Empowering Families: A Discussion on Informed School Selection

Recorded Session from the ExcelinEd National Summit on Education
presented by Scott Evans, Director of Family and School Engagement at CIC Tucson.

Check out this insightful open discussion dedicated to strategies communities can take to help families navigate the diverse educational landscape. This session, centered on families and students, was led by Scott Evans, Director of Family and School Engagement for MySchoolsTucson. We explore the key insights and practical ideas he has to offer. We discuss ways to collaborate to empower families with the resources and knowledge necessary to make informed educational decisions.

Session Transcript

Introduction
Thank you all for joining.

I'm Sonali with Avela for folks who might not be familiar with Avela.We are a platform for school choice helping families and communities all across the country to kind of explore, apply to and enroll in a school that meets their needs.And is a good fit for them.

One of our favorite partners is Scott at CS C Tucson. We're super excited to have him here today to talk about the great work he's doing at my school's Tucson. A little overview of the session today…. He's gonna give a little bit of his sort of why, why he's in the work, talk about the work that they're doing at my school's Tucson. I'll ask a few questions and move into more of a discussion format. Obviously, would love to get questions from you all too at that point and we'll end it around 4:30. All right. Let me hand it over to you.

Scott’s Why

Well, thank you. First of all, it's an honor to be here and I appreciate you guys taking the time out of your day to, to come in and hear, a little bit about the work we're doing in Tucson. And glad to share some of our experience with supporting parents and making sure that they have the information, they need to make an informed decision. Before I dive in, I'll just tell a little bit about the why for me. I was in education, I work for a nonprofit now, was in education for about 15 or 16 years, both in private and public district schools. I have that sort of in my blood and my heart, wanting to help families. I was director of counseling. So, really helping families and students on the road to success and I saw firsthand sort of what a good fit would look like and what a poor fit would look like for families. And so I know there's a need both from a parent and a child perspective. I'm also a parent of an eight year old and a six year old. I'm new, relatively new to Arizona. I didn't grow up in Arizona. I grew up, I went to elementary school in the seventies. So school choice was, was not around, right? The model I grew up in which I would imagine a lot of us is similar is you went to your neighborhood school, your assigned school, or maybe you went to a private school and those were really your choices. To move to Arizona, to now have two young kids. I realized there's a lot to know a lot to be aware of. And it was complicated; and if it's complicated for me as an educator, married to a spouse, who cares, I can only imagine what that process might feel like. And what that experience is like for low income families, single parents trying to raise three kids. I can tell you from my experience, the need is there to support families and kind of give them the guidance they need to make this decision.

I joked with my wife. We just purchased a house, think about all the support we had on, you know, all the people in our corner, we had a real estate agent, we had a mortgage, mortgage broker, we had an inspector come to make sure we were making a good decision. We had Zillow to help us sort of find what was out there. I was on that for two years. We went to find a elementary school and we didn't know where to begin. We, we really didn't have a clue as to, ok, how are we gonna do this and where we're going to find the time. Wo that’s my why. I can tell you there's a need in Arizona. And I can imagine in any of the, the states that are going down that road of choice, There's goinf be a need there for parents as well. So, that's where I'm coming from.

CIC Tucson

I work for a nonprofit in Tucson, Arizona. It's a economic development nonprofit. We have three pillars, homeownership, entrepreneurship, and education

I am involved in the education pillar of a nonprofit organization.

Our mission revolves around providing access to the economy for under-resourced families.

Education, in our view, is a powerful tool for addressing inequalities and poverty.

We are dedicated to this cause, ensuring that no parent is left on the outside looking in.

Every parent should have access to the necessary tools and resources to make informed decisions for their family and children.

Our focus is on providing families with access to these essential tools and resources.

In our department, we aim to address the challenge of navigating the educational process.

While there is an abundance of information available, there seems to be a lack of guidance on how to navigate this process.

Our goal is to bridge this gap and ensure that all families have access to the information they need.

This is particularly crucial in the Tucson context.

