Built on a decade of research and practice

Family Engagement Lab has spent the past decade designing, studying, and implementing instructional family engagement. Through FASTalk, we help schools connect classroom learning with simple, practical family support at home.

​This partnership brings that work to K–3 teams through curriculum-aligned messages, planning routines, and light-touch coaching — all designed to work within the tools and routines your team already uses.

Evidence for

ESSA

Promising

FASTalk is recognized by Evidence for ESSA with a "Promising" rating

Supported by strong quasi-experimental research demonstrating positive impact on student outcomes across multiple contexts and grade levels. View on Evidence for ESSA →

THE GAP

​School communication is seldom connected to learning

Newsletters go out. Platforms are adopted. And yet most families still don't know what their child is working on — or how to help. The problem isn't effort. It's alignment.

Communication tools ≠ learning connection

Most family outreach runs on a separate track from instruction — announcements, reminders, events. Rarely: what your child is learning this week and what you can do tonight.

Families want to help — but don’t know how

Families are eager to support learning at home. What’s missing is simple, specific, curriculum-aligned guidance they can act on.

Teachers are already stretched

Asking teachers to also become family engagement experts isn’t realistic. This partnership is designed to work within what your team is already doing — not add to it.

No signal on what’s actually working

Schools send messages and hope for the best. This partnership builds in simple ways to notice whether family communication is supporting learning — visible in family responses, student talk, classroom engagement, and understanding.

THE PARTNERSHIP

Built around your team's existing work.

We don't introduce a new program or another platform. We start with what your team already does — your curriculum, your communication tools, your routines — and work alongside you to make small, practical adjustments.

That includes helping teams use existing technology, including AI-assisted tools, in ways that make family communication more consistent, more connected to instruction, and more manageable to sustain.

How It Works

1

2–3 guided planning sessions

Review your current practices and identify where to strengthen the connection between instruction and home communication.

2

Identify priority focus areas

Align your family messages to what students are actually learning in math and/or ELA.

3

Send learning-focused messages

Use ready-to-adapt examples from our team, delivered through whatever tools your school already uses.

4

Reflect and adjust together

Brief team check-ins (5–10 min) to notice what’s working and refine as you go.

HOW FASTalk HELPS

Research-backed messages. Practical routines. No new tools.

FASTalk helps teachers turn classroom learning goals into simple family-facing messages. Each message gives families a clear way to talk about, notice, or practice a skill at home.

In this partnership, FASTalk is not another app for families to adopt. It is a set of examples, routines, and supports your team can use through the communication tools you already have.​

WHAT YOUR TEAM GETS

Real support for teachers. No cost.

Stipends, coverage, and hands-on help — designed so participation works inside what your team is already doing.

Fully Funded

Stipends + coverage

Teachers and family liaisons receive stipends for planning session participation. Classroom coverage is provided to support scheduling.

Ready-to-use messages

FASTalk message examples your team can use or adapt — aligned to the skills students are already working on, so you are not starting from scratch each week.

Time-saving approach

A simpler, more effective approach to family communication that reduces guesswork and works within your existing routines.

Early signals of impact

Simple ways to notice whether family communication is supporting learning — visible in family responses, student talk, classroom engagement, and understanding.

Professional recognition

The opportunity to help shape a research-backed approach to instructional family engagement that can support more schools over time.

Hands-on coaching

Light-touch support from our team throughout implementation — planning, reflection, and real classroom practice.

WHO THIS IS FOR

Is this a fit for your team?

This partnership works best when a grade-level team shares responsibility for family communication and has time to reflect together, even briefly.

We're looking for K–3 grade-level teams that:​

• Have 3 or more teachers on the team
• Share a math and/or ELA curriculum
• Already meet regularly as a team
• Are open to including a family liaison in planning
• Have a school leader who supports this work
• Are committed to sharing responsibility for sustaining the work

TIMELINE

Fall 2026 cohort

MAY - JUNE	Apply & select Teams complete the interest form. Spots are limited — early respondents have priority.
JUNE - AUG	Plan ​Teams work with Family Engagement Lab to connect communication to instruction before the school year begins.
AUG - OCT	Implement & adjust Send messages, reflect as a team, and refine based on what you're seeing in students and families.
OPTIONAL	Continue & deepen ​Teams may continue with a focus on sustainability and deepening impact beyond the initial phase.

INTEREST FORM & SELECTION

Ready to explore whether this is a fit?

Ready to explore whether this is a fit? The interest form takes 5–10 minutes. Spots are limited and early respondents get priority.

Because this is a small, fully funded learning partnership, space is limited.

COMPLETE THE INTEREST FORM →

Not ready to complete the form?
​Visit our FAQ or schedule a brief call to connect.