“Just text me.” We say it all the time because it’s an easy way to connect.
Now, short text messages are delivering helpful information to parents new to the special education system, thanks to a project led by Kristin Duppong Hurley, Ph.D., Boys Town research scientist.
The Special Education Messaging Series delivers brief lessons on four topics, including “Basics of Special Education” and “Understanding IEPs.”
Each text takes just a few minutes to read and includes links to practical handouts and trusted online resources.
“We want parents to be able to read it while they're in line to pick their kid up from school or waiting at soccer practice, because as parents we're often waiting,” said Dr. Duppong Hurley.
A pilot study on the program’s feasibility has been completed and early response has been positive, including these comments from parents:
“It made me more confident to keep pushing for information I needed.”
“I also liked learning about how to solve a disagreement when I don't agree with the school.”
Addressing a Need
Nearly 18% of Nebraska students receive special education services. Stepping into that world for the first time can be intimidating for parents.
They suddenly face unfamiliar terms and acronyms, important paperwork and high-stakes meetings. It can be hard for parents to know where to start.
“They can feel pretty alone,” Dr. Duppong Hurley said.
The issue resonated professionally for Dr. Duppong Hurley. Her research has long focused on family engagement in education and mental health services, particularly for children receiving special education services. The issue also resonated personally for Dr. Duppong Hurley because of her previous experience navigating special education.
The question she kept coming back to: Could there be a better way to reach parents with the information they need, when they need it?
Seizing the Moment
It’s a question she returned to during the COVID-19 pandemic, when Dr. Duppong Hurley noticed how emails from Boys Town’s Parenting.org delivered behavioral health information to families.
Intrigued, she connected with the Boys Town marketing team to explore options to text families timely information. Fortunately, they had recently switched to a new texting service that could handle sending automated texts to families.
Around the same time, Boys Town Education Center (BTEC) administrators brought up a specific need at a campuswide meeting: Family-Teachers and Assistant Family-Teachers wanted help understanding the special education process.
With both a clear need and an existing technology right here at Boys Town, Dr. Duppong Hurley seized the opportunity to launch a research project centered on a simple idea.
“What if we could text these parents some information, and every few days they got the next little nugget of information?” she said. “This was the idea, but you need the right moment to make something happen.”
Gathering a Team
The resulting research collaboration included scientists from Boys Town’s Translational Research Center, education experts from the BTEC and the Boys Town marketing team, and faculty collaborators with expertise in school psychology and special education from the University of Nebraska at Omaha and the University of South Florida.
From a research perspective, Dr. Duppong Hurley and colleagues designed the project around a framework known as the four Cs of family engagement: capabilities, confidence, connections and cognition.
In practice, that means improving parents’ capabilities in navigating special education procedures, confidence in advocating for their children, positive connections with school and support networks, and cognizance of the role they play in their child’s education.
To develop the content, Dr. Duppong Hurley partnered with Trisha Kuiper, Boys Town director of special education, and her team.
“When we were selecting topics, we wanted them to be straightforward so people could understand the basics of special education,” Kuiper said. “It was truly to be able to understand the first steps and the fundamentals of special education.”
Together, the team developed 21 lessons organized around four special education topics. It was important that the information could apply to any parent anywhere.
“It’s friendly enough and generic enough that it applies to everybody,” Kuiper said. “If a parent wanted to learn more, we also identified and included two to three additional resources on that topic.”
To implement the delivery of the texts, Dr. Duppong Hurley worked with the marketing team. They ensured each message was easily readable on a mobile phone and could be delivered on an automated schedule.
Reviewing the Response
Two research studies have been conducted since the launch of the program. One involved Boys Town Family-Teachers and Assistant Family-Teachers, and the other included parents of children receiving special education services that previously participated in research at Boys Town National Research Hospital.
Family-Teachers and Assistant Family-Teachers were enthusiastic about the format. “Some of them were saying: ‘Can we get all of our training this way?’” Dr. Duppong Hurley said.
Many parents shared that the information from text messages reassured them that they were taking the right steps with their child’s education and increased their confidence to work with their school and advocate for their child. One parent shared that the text messages helped them feel comfortable connecting with a parent support organization, leading to greater involvement advocating for their child and connecting with other parents.
It’s an example of the power of what Dr. Duppong Hurley called a “nudge intervention.”
“This is a simple text,” she said. “We weren’t expecting that we would get stories of what we would call pretty substantial change.”
Looking to the Future
Dr. Duppong Hurley’s research will continue to focus on implementation science, or understanding how this program can work the best in real-world settings. She and her colleagues Sara Kupzyk, Ph.D., and Apryl Poch, Ph.D., at UNO have submitted a proposal for additional research to refine and expand the program, including adding a component to text educators strategies to improve family engagement.
Looking ahead, Dr. Duppong Hurley sees potential for use in clinics, schools and juvenile justice systems.
For her, the project reflects what makes Boys Town unique: the ability to transform research into practical tools that directly support families.
“Here, you can take an idea and then you can work with our teams to make it a reality, and get it into the hands of families, staff and whoever needs it,” Dr. Duppong Hurley said.