Tucson Context

Before delving into the details of what we've built and discussing the process, I'd like to provide some context on where this initiative is taking place. This may help you gauge the feasibility of replicating it in your own community. The project is based in Pima County, which is roughly the size of New Hampshire in both population and square mileage.

Our school locator encompasses approximately 360 schools, and it's designed to be model agnostic. This means it includes district schools, private schools, charter schools, and we're actively working on incorporating information about micro schools and homeschools.

The county we serve is quite expansive, covering the entire region, although we often refer to it as "My School's Tucson" to resonate with the local community. It's essential to note that the educational landscape in Arizona, where this project is situated, involves open enrollment. This encompasses both inter and intra-district options, allowing students to apply for admission to any public school.

Additionally, the state has a significant presence of charter schools, constituting about 28% of public schools and serving around 20% of Arizona students. While the abundance of educational choices is a positive aspect, it also presents challenges for parents, and this is a key consideration in our efforts.

My Schools Tucson

And so my school's Tucson really, what we did is we set out to build a online school locator and other resources that really would be mono agnostic, provide unbiased, accurate information in a simple way so that parents could sort of take that information and make an informed decision.

So that's really what we set out to do. The main thing that we focused on was the school locator, which has been the driving force when we go out to the community. It's what we're pointing families to, and during presentations to parents, we're guiding them to the school locator. Our goals with the school locator were to be model-agnostic and unbiased, even though this posed some challenges. However, that was our value proposition, and it's the path we intended to stay on.

My Schools Tucson Goals

We wanted to make sure the information was accessible. As I mentioned, the data is out there; the Arizona Department of Education has the information, as do GreatSchools and Niche. However, despite the availability of this data, families weren't effectively accessing it. This presented an opportunity for us to create our own homegrown community product. Our aim was to make it simple, consulting with the community to understand their needs, and providing information on resources that they could relate to and trust.

Trustworthiness was a key goal for us, particularly in Southern Arizona, where bilingualism is significant for accessibility. We wanted the information to be trustworthy and accessible to all. An indirect effect of our efforts was that we ended up narrowing our focus to the families who needed the most help, specifically those who were new to the educational arena, such as preschool families with low incomes. These families typically had the least knowledge of the educational system.

Recognizing the limitations of being a department of one, we decided to start by supporting preschool families. While it would be desirable to address a broader range of needs, we had to be realistic about our capacity. We see school exploration as a crucial piece of family engagement, especially for families new to the educational system. Although there are many variables influencing family engagement and student success, we view school exploration as an opportunity for families to gain the confidence and knowledge to engage with school administration.

Our hope is that families engaging in school exploration will be involved throughout the entire life cycle of their child's K-12 education. We recognize that family engagement is multifaceted, and while school exploration is a significant aspect, it is just one part of the larger picture.

Our plan

Our plan was first, I could sit in my office and think of these tools and resources and how to build them.But that wasn't going to be the way. We really wanted to listen to the Tucson community, to engage with parents and identify the knowledge gaps. This process was crucial for determining the resources we needed to build and understanding what families required to navigate this educational journey effectively.

Our approach began with actively listening to parents, gaining insights into their needs. Avella played a pivotal role in assisting us, guiding the transition from ground zero to a finished product in a remarkably short period. Currently, we find ourselves in the outreach to the community phase, where the bulk of the work lies.

For me, the focus now is on addressing questions like: How do we disseminate this information? How do we ensure that these tools are readily available to families, empowering them to use these resources effectively? The challenge lies in making this information and these tools accessible at the fingertips of the families we aim to serve.

Listening to Parents

The process of listening to the community took various forms. We facilitated focus groups as one avenue for gathering insights. Before the pandemic, we conducted individual one-on-one parent interviews. Additionally, we implemented an Arizona parent survey, reaching out to families across the entire state. Approximately 1160 families participated in this survey, providing valuable feedback that guided our understanding of what was necessary and how we could effectively convey information to parents.

The survey results were instrumental in shaping our approach. The key takeaways highlighted the need for support among families and revealed gaps in basic knowledge. Many families were unfamiliar with concepts like open enrollment, and there was a lack of understanding regarding voucher and tax credit programs. Notably, disparities in awareness were evident, with high-income families being more informed compared to their low-income counterparts. Recognizing these disparities became a focal point for us as a nonprofit, motivating us to make a meaningful impact and work towards closing these knowledge gaps.

