulsa Public Schools is a large, diverse district in Oklahoma with 70+ schools serving over 30,000 students, most of whom are under-resourced. We partnered to analyze how our solution impacts attendance. We found that:
- TalkingPoints decreased absenteeism rates for K-7 students by an average of 24%, with ever greater improvements for Spanish-speaking
- On average, this equated to 6 additional days during the school year for these students.
In the media
This year, TalkingPoints made headlines, highlighting the importance of effective family engagement nationwide.
- Education Success Starts with Family Involvement. Why Aren’t Donors Funding it? – Philanthopy.com, January 2024
- Bridging the Education Gap: TalkingPoints’ Heejae Lim on Tech-Driven Family Engagement – Tech Matters, April 2024
- Spotlight on Growth: TalkingPoints – Overdeck Family Foundation, April 2024
- AI for social good: Improving lives and protecting the planet – Quantum Black AI by McKinsey, May 2024
- How TalkingPoints is using AI to bring education equity to every classroom – Google Org, June 2024
- Improving Student Outcomes: A Conversation with Claudine Ryan President of TalkingPoints – The Data Cloud Podcast, June 2024
- What 40 Million Messages Can Tell Us About Parent-Teacher Communication – EdSurge, June 2024
- National PTA and Johns Hopkins University Team Up to Launch Family Engagement Solutions – PR Newswire, September 2024
The power of partnership
Of course, TalkingPoints would not be what it is without the support and dedication of districts nationwide. We want to thank our long-standing partners Syracuse City School District, Buffalo Public School District, Wake County Public School System, Elmsford Union Free School District, and East Irondequoit Central School District for their continued focus on family engagement.
We were also excited to welcome a variety of new schools and districts to the TalkingPoints family this year, including the ones below, and look forward to a long and impactful partnership.
What does the new year hold for TalkingPoints? As this exciting year ends, one thing is clear: educators like you have the power to create a meaningful impact and TalkingPoints is grateful to be part of that work.
About TalkingPoints
TalkingPoints is an education technology nonprofit with the mission to drive student success by unlocking the superpower of effective family-school partnerships. The TalkingPoints award-winning Universal Family Engagement platform helps educators improve student and district outcomes through scalable, research-based best practices for family engagement. Across districts nationwide, TalkingPoints has empowered more than five million educators and families, facilitating nearly one billion conversations that drive student success.
Named by Common Sense Education as “the best overall family communication platform for teachers and schools,” TalkingPoints leads to gains in attendance rates and academic performance, as shown by rigorous, externally validated causal research. To learn more, view our TED Talk or visit talkingpts.org.
