How we know Grade-Level Essentials works

Impact reported by parents and caregivers:

90% report feeling more agency over their child’s future or future opportunities.
87% report that the newsletter information will influence their opinions or behaviors.
83% report having already taken action based on information in the newsletters.
96% report that the information has helped guide the way they interact with their child.

Impact reported by educators:

88% report that the newsletter information will influence their opinions or behavior.
90% report having already taken action based on the information in the newsletters.

Praise for the Grade-Level Essentials from education leaders:

“GreatSchools’ grade-based parenting newsletters deliver essential academic and social-emotional resources for K-12 parents. The content draws from the best of parenting science and research on education, then translates it into actionable digital media that’s accessible to all parents, regardless of their background. This incredible resource not only helps individual parents, but offers a crucial tool for anyone who cares about engaging families to support educational equity.”

— Claudia Medina, Family Engagement Coordinator, Alameda Unified School District and National Equity Project Fellow

“The parenting advice that GreatSchools has developed is uniquely practical and useful — especially because it is organized by grade level across the whole span of a K-12 education. GreatSchools helps parents think ahead for transitions as their kids grow up. Third graders are very different from kindergartners, for example. GreatSchools provides parents with smart, readable, and relevant advice each step of the way.”

— Jeff Camp, Founder of Ed100

“The breadth and depth of GreatSchools digital content for parents is unlike anything else I’ve seen. Not only do they have expert-vetted, grade-based academic resources for parents of preschoolers through 12th graders, they have exceptionally smart content addressing social-emotional challenges for children of every age. But what might be the most remarkable about GreatSchools’ content is their pithy, playful, down-to-earth style of communication that cuts through educational jargon and speaks straight to parents’ hearts. In our collaboration, their approach was a great gift to us and a skill we still wish we had!”

— Kathryn Lee, Director of RULER for Families Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence

“GreatSchools provides the perfect combination of research-driven parenting advice, written in a way that is timely, relevant and accessible. Their focus spans PreK-12, and they are always one step ahead of whatever issue parents care about.”

— Yalda T. Uhls, Developmental Psychology Researcher at UCLA and author of Media Moms and Digital Dads

Praise for the Grade-Level Essentials from parents:

Parent of a 6th grade daughter credits the newsletter with improving her parenting. How it worked: “The grade-based newsletters have helped me become a better parent. The communication with my daughter has improved tremendously. I have no idea what I’m doing half the time as a parent of a 6th grader (almost 7th grader), but with the newsletters I can better understand my daughter and the changes that she’s experiencing as an adolescent girl and help her and guide her through it; as I am learning and at the same time I’m trying to give her the tools she needs to be a responsible adult that makes healthy choices.”

Parent of a 10th grader and a 12th grader used the newsletter to forge a positive connection and communicate more effectively with her children’s teachers.How it worked: “Communicating with teachers can be intimidating. I was able to learn how to effectively communicate my thoughts to my kids’ teachers without being offensive. Teachers have a tough job and I want to help make their job easier while ensuring my kids get the most out of school.”

Parent of a kindergartner, a 2nd grader, and a 10th grader credits the newsletters for helping her raise her teenage son’s math grades. How it worked: “[The newsletter] helped me get my son grade in math up from an F to a C and made strategies available to me I otherwise wouldn’t have thought of.”

Custodial grandparent of a 3rd grader reported that his social, emotional, and academic outcomes improved as a result of her acting on the information from Grade-Level Essentials. How it worked: “Ensuring my grandson is on or above grade level in Reading and Math. 3rd grade is crucial as the state will push for mandatory testing. These tests decide the funding for many things that most parents don’t think are associated with our grandbabies. So the information I’ve received from GreatSchools has helped me immensely with pushing my grandson in accessing the content taught in his school/grade level.”