Education Week published an article on parent-teacher conferences (9-30-15) entitled Parent-Conferences Get a Makeover and written by Sarah D. Sparks.
In the article she shares how districts have changed their format to academic parent-teacher teams (APTT). The idea is to create meetings where parents and teachers meet and share what they know about the child/children in the parent’s care.
Parents meet with the teacher as a group. The teacher discusses the learning concepts to be mastered over the reporting period and shares each student’s status (no names just student numbers). The teacher models the skills and use of the home activities and provides the necessary materials to assist them. The parents are then asked to set goals within that reporting period for their child. They are expected to help their child work through each skill.
For each reporting period the process is repeated; academic goals are presented, modeled and shared. Where this change as been used,parents feel more involved, enthusiastic and they understand their child’s goals, successes and places where improvements are needed.
What do you think? It sounds like a great idea from where I stand.