Measuring usage: A 2-Minute Breakthrough Move

For years I was stuck on how to measure usage of communication equity at our schools. I was training staff, but without a way to measure, I couldn’t hold people accountable in a very meaningful way. I mean, just saying, “Hey, you forgot to translate that permission slip” is okay … but if that’s all I could ever do, I would always be chasing my tail. Measuring communication equity has many pieces to it, but let’s start with one.

​​If you use a telephonic interpreter service, they probably set you up with an account number and pin numbers (unless they collect the caller's name). When someone calls a parent with an interpreter, they call the service, enter the account number for their district, and then the pin for their campus or team. The trouble is there is no way to disaggregate when it is the ELL team calling or a non-ELL staff member calling, and that matters for the purpose of building a culture that all of our families are all of our families.

Tip of the Week

Set up an ELL pin with your telephonic interpreter service so you can disaggregate ELL team calls from non-ELL team calls. (If your service collects the specific name of the staff member placing the call, you don't need to do this.)
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Why? This allows you to audit whether your entire school system is providing equitable communication to families. If there were 14 calls placed using Ralston Middle School’s pin in October, you know those calls were genuinely placed by Ralston MS staff and not by ELL staff.

Bonus Tip

To show your non-ELL staff that building relationships with multilingual families doesn't have to be intimidating or overwhelming, share with them my 4-week Multilingual Relationship-Building Challenge. They'll take simple steps each week that only take a matter of minutes to build relationships across language lines, gradually building up to a phone call.

The Story

After adding the ELL pin to our telephonic interpreter service, in my very first quarterly check-in with one of our elementary campuses, I shared their multilingual communication metrics for the quarter. The purpose of this check-in was to see and strategize around was their staff providing in-person interpreters when appropriate? Were they calling multilingual families with interpreters? Were they providing translated documents?

I was able to share with that admin team that while we had a goal for 13 calls to be placed to multilingual families that quarter, in fact 19 calls had been placed. They had surpassed their goal in their very first quarter! I was celebratory! But the admin team was quiet as crickets, looking at their screens with a little side-eye. I wasn’t sure if I had made it clear that this was a good thing when one of them asked, “Is this Ms. Muna calling?” (Ms. Muna was their campus ELL teacher.) and I said, “No, I am able to disaggregate calls that Ms. Muna makes versus calls that you and your staff are making with interpreters. So you can be confident that this truly is your staff calling families!” That’s when heads started to nod and people leaned forward in their seats. Nothing invests partners like some encouraging success!

Conversely, I met with the admin team at another elementary campus. They had a different size multilingual population, so their goals were different. At our first quarterly check-in, I shared that while their goal was 3 calls to multilingual families that quarter, none had been made. This was an important metric for them to be aware of. We were not fulfilling our promise to all families. Despite having a very small and doable goal, their staff was not taking on that very light lift to make sure families had equitable access to information and programming.

The crucial thing is, even though I had known that was the case the year prior, I had no evidence because calls that my team and I made to families at that campus were made using the campus pin. So when auditing calls, it may well have appeared that the campus had placed 10 calls home and had surpassed the goal when in reality, it was just the ELL team. After creating an ELL pin, I could confidently and clearly present data to campus leadership.

Instead, we wanted classroom teachers, office staff, nurses, counselors, and admin to all be connecting with all families … not just the ones that speak English.
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In short, adding in that ELL pin was a game changer. It brought me clarity and confidence when partnering with administrators, and it gave administrators clarity and confidence on when they needed to make changes and when they had real cause to celebrate and appreciate their staff’s efforts!

Call to Action

1. Contact your telephonic interpreter service. Ask them to set up a new pin. This one will be just for your ELL team.

2. Instruct your ELL team to use the ELL pin always. Even if they are calling a family at Ralston Middle School, they should not use the pin for Ralston Middle School … they should use the pin for the ELL team.

This will make audits of communication and conversation with your school partners far far more effective.

Faster Together

So many leaders know that their multilingual families aren't getting equitable access to information, programming, or people in their schools. But most get stuck when trying to fix it because they are over-tasked and under-staffed. I help educational leaders in multilingual communities set up communication equity systems and practices so families can get what they need, feel a sense of community, and school staff can feel proud not only of what they do, but how they do it.

To get support, just schedule a free consultation, tell me about your school, and get your plan for improving the experience of multilingual families and results for kids.

P.S. Want your team to build relationships with multilingual families without feeling intimidated? Whether they are experienced in working with multilingual families or you want them to start, have your team or colleagues participate in my Multilingual Relationship-Building Challenge.