Resources

The resources we developed started with the family guidebook, which you may have seen on your way in. This printed guidebook outlined the five steps families should take, incorporating QR codes for quick access to information. For instance, if families wanted to learn about letter grades and rankings, a QR code would swiftly direct them to the relevant content. From there, they could delve deeper into the Arizona Department of Education site.

With the assistance of Avella, we recognized the value of a school locator in helping families understand and identify nearby schools for potential access. Our goal was to include all schools in this locator. Avella played a significant role in the development of the school locator, taking it from concept to launch in approximately three months.

Reflecting on my own experiences, having graduated from college before the internet era without a cell phone, the rapid development from ground zero to launch in three months demonstrates the potential for swift progress. It's a testament that everyone in this room can likely achieve similar results even more efficiently.

The school locator, in particular, became the driving force behind our efforts, representing the key tool we aimed to place in the hands of parents.

Timeline

The timeline of this project provides a glimpse into the duration of the undertaking. In the fall of 2022, we conducted a parent survey in the Tucson community. Our collaboration with Avella commenced in January 2023, marking the initiation of a significant phase. During this period, decisions were made regarding the information that would be integrated into the school locator. Data collection involved scraping information from public-facing sites, primarily the Arizona Department of Education and school websites. The actual launch of the project took place in March, extending into early April.

Despite the challenges, including a two-week absence due to COVID, the project progressed more rapidly than anticipated. The involvement of Avella played a pivotal role in achieving efficiency within the limited timeframe. Moving forward from April, our focus shifted to the dissemination of resources to parents. This phase has been dedicated to addressing the question of how we can effectively reach and provide these resources to parents.

Presently, our outreach strategy is geared towards targeting preschool families. We have been engaging with head starts and low-income preschools, conducting group presentations for parents. This approach allows us not only to communicate with parents individually but also to deliver presentations where parents can subsequently reach out for further clarification or guidance. This outreach effort represents the ongoing work we are currently immersed in.

Outcomes

And what we've seen, we've seen, there is a desire for this information while, you know, the numbers may not pop out. We're sort of proud of what we've accomplished in a short period of time. We've had about 3000 active users at the site since we launched, about 500 visits per month is about what we're averaging, we now send out now. I mean, it's really about building a parent database so that we can communicate them, not just send them to the site, but now we can communicate with them throughout the year. We have a social media platform that we can send information out through. We have a quarterly newsletter that we send out to parents all sort of redirecting them back to our resources and they can use it as they wish.

I guess my sort of words of wisdom or advice. Number one, listen to the community that you serve, find out what those needs of those parents are that will drive the decisions that you make and what you decide to build for them and how to reach them. I think I underestimated the marketing and the outreach that was necessary. So, you know, a lot of effort and focus went into building and that was really where we, where our attention lied. And I just, I didn't realize the importance to have a budget for OK. Resources are built, that's great. They're built. But how are we getting in front of parents? And what is the plan to do that? And so I think having a solid plan and having a solid budget to support that is really, really important. Otherwise, I think they just then become tools that exist that parents don't know exist and they don't, they don't know how to use them. So really thinking through a plan on outreach and marketing.

And another mistake I think that I encountered was I wanted the perfect tool, the perfect resource. I mean, you put so much time and energy into surveying parents, talking to parents conceptualizing this and it's easy to get caught up in the minute detail. And so there is gonna be no perfect tool out of the gates. You can start simple and then you can add from there and you can build based on the feedback that you get from the community. So, you know, don't get caught in the weeds, don't get, this is a big project. I would say there is a need parents need support and I would encourage you to dive down that road and and do something and then adapt and change from that point forward.

For us, it was about accessibility and making sure that all parents had access to this information. And school choice is not going anywhere. And in Arizona, there are lots of options. And so to sit there and think, oh, parents will figure it out and it's easy. I, I can tell you from my experience, it's a, it is a difficult thing to, to navigate and especially someone who's unfamiliar with the educational landscape. So convince yourself that, that, that there is a need in your community. If, if you look anything like Tucson or Arizona where you're going down that road, parents are gonna need your support and they're gonna need some guidance.

