The parent-teacher conference can play a significant role in the education of our students in three (3) important ways:
| A. | providing the teacher with vital information from parents that will strengthen the plans and strategies the teacher uses with a student |
|
| B. | helping parents understand more clearly what the school and the teacher are trying to accomplish with a student, what is required for students to accomplish such results, and what the parent can do to facilitate the process |
|
| C. | building a strong home-school partnership that has implications for support of school programs beyond particular classroom or grade |
|
Each principal, in collaboration with the school staff should incorporate a parent-teacher conference plan as part of the educational plan that each building is to design and implement each year. Among the strategies contained in such a conference plan should be:
| A. | creating an environment in which the interaction with parents is based on a partnership mind-set rather than one which communicates "we know and tell, you don't know, so listen"; |
|
| B. | beginning an open-house or initial conference with a clear, concise description for each academic area of: |
|
| | 1. | what the desired learning outcomes are for the year; |
|
| | 2. | why it is important that the student both acquires and then applies those learnings; |
|
| | 3. | what learning processes and strategies the student will need to be able to use to achieve such outcomes; |
|
| | 4. | what techniques, strategies, and other actions the teacher will be using to help the student achieve the outcomes; |
|
| C. | providing opportunities for parents to ask questions regarding both the ends and the means and to suggest additions and modifications to both; |
|
| D. | ensuring that at any special conferences with parents, the parents leave with: |
|
| | 1. | one or more action plans for helping their child which the teacher and parent have developed and agreed upon; |
|
| | 2. | a clear understanding of what progress reports and report cards will contain; how they should be interpreted and how they should be used by parents in supporting their child's learning efforts; |
|
| E. | correlating the first conference with subsequent conferences by linking observations, comments, suggestions, etc. to the learning ends and means discussed at the first conference. |
|
The plan should also provide for communication to staff and parents regarding:
| A. | the time schedule which includes the approximate length of the conferences and time of day (or night) conferences will be held; |
|
| B. | the procedure for release of students. |
|