Parent-Teacher, Student-Teacher, or Student-Parent-Teacher Conferences

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Narratives are only one way to share comments about student work. Even better, when the opportunity arises, is to talk with the students and parents about student achievement because then you can listen and have a dialogue. Parent conferences require that teachers use the same observational, summarizing, and goal-setting skills as do narrative assessments. In this case, however, oral communication skills and relationship skills are the vehicle for working with parents instead of writing skills. Student conferences can be a regular part of some classes, typically concerning individual assignments before students turn in the final product.

Set A Purpose

In some cases you won’t have much choice about whether or not to hold parent conferences. Many school districts require one or two parent conferences be offered each year, especially for younger students. Decide what evidence you’ll need to collect, and in what form, to show to parents at the conference. It may sound silly now, but I remember doing parent conferences with middle school students years ago prepared only with the gradebook. It never occurred to me that systematically saved pieces of evidence would give me a good conversation starter or focusing tool. Even if you are just doing individual student conferences about one assignment in your classroom, set a purpose. Don’t start talking with students until you know what you want to accomplish with the conference.

Plan The Logistics

For conferences, planning the logistics can be complicated. Schedules and appointments must be made, and appropriate space reserved. The space needs to provide privacy. You shouldn’t, for instance, conduct conferences in your classroom with one family while another waits for their turn in the same room.

Collect The Evidence

There are several different ways you can prepare the evidence for conferences. Portfolios can be shared at conferences, as can checklists, anecdotal records, narratives, or grades. You can collect individual pieces of evidence to show as illustrations of the general level of student work, and reasons students received the kind of grades they did. Students can assist in the selection of evidence. How exactly you should do this depends on the purpose of the conference.

Interpret the Evidence, Communicate the Information, and Listen to The Response

The interpretation and communication process for conferences is similar to that for narratives and portfolios, with one important difference: You will be talking directly with students or parents; therefore, it is extremely important that you actively listen to what they have to say. Involve them in interpreting the evidence from student work or from your observations of students in class.

Strengths and Weaknesses

The major advantage of conferences is the opportunity for dialogue. This, of course, requires good listening and interpersonal skills. Another strength of conferences is that they help develop home-school relationships. Face-to-face communication allows for better understanding between parents and teachers, the two most important sets of adults in the child’s life, and among parents, teachers, and the student.