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Every Friday, while her students bury their noses in books during independent reading, sixth-grade ELA teacher Kennita Ballard makes a few positive phone calls to her students鈥� parents or guardians.

Making time for these calls鈥攊n spite of a 鈥渢o-do list that never stops growing鈥濃�攃onveys a powerful message to families that she鈥檚 committed to 鈥減artnering with them in their children鈥檚 education,鈥� . And it lets her students know that 鈥淚 will stop everything, any time, any place, to call home and celebrate you, because it鈥檚 that important.鈥�

Especially as students get older, communication with families tends to drop off, often limited to when problems arise鈥攁n email or phone call home when students are about to fail algebra, for example.

Yet shows that when teachers raise the ratio of praise to reprimands, it can dramatically improve on-task behavior and decrease disruptions in the classroom. And in a , Harvard education researchers Matthew Kraft and Shaun Dougherty found that 鈥渇requent teacher-family communication鈥� improved the odds that students would complete their homework by 40 percent, and decreased the need for teachers to redirect kids鈥� attention to tasks by 25 percent. Class participation rates, they noted, increased by 15 percent.

For families and caregivers, a positive call home may be the only signal they receive from school about the wellbeing of their child. 鈥淚 was saddened when parents would say, 鈥業 don鈥檛 think anyone has ever called me from school with anything positive about my child,鈥欌�� writes Elena Aguilar, an instructional coach and author. 鈥淎s a parent, I can鈥檛 think of anything I want a teacher to do more than to recognize what my boy is doing well, when he鈥檚 trying, when he鈥檚 learning, when his behavior is shifting, and share those observations with me.鈥�

Here are seven educator-approved tactics for making positive home outreach鈥攚hether by phone, email, or text鈥攁n uncomplicated, sustainable, and beneficial practice:

1. Ask For Student Input: On the first day of school, Aguilar gives students a survey that includes the question: Who would you like me to call when I have good news to share about how you鈥檙e doing in my class? You鈥檙e welcome to list up to five people, and please let them know I might call鈥攅ven tonight or tomorrow!

This not only helps identify the trusted adults in a child鈥檚 life鈥攁 valuable insight about your learners鈥攂ut also signals to students that positive phone calls home are the norm inside your classroom.

2. Break it Down: Calling families takes time and you may feel you don鈥檛 have a second to spare. The trick is parceling it out and keeping track, teachers say.

Instructional coach Clint R. Heitz sets a goal of calling at least one family a day during the first weeks of school, and when his schedule allows, he picks 鈥渁 couple of days to make multiple calls,鈥� . He keeps track of parent communication with Google Forms and Sheets.

Taking a piecemeal approach, former elementary and high school teacher Todd Finley uses a 5x5 strategy: pick five students (or fewer, depending on time limits) from your roster, dedicate five minutes to each child, cross their names off once you鈥檙e done. It鈥檚 a way to systematically ensure that each child gets focused time for whatever task is needed鈥攔eflection, a positive call home鈥攐n a regular basis.

Starting the process early in the school year helps. 鈥淢y biggest mistake was that I waited to make those calls,鈥� writes Rebecca Alber, an instructor at UCLA鈥檚 Graduate School of Education. 鈥淚f you call six homes and talk for 10 to 15 minutes, the time can add up.鈥� Instead, Alber now makes a phone call or two at the end of the day, or during lunch. 鈥淛ust take one step at a time,鈥� she advises.

3. Keep Track: At the start of the school year, middle and high school teacher Lauren Huddleston creates a chart to keep tabs on the types of interactions and contact she has with families. She lists students鈥� names alphabetically, the dates when she makes contact with families, in addition to the method鈥攅mail, carpool line, in-person meeting, or phone call鈥攁nd the reason for the contact.

To ensure no child receives only negative calls home, she color-codes her entries on the chart鈥攇reen for positive, red for negative communication. As the year progresses, Huddleston sets goals for herself, like aiming to contact half of her students鈥� families with a positive note by Thanksgiving.

鈥淏y setting an intentional goal to email home with a positive, personal anecdote, I make sure that no student is invisible in my classroom,鈥� Huddleston writes. 鈥淎s I scroll through my list each week, I can see which students鈥� families haven鈥檛 been contacted yet, and I am able to home in on those relationships and develop them intentionally.鈥�

4. Script the Call: Writing a short script for yourself will help keep the call on track and ensure you hit all of the positive observations you鈥檇 like to share.

Aguilar suggests keeping it concise: Hi鈥攊s this Mrs. _____? I鈥檓 calling from _____ school with great news about your child, _____. Can I share this news?

Some families may view a phone call home as being reserved for bad news only, so introducing yourself and the intent of the call as early as possible gets the ball rolling on a positive note. 鈥淚f I didn鈥檛 immediately blurt out the part about 鈥榞reat news,鈥� sometimes they鈥檇 hang up on me or I鈥檇 hear a long anxious silence,鈥� Aguilar says.

5. Align Calls to Classroom Goals: Have a student who has been staying after school to get help with new material before a big test? A student showing small improvements on meeting homework deadlines? Any time you see them taking small steps or strides, keep a positive phone call in mind.

鈥淚f I have a student who鈥檚 been struggling with engagement in the classroom, for example, and we hold a student-teacher conference to create a plan of action, I immediately make the call home the moment I see the student making changes,鈥� Ballard writes. 鈥淚 might say, 鈥業 just want to recognize the work that your student is putting towards making positive choices, moving toward positive habits. That鈥檚 not easy to do!鈥欌��

6. Make it a Schoolwide Effort: At Riverdale Elementary School in Thornton, Colorado, classroom teachers aren鈥檛 the only ones making positive phone calls. Principal Kristin Golden collects feedback from teachers about positive student accomplishments, then brings students into the office to .

And at Paul L. Patterson Elementary School in Hillsboro, Oregon, students get to when principal Jamie Lentz makes a positive phone call home to their family, providing a bit of incentive to keep up good work.

7. Recognize Small, Quiet Actions: A high grade on an assessment isn鈥檛 the only type of achievement that might justify a call home. Keep an eye out for the development of soft skills or quieter, less overt displays of positive behavior, Huddleston suggests, like a student acting as a mediator to a disagreement in group work, pairing up with a lonely peer, or showing empathy to a fellow classmate who is having a rough day. Even a student arriving right on time for class or asking an interesting question during a discussion are great opportunities to celebrate the positives you notice.

鈥淭heir behavior need not be exceptional; I have sent notes about students habitually coming into the classroom and following procedures, reliably completing homework, and tackling difficult tasks with a positive attitude,鈥� Huddleston says.