How to Get the Most Out of Parent-Teacher Meetings, Especially This Year

Parent-teacher conferences are one of the main ways families and teachers communicate about student progress but there’s a lot to cover in under 10 minutes. It’s important we as parents be proactive at these meetings to get the information we need to best support our child and establish regular communication with the teacher. Given all the Covid related disruption to learning, this is especially important this year. The vast majority of parents say they want a better understanding of what’s expected of their child this year and how their child is progressing.

Why is having a clear and concrete picture of our child’s achievement important? Significant gaps remain between what parents think and teachers know about student progress. More than 9 in 10 parents (92%) think their child is at or above grade level while average math and reading scores for 9 year olds has declined since 2020, according to results released this month from the 2022 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Long-Term Trend (LTT) assessment. It is the largest score decline in reading since the 1990s and the first-ever decline in mathematics.

With little time for parents and teachers to meaningfully connect, how can parents maximize existing time with teachers, like parent-teacher conferences/meetings? Try this simple 3-step Parent-Teacher Planning Tool designed to help you prepare for these conversations. Here are some ideas for before, during, and after the meeting.

Before the Conference…

Reflect on what your goals are for your child this school year as well as what’s most important for you to share about your child that will help the teacher best connect with them (their strengths, interests, where they need more help). Pay attention to how your child is completing their homework. If they can’t do it on their own, that’s something to share with the teacher as it’s meant to be a review of what’s taught in class.

During the Conference…

Share your goals and insights about your child. Ask direct questions to find out exactly what’s expected this year and how your child is progressing with grade-level skills. Here are some example questions:
–How is my child being supported with grade-level work, despite the disruption to learning over the past couple of years?
–What are the most important grade-level math skills my child is expected to learn and how can I support those skills at home? What kinds of resources do you suggest online or in the community?
–How is my child connecting with classmates? Are they engaged in class and asking/answering questions?
–Can we set up a date/time to touch base in a month about my child’s progress? Let the teacher know you’d like to stay in regular contact.

After the conference…

Send the teacher a thank you note for their time and don’t be shy to ask any questions or share any of your observations that you didn’t get to cover during the meeting. Follow up on the next touch point to talk about your child’s progress and the plan for supporting them together. Talk to your child about what you learned at the meeting so your child knows that you and the teacher are working together to support them.

Parents and educators overwhelmingly agree (89%) it will be essential for families and teachers to work together on a path to recovery. We need an actionable and shared understanding of progress so that we can co-create learning plans in support of our child’s success this year. Think of it as a team getting stronger one conversation at a time—you need your child’s teacher and your child’s teacher needs you!