Family Engagement Lab with Vidya Sundaram & Elisabeth O'Bryon

In this EdTech Startup Showcase episode, host Jethro Jones interviews Vidya Sundaram (CEO) and Elisabeth O'Bryon (Chief Impact Officer) from Family Engagement Lab. The conversation explores how their platform bridges the gap between classroom learning and home support through bite-sized, actionable text messages that help families understand what their children are learning and how to reinforce those skills at home. The founders share their personal motivations—Elizabeth's experience as a bilingual school psychologist working with diverse families, and Vidya's childhood experience of disconnect between her immigrant family's educational values and school communication. They discuss their FAST Talk model (Families and Schools Talk), which has supported over 70,000 students across 50+ districts, and their new AI learning coach that provides personalized support for parents' questions.

Key Takeaways

• Family engagement works best when it's accessible and actionable
  • Short text messages (160 characters) with specific, grade-level appropriate activities are more effective than lengthy emails
• The impact is greatest for underserved students
  • Research shows the most pronounced learning gains for students whose families don't share a common language with teachers and those who started the year behind academically
• Parents want to help but need the right information
  • Families have passion and interest in supporting learning but often lack insight into what's happening in the classroom and how to help at the right developmental level
• Sustainable implementation requires cross-functional coordination
  • Success comes from communications experts working alongside curriculum teams to create a shared responsibility for family engagement
• AI can personalize family support
  • Their new AI learning coach allows parents to ask specific questions about their child's needs and build their own confidence in supporting learning at home