2024 Educator Report: Fixing School-Family Communication

Family Engagement Means
More Than Good Communication

There’s no such thing as student success in isolation.

School communities thrive when educators, families, and administrators work in alignment. Yet, according to SchoolStatus’ 2024 Educator Report, that alignment is missing in key areas, and it’s costing students time, engagement, and outcomes.

In surveying over 1,000 educators and administrators nationwide, the report exposes a troubling disconnect between what schools intend to communicate and what families actually receive. For district and school leaders, it serves as a wake-up call and a roadmap.

Download the full 2024 Educator Report

The Cost of Misalignment: Why This Matters Now

In an era of record-high chronic absenteeism and growing concern over student well-being, strong school-home alignment is an essential condition for student success.

Here’s what the data reveals:

• Only 25% of educators find it “very easy” to connect with families, despite 77% rating communication as “very important” or “critical” for student outcomes
• 42% of families say they don’t receive enough information about their child’s progress
• While most educators still rely on emails and phone calls, the data shows families prefer text messaging—an often underutilized but highly effective tool for reducing chronic absenteeism and improving family engagement. Yet only 21.8% of educators use text messages regularly.
  

These misalignments have ripple effects:

• Missed communications lead to missed opportunities for intervention
  
• Families feel uninformed or disconnected, eroding trust and collaboration
  
• Educators spend time and energy reaching out, but often have limited visibility into what’s working
  

The result? Students who could be supported earlier fall through the cracks.

Understanding the Disconnect

It’s not for lack of effort. Educators want to connect. Families want to engage. But the methods, systems, and assumptions often don’t line up:

• Frequency: Nearly half of families (45.2%) feel school communications aren’t frequent enough. Yet, only 23.5% of educators report reaching out to students’ families daily or weekly.
  
• Content: Families want meaningful, actionable updates, not just attendance warnings or general notices.
  
• Format: With over 130 languages spoken in U.S. schools, one-size-fits-all outreach fails to reach or resonate with many families.
  

If a district only activates school-home communication during crises or compliance deadlines, it becomes reactive and transactional in nature. To build proper alignment, communication must be proactive, personalized, and ongoing.

Download the full 2024 Educator Report

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What School and District Leaders Can Do

The 2024 Educator Report doesn’t just diagnose the problem. It offers data-backed recommendations to address it. Here’s how school and district leaders can take meaningful action:

1. Invest in Multi-Modal, Multi-Language Communication Tools

Modern tools like SchoolStatus Connect enable districts to centralize messaging, auto-translate into over 130 languages, and send texts, calls, and emails from a single solution. These features ensure messages are received, understood, and acted on, especially by historically underserved families.

2. Make Communication Part of Your Data Strategy

Communication isn’t separate from data—it is data. When educators can see messages logged alongside attendance, academic progress, and interventions, they have a complete picture of each student’s support ecosystem. That’s what makes solutions like SchoolStatus different: they move schools “from data to action.”

3. Support Educators with the Right Tools and Training

Educators are under pressure. The right tools reduce friction. The right training makes usage consistent and strategic. When teachers can easily see which families they haven’t reached and get suggested follow-ups, family engagement becomes part of the daily rhythm, not a separate task.

“It’s no longer about remembering to check in — the system prompts it. With simple, clear insights, teachers can act quickly without second-guessing. That kind of support turns good intentions into daily habits,” points out Founder of Edumentors, Tornike Asatiani.

4. Measure What Matters

Districts using integrated family engagement tools to track delivery, open, and response rates gain powerful insights to refine outreach strategies and boost student attendance. Use this data to refine your strategy, personalize outreach, and identify families who require additional touchpoints.

5. Elevate the “Why” in Your Community

From attendance campaigns to back-to-school nights, make the message clear: use effective communication to build a culture of partnership that supports students emotionally, academically, and socially.

Download the full 2024 Educator Report

Districts Already Doing This Well

In California, where SchoolStatus partners with over 50% of school districts, chronic absenteeism has dropped 21% in three years. And in Texas, districts using SchoolStatus saw double-digit gains in attendance and engagement rates from 2023 to 2025.

The difference? Not just tools, but a shift in mindset: from communication as a requirement to communication as a lever for change.

Looking Ahead: Rebuilding Trust, One Message at a Time

Families aren’t just recipients of information. They are critical partners in student success. When educators and caregivers work from the same playbook, everyone wins:

• Students show up more consistently
  
• Families feel empowered and connected
  
• Educators can focus on teaching, not chasing down contacts
  

The future of education will take more than smarter systems. By rebuilding relationships with the people who know students best, school and district leaders will pave the way to success.

Let’s start by aligning the messages we send with the outcomes we want to achieve.
Access the full 2024 Educator Report to discover the communication gaps holding students back—and how your district can lead the change.