And lastly, I, I think I'd say with my limited knowledge on tech and how to, how to go from, you know, zero MPH to 60 really quickly. I'd say surround yourself with people who can help you execute that. And we decided to scrape our data ourselves. Avella kindly offered and said we can do this and we said, I think we got it, you know, and I think in hindsight, I think we would have probably backed off that component and it was doable, we got it, we got it done. But it was that was, that was a big lift. So surround yourself with people that can, can help you execute and and understand your why, you know, II I don't know if Abella agrees with my why, but they understand where I'm coming from and they're understanding what I'm wanting to build so to find people that, that truly understand that will make this process a lot easier for you.

So, this, you all have a QR code on your table in front of you and that will take you to C IC. That's the nonprofit that I work for that'll take to that site. And then from there, you can get to the explore site. But essentially the tool looks something like this where it's got the locator And I, the way I explain it to people when I'm out in the community is it's like Zillow for Pima County and K 12 schools. That seems to be, I hope there's no copyright issues with Zillow, but that seems to me that, that resonates and people go, oh I know what that is right. So Zillow for Pima County schools, you can you can narrow it down, you can filter this by area which has been really helpful for parents. You can filter by school type. So charter private whatever you get to set the filters, we got to set the filters and that's where some of the decision making process came. And how do we want parents to filter this? We have full day or half day kindergarten as an option after school program. So there are different things that you can use depending on what you think is important for your community, you get to set up. Well, we got to pick these sort of tabs what tabs we wanted and what information we wanted to live under each tab. If, then we were tasked with gathering the data. But the real nice piece for us is we got to customize it and that to us was the big piece. It was OK. These tools exist. Tucson is a very, they're, they take great pride in saying, hey, we're from Tucson, right? That's why it's called my school's Tucson and not my school's Pima County, right? We said, you know, this is we have something, there's a uniqueness about Tucson that we want to showcase. And so we want to do this. We want to do this our way and we want to do this with the community. And so we got to pick what filters we thought were important. We got to pick what tabs, what categories that we thought parents needed to know about. And then we got to define what each of those things were.

So for example, they were gonna have test scores, we were going to have test scores and everybody would say, well what are your test scores? Well, there's there's state issued letter grades, right? And we have that information. But what's, what's the what's the best what's a better metric. So we sort of said, well, let's look at growth. How much growth are students making over the course of a school year? I mean, I guess I don't know if it's unique to us. But when, when kids start school, they don't start at the same level, they all come in with different skills, different background knowledge. And so what we wanted to see is OK, kids are starting here, wherever that is and then how much growth can they make over the course of a school year? And then we got to say, well, what does that mean to us, right? We got to define what that means. And so we defined it and we put it out there and we put the data on there, a lot of it is that we just couldn't find or couldn't get to we were working with this is live data, right? So we're working with schools to get them to provide the data so that we could input it.

And that was just really difficult to do. So for example, you're gonna see on our on our locator, we were gonna have things like class size. Class size is really important to parents. You don't see it on there. We don't have access to it and so it's not gonna be on there. There are gonna be other things that you're probably going to want and it's just not going to be there. And we have to be OK with that. And so that was sort of a hard pill to swallow initially as well. It's not gonna be perfect. We're not gonna be able to get every bit of data. But what we do have is something that is working. We do have something that is useful. And so what we had to do is, OK, get out there. We've got to do something. We can't just wait for approval. We can't just wait for money. We can't wait. We can't just wait. And so what we did is we sort of jumped in head first and said, let's get something going. And we got something going. It took us a few months to get it going, just my, myself and my team member. So she's a part time employee, I'm a full time employee. We did all of this in a few months and launched and we said, this is our minimal viable product, right?

