Should Schools Let Parents Choose the Teacher? (continued)

The difference across schools led Jacob and Lefgren to suggest that low-income parents were requesting teachers that they thought would help their kids achieve no matter what. “In general,” says Jacob, “in higher poverty schools there may be a lot of other distractions, problems or issues with learning or teaching in the school so parents in those schools need to make sure their kids have a teacher [who’s focused on learning].” On the other hand, in higher-income schools, where those issues might not enter into daily life as much, parents can focus more on how much their child enjoys their classroom.

• Get applicable information. Talk to parents whose kids are like yours in terms of interests, learning style, and aspects like ADHD or giftedness to learn more about the teachers at your child’s school.  
• Follow the school’s procedure and be polite. Scheduling often takes weeks or even months, especially for large middle schools, be sure to meet every deadline.
• Advocate in writing: If your school has a policy against letting parents choose teachers, approach the topic in writing. Explain what would work best for your child and why, suggests Hassel, and don’t question a specific teacher’s effectiveness.
• Be flexible. Again, especially at the middle school level, students are only with teachers for 40 minutes a day, so not getting the first pick might not affect your child in the long run. Give any teacher-student assignment at least a few weeks to settle in before requesting a change and talk with the teacher and your child to improve the situation first, before you go higher up the chain.