As education choice grows, families’ need to successfully navigate their choices grows too. Utah’s new universal education savings account program, called Utah Fits All, has prompted the creation of its own platform to help scholarship families search and pay for their options. But there are many different ways to create a navigator website for parents.
NavigatEd AZ is another example of a navigator website, a sort of one-stop shop that supports families based in Arizona, as the name suggests. This website helps parents navigate all options and is not primarily for scholarship recipients.
Sutherland sees the values in all choices – private and public – so we wanted to learn more from navigatED AZ’s executive director, Laura Ciscomani. I asked her questions for this very purpose. You can read the Q&A below.
Fairbanks: From my understanding, navigatED AZ is an online platform where families can learn about all their education options – public or private. What is its origin story? And what is the long-term vision for navigatED AZ?
Ciscomani: NavigatED AZ empowers Arizona parents with the information to confidently understand and navigate all the education pathways available to them. Our bilingual call center provides free one-on-one expert support for parents. Our support services focus on PK-12 school navigation to help families find the best learning environment for their children. Our one-on-one services lead with listening, and respect all school models – public district, magnet, charter, private, micro, online, hybrid, and homeschool. We strictly maintain impartiality with respect to school models, ensuring that different school types are included in the information provided to parents. We believe parents should lead the way in their child’s education.
NavigatED AZ was launched by a group of Arizona education leaders as a response to the need for clarity and guidance in the state’s educational landscape. What they found was that despite Arizona being a pioneer of educational freedom, from unrestricted open enrollment to charter schools, to universal Education Savings Accounts, many Arizona parents still lacked awareness of all the education pathways available to them. This reality is significantly more pronounced in economically disadvantaged communities, those furthest from opportunity. Data from a recent EdChoice and Braun Research survey support our findings on the ground. Nearly half of parents from an ESA state said they were “unsure whether their state has such a program (49%) or not (51%).” Similar stats exist for parents’ awareness about open enrollment in traditional public school districts. Our founders aimed to provide equal access to educational resources by making school navigation services readily available statewide and without cost.
The long-term vision for navigatED AZ is to become parents’ go-to resource for education information in Arizona, ensuring that every family can easily access and understand their educational options. What is more, we seek to serve parents by being a one-stop shop for all educational inquiries.
Fairbanks: Has navigatED AZ grown or changed in any way over time? If so, how?
Ciscomani: NavigatED AZ is adapting the way it reaches Arizona families to better serve them. We are gearing up to launch a Spanish-only platform that will serve as an extension of our mission to empower parents. We understand that reaching parents is half the battle to the work we do as a navigator organization. To reach Hispanic parents in Arizona, it’s not enough to simply offer bilingual services. We also need to utilize the communication platforms used widely in the Hispanic community. For this reason, creating a unique website that leverages WhatsApp and integrates this platform to our bilingual call center and CRM is critical to reaching Hispanic parents. We believe that more parents will access our navigation services via this medium, and that this strategic pivot will help us grow our network of parents and brand awareness in Arizona’s Hispanic population. By growing our parent network and brand awareness, we are elevating awareness around school choice in Arizona and becoming a trusted partner to parents in providing neutral, expert and bilingual navigation services in our state.
Fairbanks: What have you learned from Arizona families about navigating choices? For instance, is it easier or more complicated than one thinks?
Ciscomani: Through engagement with Arizona families, navigatED AZ has learned that navigating educational choices can be both simpler and more complex than anticipated. While the availability of diverse options is empowering, it can also be overwhelming without clear guidance. Many families express gratitude for our one-on-one support in simplifying decision-making processes and addressing unique circumstances.
We have heard from parents countless times that they simply lacked awareness of the school options available to their children. Like Maria Sanchez, who said the following of the support navigatED AZ provided her: “The work that navigatED AZ does is a huge help. As a parent I only know of the schools that I’m zoned to, I didn’t know of any other schools in my area. I wasn’t aware that there were any other options. I didn’t think I had a choice.”
Oftentimes, parents come to us seeking help for their children with unique circumstances. These instances underscore even further the importance of working closely with parents to ensure their child is in the right learning environment. One such parent, Ismelda, stated this about navigatED AZ: “For me personally, [navigatED AZ] was like a ray of hope when I thought there was no way out. This program gave me the hope and help my son needs. I am not alone. Their entire team is walking with me through the process of finding educational help for my son.”
Fairbanks: Other states and education leaders may be interested in creating similar initiatives. How do you collaborate with providers, both public and private? What kinds of applications are available on your website?
Ciscomani: Collaborating with local schools and districts helps us continue to provide our network of parents with vital information about the educational opportunities available to them. Given the vast amount of school choice in Arizona, our local schools have quickly adapted to attract students, whether it’s via traditional marketing, social media, or community outreach. NavigatED AZ is a ready partner to schools who are seeking strategic partners to promote their good work. We actively seek partnerships with parent-facing organizations to complement their work, and render an additional service to their families. We accomplish this by entering formal partnerships, attending community events, and providing educational presentations.
Fairbanks: What do you wish policymakers knew about the on-the-ground experience as they expand education options?
Ciscomani: The opportunity gap that occurs often before a child reaches the classroom is the awareness gap that exists due to an inability to navigate school options due to limited resources. Parents who are resource-restricted face additional obstacles to navigating school options like language and knowledge barriers, time constraints, or the unique educational or social needs of their individual children. The ability to explore and navigate educational options is all too often a luxury reserved for families with extra time and resources.
For this reason, passing legislation that empowers families to choose any school does not mean families will participate in a school choice program. School choice is not unlike other social programs that struggle with the very foundational barrier of lack of awareness. navigatED AZ wishes to convey the importance of understanding the nuanced, on-the-ground experiences of families as they navigate educational options. Policymakers should recognize the value of navigators like navigatED AZ in helping families understand their educational options.
Laura Ciscomani is a dynamic leader in Arizona’s nonprofit and public-policy sectors, currently serving as Executive Director of navigatED AZ. Faith and family are central to her life: she and her husband, Congressman Juan Ciscomani, are raising six children in Tucson—upholding the values of service, education, and opportunity that have defined her journey.
