At a Glance
Marlborough Public Schools in Marlborough, MA, a district of nearly 5,000 students, is served by an early childhood center, four K-5 elementary schools, one 6-8 middle school, and one high school of grades 9-12, with an additional alternative program for high school students. The district serves an increasingly diverse community following an influx of newcomer families in the past several years. More than 34 percent of district students live in households where English is not the primary language spoken.
Absence rates were a top concern
Like in many other districts, student absenteeism is a concerning issue in Marlborough, and the district wanted to launch an initiative to tap into family-school partnerships to help improve attendance. Given its diverse student and family populations, two-way communications with accurate and accessible translation were a challenge and a top priority.
Existing engagement methods were falling short
An audit of the district’s technology found that teachers needed a more effective way to engage with families. Family surveys revealed that the parents and guardians of their students were increasingly using mobile phones rather than computers as their primary mode of communication. Families found using email challenging, especially on mobile devices, where responding and engaging in two-way conversations were more difficult. Phone calls and robocalls were also less effective since many families could not answer or return the call and were uncomfortable responding to calls from unknown numbers.
A more effective district-wide solution was needed
To improve experiences for both families and staff, it was clear that Marlborough Public Schools needed a comprehensive, system-wide solution that would facilitate positive relationship-building and engagement for both families and staff.
We’ve noticed that the culture has shifted to an “I can do that” mindset. Previously, teachers felt that in order to communicate with multilingual families, they needed to start with our translations department. That takes time to set up a phone call or have email messages translated. Now, teachers don’t see barriers (translations services, time, energy, etc.) for reaching out to all of our families.
– Chris Henry, Marlborough Public School’s Director of Instructional Technology
Investing in engagement that drives outcomes
The district adopted TalkingPoints to support district family-school engagement—a solution that combines all three components of Universal Family Engagement in one research-based platform:
- Embedded Best Practices: Built-in family engagement expertise and research-based guidance build staff capacity and promote best practice engagement
- Scaled Family Engagement: A universally designed platform enables equitable access to build relationships with all families
- Data-Informed Guidance: Actionable, improvement-centered tools motivate engagement and target areas of needed support
TalkingPoints is purpose-built to foster family-school partnerships that accelerate student success: Causal study results show TalkingPoints improves academic and attendance outcomes for all students, with outsized impacts for historically underserved subgroups:
Marlborough staff love TalkingPoints and see immediate engagement improvements
Teachers and administrators love that TalkingPoints is so easy to use. Staff report that they can efficiently and effectively engage with families, and the high-quality, two-way translations enable better communication with all families. Since adoption, family engagement in the district has steadily increased, enabling conversations that would not have been possible without TalkingPoints:
- In the first two months of implementation, staff and families exchanged more than 120,000 messages in the district. By June 2024, the total number of messages exceeded 815,000!
Improved Attendance in Marlborough Public Schools
Marlborough also saw decreased absenteeism rates based on the partnerships staff were able to build with families and by enabling a wide array of district and school staff to offer families support to address root causes. For example, school nurses have been able to address absenteeism questions, concerns, and policies quickly, and teachers can engage with families when students are missing:
- Marlborough High School’s attendance rate went from 84% in the fall of the previous year to 93% in the fall of its first year of partnership with TalkingPoints—an 11% increase.
As Chris Henry notes:
“It’s the teacher-family connection that gets students to school”.
About TalkingPoints
TalkingPoints is an education technology nonprofit that drives student outcomes by unlocking the superpower of effective family-school partnerships. The TalkingPoints Universal Family Engagement platform removes barriers so all families can engage. It provides educators with embedded, research-based guidance, actionable data-informed insights, and universally designed auto-translated two-way communication in families’ preferred languages. Across districts nationwide, TalkingPoints has empowered more than five million educators and families, facilitating a billion conversations that drive student success. Named by Common Sense Education as “the best overall family communication platform for teachers and schools” from 2021-2024, TalkingPoints leads to higher test scores and lower absenteeism, as shown by rigorous, externally validated causal research. To learn more, view our TED Talk or visit talkingpts.org.