This is what we want to give you. This is going to give us something to go out to our preschool families with and say, hey, we're working on this. We want you to know about this and we want you to use it and give us some feedback, right? And so the whole time we've been out doing these group presentations in, in head starts and low income preschools and so we present on this and, you know, let parents ask questions and give us some feedback and tell us what's working, tell us what's not working, you know, be honest with us. And, and they're doing that. And we're going back and we're we're going back to the drawing board and we're fixing what needs to be fixed and and and getting some updates out. So the first update is is here, so now it's live and it's functional. And so that's good. But we're also in the meantime, going back and fixing some of the some of the hiccups that we had along the way.

So for example, we initially didn't have our resource hub. So if you were to pull up the site, initially it didn't have the resource hub. And so we were doing these presentations and people were like, well, how do we know that this is legit? How do we know that this isn't just a ploy to get our kids into this school? You know, and so we sort of said, you're right, we need to we need to add this layer to it and sort of legitimize who we are and what we're doing. And so we created this resource hub and the resource hub has got things like our monthly newsletter, it's got some resources that we've found across the country that that we think are good. It's got links to our social media that we're we're on. So it's just another layer that that just adds a little bit of legitimacy to who we are and what we're doing. But it's also a resource for parents to go to on a regular basis to get updated information. And so that's been a good piece for us and sort of adds another layer to who we are and what we're doing. So, in terms of replicating this, can it be done, we believe it can be done. It takes time. It takes energy. It takes a lot of work. But it's definitely possible.

And I don't know that we had, you know, I, I don't want to give too much credit to Tucson Unified School District. But we met with them initially and sort of pitched this to them. And we said, hey, this is what we're doing. This is how we want to help parents, can you help us? And they kind of said, OK, we're not sure about you. Let's let's go to the governing board and see if we get approval. And they came back and said, OK, we want to help you out. And so they said, we're gonna give you our data. We're gonna give you our database and you can utilize it to build your tool. And we said, that's awesome. And so, so a lot of that came from our initial conversation with Tucson Unified School District, but also our willingness to jump in and say, we're gonna we're gonna build something and we're gonna go and get the data and put it out there. So it's, it's definitely doable. And you can do it. It just it takes time and it takes effort. And but it's also what are the needs of your community? I don't know that a lot of other places have the same needs that Tucson does. And so I think that's important to recognize as well.

Conclusion

And then the, the locator it was depending on how many schools were on the site and this is what you wanted on license fee, which we'd be happy to talk to you about.

And I think the live kind of depends on you sort of already know the data points you want to put in and have a lot of the data on hand.

Then, you know, we could stand up the site in a few days.

But if you have some work to do to figure out what's important to families in your community and you want to do some of that work up front, then it takes a little bit longer like they did.

I mean, both are, I think both are totally viable pathways to go really fast or take a little bit more time.

Yes, we were on the scraping and the cleaning because I didn't know what I was doing.

It was a learning process and,, I enjoyed it but it was, it, it took a lot and I think I could have done it a lot quicker.

I had some prime and I, I could do something.

It was, it was fun to think through like, ok, well, what should we, what should we list?

And I'll be honest, I mean, I think we probably went overboard in what we listed.

Like I, you know, and when I, we have worked to sort of refine and change and I wanna chop things off.

Right.

Because again, I wanted the perfect thing.

I was like, well, we're scraping, let's scrape all this stuff and then we'll figure it out.

Right.

And so we're still at the, figuring out what is really crucial.

But, we wanted links to help families get to places the Mariachi, you know, in schools, I, I don't think schools are out there to trick parents.

but it's not, it's not always unbiased information.

I mean, the, the, you know, the school district wants you to enroll.

And so,, you know, they're, they're going to,, at the end of the day they're gonna sell their product.

And so, but really, we just wanted, we wanted to guide them to those places quicker, so they didn't have to go to five different websites, figure out how to, you know, how to get to the enroll site, how to get to the special education for each one of those specific schools.

So we wanted to try to make that a little bit, a little bit easier and quicker for them.

Cool.

I was playing around the show.

Folks had different options.

Great.

Thank you.

Any other questions would be, we're happy to stick around if folks have questions or wanna give us their business cards and we'll have any follow up conversation.

Thank you all so much for coming.