Parent-Teacher Conference

Student achievement is a top priority in educational institutions, and all stakeholders have a role to play. Parents are students' first teachers and have a vital role to play in their children's education. Hence, parental involvement, some institutions use parent-teacher conferences to get parents involved in their children's schooling. Parent-teacher conferences give teachers and parents a dedicated period to discuss how their children are doing academically, socially, and emotionally (Loeser, 2021). A parent-teacher conference should focus on the student's school progress and opportunities for teacher-parent relationship building. At the elementary level, parents can ascertain information about their child's social and emotional behavior, learning disabilities identified, and academic strengths. The same applies to middle and secondary school students; however, more emphasis is on academic goals. There are times when the child's presence at the conference proves beneficial, as the student becomes actively involved in their academics and the parent gets an opportunity to experience the relationship between the child and the teacher. While developing strategies with the parent and teacher to address shortcomings, the student communicates openly about academic problems and successes.

Parent-teacher conferences have the dual objectives of keeping parents informed about academic progress and involving them in their children's education. Assessments are a crucial part of understanding pupils' performance. According to the American College of Education (ACE), 2019, it is essential to communicate assessment results to a number of stakeholders in order to create a balanced assessment system. By analyzing student data, educators can determine the degree of proficiency of their students. As a result, teachers can provide parents with information on their children's assessments during parent-teacher conferences. Educators can also use conferences to involve parents in assessment decisions, during which parents will get the chance to find out what their child is to learn, the content already taught, and academic progress (Stiggins, 2006). Additionally, parents can see student formative and summative assessment information, the type of assessment used, and compare the subject taught with the exam given (Stiggins, 2006).

References

American College of Education (ACE). (2019). Module 1: The function of assessment part 2 transcript: Balanced assessment. https://ace.instructure.com/courses/1852195/external_tools/118428

Loeser, J. W. (2021). Parent-Teacher Conferences. Salem Press Encyclopedia.

Stiggins, R. (2006, May 30). Balanced assessment systems: Redefining excellence in assessment. https://media.ride.ri.gov/PD/FA/Formative_Assessment_Module_1_Lesson_4/story_content/external_files/Stiggins_Balanced_Assessment_Systems%202006.pdf