program structure tips for boosting completion rates

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• If Applicable, Remind People to Use the “Did Not Participate” Button.
• Send Personal E-mails/Text Messages or a Group E-mail/Text to Regular Report Completers.
• Check in with those Individuals Only Completing Reports Once in a While.
• Directly Communicate that You’re Reading their Data

If Applicable, Remind People to Use the “Did Not Participate” Button.

Using your Mission Control's Communications Portal feature, remind everybody that it’s important to hit the “Did Not Participate” button at the top of the report if they did not work or serve during the period at issue. When a number of people do not serve or work during a given period and do not hit the "Did Not Participate" button, your overall completion rate can be skewed downwards substantially. A note from a student-focused organization might read:

Thanks to those of you who are regularly completing the weekly reports on our America Learns Impact Suite site.   To those of you who haven't been completing the reports as regularly, please remember that it’s important to do so, whether or not you meet with your student.

If you do not meet with your student during a given week, please take a few seconds to log in and hit the “Did Not Participate” button at the top of the report.  That information helps me keep track of everybody and keeps me from wondering whether you met with your student.

Send Personal E-mails/Text Messages or a Group E-mail/Text to Regular Report Completers.

Recognize people who complete the reports regularly so that they’ll continue to complete them.  You can quickly learn who your top report completers are by using the Completion Info Viewer in your Mission Control.  You can e-mail/text individual people from that page.

This action will communicate to your people that you are reading the report data and that the data is important to you.

A note from a student-focused organization might read:

Dear ____,

Thank you for continuing to complete your reports on our America Learns Impact Suite site.  It’s been great to learn about all of your work with your student this school year.  The information that you and others are sharing via the reports continues to teach us how we can provide better support to you.

Thanks again,

Check in with those Individuals Only Completing Reports Once in a While.

E-mail those individuals who only complete reports once in awhile to learn why they aren't completing every one. Thank them for completing some of the reports, but be sure to ask the reasons they haven't completed others. Try to keep whatever you say to a few sentences to increase the probability that your e-mail/text is read. Do not put other, non-America Learns related news in the note as it distracts from your e-mail/text’s purpose.

You can quickly learn who these people are by using your Completion Info Viewer.

Dear ____,

I’m writing for a couple of reasons.

First, thank you for completing some of the reports on our America Learns Impact Suite site.  It's important that you use the reports to share your experiences with your student each week because we use that information to strengthen our program and to better support you.

Second, given the importance of the reports, I'd like to know the reasons you haven't been completing all of them recently.  

Please share those reasons with me and let me know what else you need from me to ensure that you submit the reports regularly.

Sincerely,

Directly Communicate that You’re Reading their Data

Send a monthly e-mail/text to everybody about an aspect of your recent report data.  This could be a new strategy somebody submitted, or it could be a percentage (“76% of you reported a phonics challenge last week”).  This act communicates that you are reading and using the data.