EdNavigator

EdNavigator is a nongovernmental organization founded in 2015 with the goal of empowering every family in the United States with access to affordable and high-quality education support. The organization’s Navigators, made up of school staff, policy experts, and community leaders, are all parents who use their expertise and personal experiences to assist parents through the often confusing U.S. education system, from preschool to college. There is an express focus on “leveling the playing field” to help families from disadvantaged backgrounds obtain access to every possible opportunity for their child to have a “good-quality” education.

Strategy name: Helping parents make key decisions for their child’s education
Goal: Improve learning and development
Student age: Primary
Tech level: High-tech
Lever: Providing Information, Providing Resources
Place: Home, School
Family role: Deciding
Navigators provide guidance without enforcing strict protocols or adherence to the steps recommended; parents are empowered to make informed decisions about their children’s education. Navigators assist parents with a range of challenges, including finding the right school for a child, identifying affordable summer camps, ensuring children are ready for the workforce, and advancing parents’ own education. Navigators become well-informed on the student and their family, as every registration begins with a review of the child’s academic records and an establishment of short and long-term goals, followed by ongoing and consistent support.

EdNavigator uses in-person and online communication to connect with parents via a free mobile app, allowing parents across the United States to access their services regardless of busy schedules or location. In-person staff are available through offices in Boston, Massachusetts and New Orleans, Louisiana.

Since the organization’s inception in 2015, 93 percent of EdNavigator users have reported that their Navigator is their most trusted source of information and advice about schools. In 2018, Education Week named the organization one of its “10 Big Ideas in Education”.

Strategy name: Congratulatory packets for high-achieving students and their families
Goal: Improve learning and development
Student age: Primary
Tech level: No Tech
Lever: Shifting Mindsets, Providing Information
Place: Home
Family role: Supporting
In 2018 CEO Timothy Daly and his colleagues in New Orleans, Louisiana, set out to investigate a statewide trend: declining standardized test scores for initially high-achieving students of color from low-income families. Through interactions with families across Louisiana, the EdNavigator team hypothesized that one cause of achievement slippage might be lack of recognition for high-performing students. Perhaps students, families, teachers, and school leaders were overlooking the achievements of these students and missing opportunities to encourage their continued growth and success (Daly, 2019).

To test this possibility, the EdNavigator team, in collaboration with the Louisiana Department of Education, launched the honors packet experiment. In this study, schools across four districts in Louisiana were assigned to either treatment or control groups. In schools within the treatment group, students with the highest scores on the state’s annual standardized exam (the Louisiana Educational Assessment Program, or LEAP) received a packet in the mail congratulating them on their achievement. More than 1,500 students were in the treatment group. They received a congratulatory letter signed by the state superintendent, a certificate of achievement, and a $10 gift card. Parents and teachers of high-achieving students received additional engagement: Parents received a list of strategies to sustain their child’s achievements, and teachers received a letter and were thanked for their efforts. To test this intervention, high-achieving students in control groups did not receive a packet. The overall cost of this intervention was less than $30 per packet (Daly, 2019).

Analysis of standardized test scores in the year following the experiment revealed that, while the packets did not benefit all students equally, they led to significant improvements in average achievement among Black students. The effect was particularly strong in the English language arts portion of the exam. Overall, the estimated impact of the program was equivalent to two months of additional learning for Black students (Daly, 2019). The honors packet experiment relied on the power of social recognition and students’ self-efficacy beliefs. It sought to motivate students by giving them positive reinforcement for their hard work. The EdNavigator staff believed targeted positive recognition for students could activate the motivational power of parents and teachers and encourage them to push their students further.

Daly, T. (2019, December 11). The honors packet experiment: Can celebrating high-achieving students encourage future success? EdNavigator. https://www.ednavigator.org/ideas/the-honors-packet-experiment-can-celebrating-high-achieving-students-encourage-future-success

EdNavigator. (2021). How we help. https://www.ednavigator.org/how-we-help/families-students