As we close out 2025 and look ahead to Family Engagement Lab’s 10-year anniversary, we are deeply grateful for the families, educators, and partners who have joined us in igniting the power of families to support learning. This year marked a major milestone with the launch of FASTalk.AI, the next evolution of our evidence-based family engagement platform, alongside new research and partnerships that are helping us better understand what families and educators need to sustain powerful home–school connections.
Across classrooms and communities, we have seen that when families are equipped with concrete, accessible support, and when technology is designed with equity and partnership at the center, students are better positioned to thrive. In the year ahead, we are excited to continue co-designing with families and educators, expanding our research, and partnering with districts and organizations to bring FASTalk.AI and our learning to more communities nationwide.
Vidya Sundaram and Elisabeth O’Bryon
Family Engagement Lab Co-founders
Celebrating a Big Year for FASTalk.AI
This year, Family Engagement Lab launched FASTalk.AI, the next evolution of our FASTalk platform and a major milestone as we head into our 10-year anniversary. FASTalk.AI is a personalized, scalable tool that helps families support student learning in math and literacy through simple, high-impact activities they can do at home.
FASTalk.AI delivers weekly tips and activities that are aligned to grade-level standards and classroom instruction, adapted to family routines and interests, translated into families’ home languages, and easy to access through text messages. Schools and districts across the country are using FASTalk.AI this year, and their feedback is helping us continuously strengthen this research-based tool.
Throughout 2025, we concentrated our research on the practices that most effectively bridge classroom learning and home learning, particularly in math and literacy. Early in the year, we shared findings showing strong alignment across districts, teachers, and families: districts are investing in equity and impact, teachers need efficient, time-saving tools, and families want concrete, accessible support they can use at home to support student learning.
In March, we explored how AI can make family engagement more personalized, scalable, and sustainable, helping under-resourced schools and communities better connect learning between home and school.
In May, survey feedback from 157 K–2 parents showed that families are most motivated when activities are clearly linked to trusted sources like teachers or assessments and when reminders feel personal and practical.
By October, an independent beta test by the International Centre for EdTech Impact (ICEI) confirmed that FASTalk.AI is equitable, accessible, and effective, and is evidence-ready on the path to ESSA Tier II certification. The evaluation found that 6 in 10 parents felt more confident supporting learning at home, over 75 percent said activities fit easily into daily routines, and nearly 3 in 4 families engaged weekly or biweekly.
Advancing the Field of Family Engagement
This year also brought important opportunities to share our perspective on family engagement and AI on the national stage. In February, we joined a national webinar on PTA’s National Standards for Family-School Partnerships, sharing practical strategies for building strong, learning-focused relationships between educators and families.
In our feedback on the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) redesign, we urged federal leaders to prioritize research that bridges school learning with home and out-of-school environments and to make findings more accessible to families through plain-language, multilingual communication.
As we enter our 10th year, we are deeply grateful to the families, educators, partners, and supporters who have shaped Family Engagement Lab. In 2026, we are excited to continue sharing what we have learned over the past decade and to co-create what comes next for family engagement, AI, and student success.
We look forward to connecting with funders and research partners interested in collaborating to expand our 2026 research initiatives and deepen the impact of the home–school connection.
