FASTalk

FASTalk, which stands for Families and Schools Talk, is a family-school engagement tool that uses text messages to reinforce classroom learning at home. Designed to promote equity and engage historically underserved families in their child’s learning, FASTalk provides families with regular accessible information about their child’s learning in school (Family Engagement Lab, n.d.). Three times per week, teachers send parents updates and reminders about their child’s activities in the classroom, as well as fun and easy activities that parents can do with their children to facilitate continued learning at home. Messages are translated into more than 100 languages to ensure teachers can communicate with families in their home language. By bridging language gaps, FASTalk creates a clearer channel of communication between teachers and families who might otherwise face obstacles to effective engagement (O’Bryon & Sundaram, 2021).

Aligning with preset curricula and national standards such as Common Core, FASTalk helps teachers send messages with quick, engaging activities and conversation starters that facilitate learning at home. For example, when third graders are practicing comparing and contrasting characters from a book they read in class, parents might receive a FASTalk text message asking their child to compare and contrast their favorite songs or the weather. Text messages also include quick polls that ask parents to indicate whether they completed the activity and to record the difficulty of the task. This provides teachers with feedback on families’ experiences with the activities. After each learning-at-home activity is completed, families receive messages of positive reinforcement thanking parents and providing information on how and why these exercises help develop students’ learning.

This intervention supports the idea that providing parents with concrete activities and positive reinforcement can foster increased student learning. An evaluation of FASTalk found that the program had a high likelihood of effectiveness for students whose home language differed from their teacher’s language (Welch, 2018).

Family Engagement Lab. (n.d.). FASTalk. https://www.familyengagementlab.org/fastalk.html

O’Bryon, E., & Sundaram, V. (2021, June 22). Family engagement in action: Family Engagement Lab. https://www.carnegie.org/topics/topic-articles/family-community-engagement/family-engagement-action-family-engagement-lab-text-message-home-activities/

Welch, K. (2018, August). Evaluation of the FASTalk Program in. Family Engagement Lab. https://www.familyengagementlab.org/uploads/1/0/0/1/100109266/1718_fastalk_eval_findings_brief_.pdf