Dive Brief:

• School districts are becoming increasingly reliant on using social media to communicate and collaborate with parents, with districts planning an average 44% increase in their mobile communication in the next 1-3 years, according to a new survey by West Corporation.
• The corporation conducted the survey with hundreds of district-level customers across a wide array of district sizes, and the respondents included superintendents, technology directors and many others in positions of district leadership.
• Districts found they must use multiple channels, with broadcast voice notification remaining important, and they also plan to make social media a more central means of communication, with two-way communication being seen as a more effective way to reach parents.

Dive Insight:

As school districts transition into a greater emphasis on social media to communicate with parents, they must be cautious that they are not inadvertently expanding gaps in access. Teenagers’ online use is nearly ubiquitous, with 92% of teens reporting they were online "daily," according to the Pew Research Center. Social media use was also widespread, with 71% of teenagers ages 13-17 reporting they used Facebook. The parents of school-age children may have smartphones, with 92% of 18-29-year-olds of 88% of 30-49-year-olds reporting they owned one, but their social media use may not be as constant.

School districts have had difficulty overcoming some parents’ lack of digital access, particularly among low-income communities that are less likely to have broadband access. School districts often find that the particular challenges low-income families face can make it more difficult for parents to participate in the educational lives of their students, including communication with their child’s school. As school districts increase the use of social media, they should be mindful to avoid a digital version of that pitfall. As they transition, schools could reach out to parents, informing them of how they hope to communicate and educating them to the benefits of it, including that queries and responses via social media can be quicker.