Family Engagement Lab
Project Title
For general support
Date
Jun. 08, 2023
Duration
12 months
Description
Family Engagement Lab (FEL), a nonprofit organization created in 2016, provides parents with information to support learning at home. Their home-to-school connection tool, FASTalk, is a cost-effective tool for teachers that sends curriculum-aligned learning activities to families by text message in their home language. Through this renewal grant, FEL will invest in market research, sales, and partnerships. They will grow FASTalk’s reach in underserved communities, complete the design of new FASTalk functionality, cultivate new funder relationships and implement product improvements that reduce FASTalk-related costs. Finally, they will assess the viability of distributing FASTalk via a curriculum partner.
Project Title
For general support
Date
Mar. 10, 2022
Duration
15 months
Description
Authentic partnership between schools and families is critical for a child’s successful learning journey. Yet families, especially those in low-income communities, face barriers to collaborating with their child’s teacher, such as language, lack of internet, time constraints, and limiting mindsets. Family Engagement Lab (FEL), a nonprofit organization created in 2016, is on a mission to provide parents with information and guidance to support learning at home, especially for families from underserved communities. Their home-to-school connection toolFASTalk, is a cost-effective tool for teachers that sends curriculum-aligned learning activities to families by text message in their home language. With Corporation support, FEL will continue to identify and address the evolving needs of their audience during the pandemic and conduct studies ofFASTalk’simpact on student outcomes as they expand. During the grant period, they aim to design and launch a rigorous study ofFASTalk’simpact on student learning to identify and make strategic investments inFASTalk’sproduct and operations to support scaling, including reducing the cost per student and increasing the portion of expenses covered by earned revenue and other local funding.
Project Title
For general support
Date
Mar. 04, 2021
Duration
12 months
Description
As many school systems and policymakers rethink the way schools will operate moving forward, the time is right to ensure that families play an integrated role in supporting student learning outcomes now and continuing into the post-COVID era. Family Engagement Lab, a nonprofit organization created in 2016, is on a mission to provide parents with information and guidance to support learning at home, especially for families from underserved communities. Their home-to-school connection tool FASTalk, is a cost-effective tool for teachers that sends curriculum-aligned learning activities to families by text message in their home language. This first board level grant to Family Engagement Lab will provide general operating support to identify and address the evolving needs of district partners during the pandemic, and conduct studies of FASTalk’s impact on student outcomes. They will also identify and make strategic investments in FASTalk’s product and operations to support scaling and build parents’ capacities to support students’ mathematical skills in partnership with Illustrative Math, a highly rated and standards-aligned K-5 and 6-8 curriculum, in Los Angeles Unified School District and Oakland Unified School District.
Project Title
For general support
Date
Mar. 05, 2020
Duration
12 months
Description
Research shows that parents who are engaged in supporting learning activities at home help to improve student test scores regardless of their education levels or socioeconomic status. But for many low-income and immigrant parents, knowing how or where to begin supporting their children with learning at home can be difficult. Founded in 2016, Family Engagement Lab seeks to cultivate the home-to-school connection through technology, creating communication channels between teachers and parents with a focus on families who do not share a common language with their children’s teacher. Through FASTalk, their text messaging program which launched in fourteen high-need schools in the Bay Area, parents receive simple at-home learning activities in their preferred language, while teachers receive tools on messaging with diverse families. With continued support from the Corporation, Family Engagement Lab will deepen their impact for high-need students and families, invest in improved external communication about FASTalk’s impact, and further their plan of lowering cost per student.
Project Title
As an emergency response to the COVID-19 pandemic for general support
Date
Sep. 10, 2020
Duration
7 months
Description
Districts have come to rely more on families to support learning, as COVID-19 school closures forced districts to shift from their regular planning to the immediate challenge of shifting to distance learning. The need for quick and easy tools to support learning at home and ease the communication between home and school has significantly increased. Corporation grantee, Family Engagement Lab, has provided animmediate response to this demand through their FASTalk app, a scalable, cost-effective tool for teachers that sends curriculum-aligned learning activities to families by text message in their home language. Since the start of the pandemic they have experienced a two-fold increase in usership. With continued support from the Corporation Family Engagement Lab will continue to provide FASTalk free of cost to families and educators and launch their FASTalk Summer content, which will help mitigate further learning loss over the Summer.