Blackbaud Report Reveals COVID-19 is Reshaping K–12 Parent Expectations

Accelerated EdTech adoption setting new baselines for educational technology, methodologies and communications

Charleston, S.C. (October 22, 2020) — Blackbaud (NASDAQ: BLKB), the world’s leading cloud software company  powering social good and a top provider of school management solutions for K–12 private schools, has released a new report detailing how COVID-19 is changing parent expectations. As remote learning accelerated the use of educational technology (EdTech), private school parents report increased expectations for the value of educational technology and modernized learning methodologies such as competency-based education. The report is based on a survey of 7,450 public and private school parents conducted by YouGov in the second half of August.

“We set out to gain a better understanding about how COVID-19 is shaping family perceptions of private schools, from remote learning and overall satisfaction, to learning management and communications,” said Travis Warren, president and GM, Blackbaud K–12 Solutions. “It’s clear from this research that the impacts of COVID-19 on private school EdTech adoption will last well after the pandemic has passed. Families expect schools to invest in technologies that help educators stay engaged with students, students stay on top of their schedule and assignments and parents stay informed and appropriately involved.”

Key Findings

• Parent satisfaction with private schools is high – 85% of parents with a child attending private school last spring are Satisfied or Very Satisfied with how their child’s school handled remote teaching and learning and 72% of parents saying they’re very or extremely satisfied with value of their investment in private school.
• Typical enrollment trends have been disrupted – One in five families made plans to change their child’s school and another 18% seriously considered doing so as of late August.
• Attitudes toward the digital experience of education have changed – 71% say technology for teaching and learning has become more important. Prospective families are now more likely to consider the digital experience in their evaluation.
• Parent expectations for the way schools use technology has changed – 54% now expect students to have access to all learning resources online and 56% want their child’s school in invest in educational applications for both teachers and students that are all in one place/platform.
• Parents expect greater visibility their child’s education and individual progress – 84% expect to receive messages from teachers at least once per week and 59% want access to updated academic progress, such as grades, daily.
• Parents expect modernized educational practices – 85% expressed interest in competency-based education (CBE), a methodology that prioritizes mastery of skills over the traditional approach of earning passing grades to progress. This interest eclipses the 73% percent who say a form of CBE is already taking place in their schools.

“Our school has undergone an irreversible technological shift,” said Linda Lawrence, chief technology officer at Ransom Everglades School in Miami, Florida. “Teachers, students, and parents are all more reliant on technology for day-to-day classroom instruction and communication. Seeing technological tools facilitate meaningful learning, engaged collaboration, creative application, and purposeful demonstration of student understanding has us asking bigger questions about our educational model moving forward.”

Read the report “Rethink Change: Accelerating Education Technology Adoption in K–12 Private Schools” here. In partnership with YouGov, Blackbaud surveyed 7,450 public and private school parents in the United States and Canada for the report. YouGov is a global public opinion and data company. Learn more about Blackbaud’s solutions for K-12 private schools.

About Blackbaud

Blackbaud (NASDAQ: BLKB) is the world’s leading cloud software company powering social good. Serving the entire social good community—nonprofits, higher education institutions, K–12 schools, healthcare organizations, faith communities, arts and cultural organizations, foundations, companies and individual change agents—Blackbaud connects and empowers organizations to increase their impact through cloud software, services, expertise and data intelligence. The Blackbaud portfolio is tailored to the unique needs of vertical markets, with solutions for fundraising and CRM, marketing, advocacy, peer-to-peer fundraising, corporate social responsibility, school management, ticketing, grantmaking, financial management, payment processing and analytics. Serving the industry for more than three decades, Blackbaud is headquartered in Charleston, South Carolina, and has operations in the United States, Australia, Canada, Costa Rica and the United Kingdom. For more information, visit  www.blackbaud.com or follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook.

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Forward-looking Statements

Except for historical information, all of the statements, expectations, and assumptions contained in this news release are forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties, including statements regarding expected benefits of products and product features. Although Blackbaud attempts to be accurate in making these forward-looking statements, it is possible that future circumstances might differ from the assumptions on which such statements are based. In addition, other important factors that could cause results to differ materially include the following: general economic risks; uncertainty regarding increased business and renewals from existing customers; continued success in sales growth; management of integration of acquired companies and other risks associated with acquisitions; risks associated with successful implementation of multiple integrated software products; the ability to attract and retain key personnel; risks associated with management of growth; lengthy sales and implementation cycles, particularly in larger organization; technological changes that make our products and services less competitive; and the other risk factors set forth from time to time in the SEC filings for Blackbaud, copies of which are available free of charge at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov or upon request from Blackbaud’s investor relations department. All Blackbaud product names appearing herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of Blackbaud, Inc.