Qualtrics and Character Lab Partner to Launch the “Return to Learn Pulse”, a Well-Being Assessment for Educators

As schools adapt to new learning environments, the Return to Learn Pulse helps them continuously listen to how their students and staff feel about their well-being, including their physical safety and learning environment and needs

SALT LAKE CITY, SEATTLE, and PHILADELPHIA, August 27, 2020 — Qualtrics, the leader in customer experience and creator of the experience management category, today announced a collaboration with Character Lab, a nonprofit organization founded by Angela Duckworth that advances scientific insights to help kids thrive, to launch the Return to Learn Pulse. The pulse includes a well-being component that assesses how students, faculty, and staff are handling the new normal and what actions can be taken to improve safety, health, and ability to thrive. By combining their expertise in education research, academic technology, and student well-being Qualtrics and Character Lab developed a standardized, easily deployable method for schools to better understand, support, and act on behalf of students and staff in this new academic year.

Designed to be distributed weekly, the Return to Learn Pulse allows schools to frequently check in with students and staff that includes a set of well-being topics such as sense of belonging, sleep habits, and physical safety. Schools can act on the feedback by assigning resources to support students where they are most needed. Character Lab developed the instrument with input directly from students and educators to ensure that the content is aligned with school needs and to encourage student participation.

“As schools have completely reimagined how they engage with students as a result of the COVID pandemic, it’s more important than ever that they understand how students and staff are coping in their environments,” said Character Lab Executive Director Sean Talamas. “The Return to Learn Pulse will help direct schools’ limited resources exactly where they need to go so that they can holistically support their school communities across a variety of well-being topics.”

The well-being component of the Return to Learn Pulse contains questions related to students’ recent emotions, challenges, physical activity, and habits. Schools are then empowered with feedback about how each individual, student, or staff member, is doing during remote learning or in-person instruction. Results can be shared instantaneously in easily accessible dashboards so that teachers, administrators, social workers, or other staff can act quickly on the most urgent needs that the feedback surfaces. This also allows schools to understand how sentiment changes over time to identify trends and apply best practices from Character Lab’s Playbooks and Tips.

“Character Lab has been at the forefront of leveraging science and research to help students thrive in their education, which is why they were the perfect partners to work with Qualtrics on developing this well-being solution,” said Omar Garriott, Global Industry Leader for Education at Qualtrics. “The Return to Learn Pulse creates a feedback loop between educators and students that creates a habit of continuous listening and improvement, which are extremely critical during the most pivotal school year in recent history.”

The Return to Learn Pulse is built on the Qualtrics XM Platform™, which maintains the highest security certifications including ISO 27001 and FedRAMP. Qualtrics is also HITRUST certified, which means its technology platform provides customers the tools they need to manage HIPAA compliance.

Learn more about the Return to Learn Hub here.

About Character Lab
Character Lab is a nonprofit organization that connects researchers with educators to create greater knowledge about the conditions that lead to social, emotional, academic, and physical well-being for young people throughout the country. Character Lab was founded in 2013 by a scientist and two educators: Angela Duckworth, author of Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance and Rosa Lee and Egbert Chang Professor at the University of Pennsylvania; Dave Levin, co-founder of KIPP public charter schools; and Dominic Randolph, Head of School at Riverdale Country School. Learn more at characterlab.org.

About Qualtrics
Qualtrics, the leader in customer experience and creator of the Experience Management (XM) category, is changing the way organizations manage and improve the four core experiences of business––customer, employee, product, and brand. Over 11,000 organizations around the world are using Qualtrics to listen, understand, and take action on experience data (X-data™)––the beliefs, emotions, and intentions that tell you why things are happening, and what to do about it. The Qualtrics XM Platform™ is a system of action that helps businesses attract customers who stay longer and buy more, engage employees who build a positive culture, develop breakthrough products people love, and build a brand people are passionate about. Learn more at qualtrics.com.