Parent conferences
Many middle schools experience a sharp decline in participation at parent conferences as parents sense their young adolescents’ discomfort with any form of parental participation—especially at school where peers might see them. In addition, divorce, poverty, homes where both parents work full-time, and language issues often discourage parents from attending conferences.
As a result, effective middle schools use the following strategies to invite participation by a parent/guardian or caring adult:
- Send fliers or letters in all family languages and offer interpreter services.
- Organize the Associated Student Body to offer child care for community service credit.
- Provide before, during, and after-school meeting options.
- Provide bus passes in cooperation with the city or regional transit system
- Offer food.
- Provide fun events (for example, ask a popular radio station to set up a mobile DJ in the parking lot or partner with a mother/child wellness clinic to offer health tips to low-income families during parent conference time.)
- Team with other regional health and community service organizations so that busy parents—particularly those who struggle with poverty—can take care of more than one appointment at one time.
- Make sure students are invited to bring guardians (privacy policies and student safety concerns mean that nonlegal guardians should not substitute during parent conferences.)
- Initiate student-led conferences.
In the Spotlight
Rio Norte Junior High School, William S. Hart Union High School District
Teacher teams use a grade warning letter to keep parents or guardians abreast of student difficulties prior to the student conferences. The school uses a behavior letter to let parents or guardians know about behavioral issues that interfere with learning. The early warnings help to prevent parents or guardians from being taken by surprise at the conference. The early warning system also gives parents or guardians an opportunity to ask their children about the difficulties they experience so they can work as partners with the teachers in finding solutions.
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