Parent–Teacher Conferences:
Quick Tips for Teachers
Why this is important: Research shows that home–school communication predicts positive outcomes for students and for schools.
Approaching Parent–Teacher Conferences
- Createa two-way conversation.
/ Listening to parents can make them feel respected and build trust with them, and also help inform your instruction. Nobody knows your students better than their families.
- Keep the emphasis on learning.
/ Focus on strategies to support student learning. Arm parents with knowledge and suggestions for how to help their children learn.
/ All parents are proud of their children and need to hear about their strengths as well as their challenges. People grow from constructive feedback.
- Print out Pinnacle grade report.
/ Have a copy of the student’s grade report ready to share with parents.
Before the Conference
/ Be prepared to go over student data, assignments, and assessments. Think of what you would like to learn about your students from their parents.
- Prepare thoughts and materials.
/ Create an agenda or list of key issues you want to discuss about each student’s progress and growth. Consider creating a portfolio of student work to walk through with families.
- Complete conference form.
/ Fill in conference form for parents including helpful suggestions for them.
During the Conference
- Show up on time (8:45 am).
/ Be on time (if not early) to the conference.
- Discuss progress and growth.
/ Start with the positive. Help families understand student data in terms of progress with learning goals and identify areas needing to be addressed.
/ Walk parents through the assignments and assessments that demonstrate the student’s progress and abilities.
- Ask questions and listen actively.
/ Solicit family input into student strengths and needs, learning styles, and non-school learning opportunities. Ask parents about their hopes and dreams for their child.
- Share ideas to support learning.
/ Provide suggestions for activities and strategies that can be used at home to help the student learn and grow.
- Seek solutions collaboratively.
/ Assume that you and the family both have the student’s best interests at heart. Emphasize how “we” can work together to resolve any problems rather than judgments about what “they” should do.
/ Finish up by discussing how you and the family will support the student together. Be specific about what you will do, when, for how long, and how you will check-in with one another about progress.
- Establish lines of communication.
/ Describe how you will communicate with families and encourage them can contact you as needed. Schedule a way to follow up in the next few months.
- Give grade report and conference form to parents.
/ Provide parents with a copy of the student’s Pinnacle grade report and a copy of the conference form including feedback and helpful suggestions.
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After the Conference
/ Contact parents and thank them for attending. Ask if they have further questions or concerns and send home materials that can help them support learning at home.
/ Communicate on an ongoing basis with families, with positive news as well as updates on student progress and challenges. Also let families know about other ways they can be involved.
- Connect in-class activities.
/ Create responsive instructional practices based on what you learned about family cultures, home learning environments, and student strengths and needs.
“BE HEARD”
Keep these principles in mind for a great parent–teacher conference:
Best intentions assumed
Emphasis on learning
Home–school collaboration
Examples and evidence
Active listening
Respect for all
Dedication to follow-up
Sources: Harvard Family Research Project. (2010). Parent-teacher conference tip sheet for principles, teachers, and parents. Cambridge, MA: Author.
Henderson, A., Mapp, K. L., Johnson, V., & Davies, D. (2007).Beyond the bake sale: The essential guide to family-school partnerships. New York: The New Press.
Lawrence-Lightfoot, S. (2003).The essential conversation: What parents and teachers can learn from each other. New York: Ballantine Books.
