Key points:
Half of teachers and administrators struggle to access needed student data, and 86% note data gaps limit their ability to support academic achievement and attendance, survey finds SchoolStatus.
The majority of respondents (90%) believe that communication between school and home is important for student success, but many face problems such as inconsistent communication tools, gaps in access to data and family disengagement. To address these issues, educators are recommending translation services or tools (42%) and AI-based solutions (26%) to improve communication and reduce absenteeism.
“These findings highlight the importance of comprehensive and timely student information to help educators provide the support students need,” said Juan Duenas, M.Ed., assistant superintendent of educational services for the independent school district. by Sheldon. “With the right tools and unified systems, we can better understand the needs of each student, collaborate more closely with families, and make data-driven decisions that truly impact student success.” »
Key points of Educator Report 2024: The Essential Role of School-Home Alignment include:
Family engagement remains a priority, but challenges persist
- 77% of educators surveyed believe that school-home communication is essential to improving student outcomes.
- 43 percent say they are unsure if families are receiving school messages, and 32 percent face language barriers; Time constraints (38 percent) and incomplete student data (34 percent) were also cited as challenges.
- Only 32% use student information and knowledge for data-driven discussions with families, revealing an opportunity for schools to better leverage data to engage families.
Supportive interventions and family engagement are essential to combat chronic absenteeism
- 73 percent of educators identify attendance as crucial to academic success, but 46 percent say they struggle to convince families to prioritize student attendance.
- Only 27% say they have very effective tools to identify at-risk students, with many relying on outdated, manual, or inconsistent processes.
- 67 percent of respondents believe schools focus too much on punitive measures rather than supportive interventions to combat absenteeism.
- 82 percent believe that targeted strategies to engage families could significantly reduce chronic absenteeism, highlighting the importance of family involvement.
Data Gaps and Access Challenges Hinder Student Support
- Only 37 percent of educators surveyed believe they have all the information needed to meet students’ needs; 86% believe these gaps impact their ability to support students.
- 37 percent still use spreadsheets and manual methods to track student data, highlighting inefficiencies in current processes.
- Lack of time to analyze and apply data (38%), lack of training on how to use data (32%), and fragmentation of data across multiple systems (31%) are the top barriers to using data to improve student outcomes.
“This survey highlights the critical need for unified data systems that not only support individual classrooms, but that address broader systemic challenges in education,” said SchoolStatus Founder and CEO Russ Davis. “The fragmented and inaccessible data that many teachers struggle with is not just an isolated problem: it impacts family engagement, student attendance, and ultimately academic performance in schools. and entire districts. These findings highlight the importance of filling these data gaps to create a more connected and informed approach to student support that can lead to meaningful, long-term improvement in education.
This press release originally appeared online.
