A Guide to Successful Middle School Conferences

What are conferences for?

Conferences between parents and teachers are one of several ways that adults can share information about the progress of children in school. Along with report cards, telephone calls, and interim reports, conferences are part of an on-going information sharing process, but many people believe the face-to-face interaction of a conference provides a unique opportunity. The purpose of this booklet is to help everyone involved in conferences at Iroquois Middle School understand the role these meetings play in improving communications between school and home.

At district elementary schools, conferences are in integral part of the reporting process. Twice a year parents review the six-page elementary report card with their child’s teacher. Each elementary teacher has four-half days in the fall and the spring when he or she meets for at least twenty minutes with the parents of each of the twenty to thirty students he or she teaches. Additional conferences may be scheduled throughout the year as needed, but few parents voluntarily miss these important sessions.

Beginning at the middle school in sixth grade, the conference takes on a different look. Teachers of English, mathematics, science and social studies are organized into teams of between 110 and 130 students. In addition, new classes such as home and careers, technology and health are added to a child’s schedule. Report cards come home four times a year rather than three, and interim reports and telephone conversations add to the communications. While time each semester is still set aside for parent conferences, because of the differences described above, not every parent can see every teacher twice a year. Conferences are more often scheduled, either by an individual teacher or a team, to deal with specific problem or concern that either teachers or parents have, replacing the biannual conference parents expected in the earlier grades.

Conference Days

At Middle School the parent/teacher conferences follow the first and second marking periods. We schedule two grade 6-8 conference dates and an additional 2 dates for grade 6. Our request rate for conferences at grade 6 is typically higher than at the other two levels. On school wide conference days the students are dismissed at 12:00 PM, and conferences follow. On sixth grade conference days only the sixth grade students are dismissed at 12:00 PM while the 7^th and 8^th grade students follow their regular schedule. These dismissal times allow us to comply with state education regulations to time requirements necessary to qualify for state aid. The difference in the dismissal times is attributable to the fact that sixth grade qualifies as an elementary grade and requires less time in session to meet state mandates.

Questions always arise among parents, especially those new to the middle school, about the procedures for conferences. Many parents fresh from elementary school are used to automatic conferences both fall and spring. At middle school, conferences are not automatic but occur if either teachers or parents feel the need. There are reasons for doing it this way. Most middle school teachers have a class load of 110-130 students. This makes an individual conference with each child’s parents almost impossible to schedule given the time allocated. To address the difficulties presented by the time available for conferences, we schedule many conferences at other time slots in addition to the actual half-day designations. Conferences occur before and after school as well as during the school day. Sometimes telephone conferences are adequate.

Special area teachers (i.e. art, music, reading, Special Ed., etc.) may also join the team teachers for parent conferences. Since many of them teach all three grade levels, they are not always able to make all conferences on full school conference days. On sixth grade only conference days they may be teaching at the other two grade levels and so be unable to attend parent conferences.

Conferences – Two Points of View

As a middle school teacher, there are several things I hope to accomplish in a parent conference. My first goal is to make certain that the parents have a clear view of their child’s progress in my class. Often parents will have questions or concerns about their child’s performance that are not answered on the report card. Next, I hope to discuss the areas of concern that prompted the conference. A conference may be requested because of academic weaknesses, or attitude and effort concerns. The specific actions in order to improve achievement or attitude can then be clearly defined. But the most important outcome of a conference is to reach agreement on the roles that the parents and I will play in helping the child improve. This is ultimately the most powerful factor in ensuring that the child will be successful in school.

As a parent, I rely on parent-teacher conferences to “fill in the blanks” of my child’s busy day. Most of the major academic concerns of the teachers are addressed on interim reports and/or report cards. But the things that take too long to write about concern me during these difficult years. Several questions come to mind.

• What can I do to help my child achieve his own level of success?

• Are there certain things I should see my child doing during his homework period that he doesn’t put in his assignment book?

• Is my child having an easy or hard time interacting with his peers?

The answers to these types of questions give me a well-rounded view of my child’s time spent at school and enables me to be more helpful to my child and his teachers.

Conference Preplanning Teacher Point of View

Frequently teachers meet prior to a conference to preplan. This planning consists of discussing student’s strengths and weaknesses as well as the goal to be attained by the student as a result of the conference. Prior to the scheduled conference, the expectation is that parents may have been contacted via phone, progress reports, or other written communication. Also, the teacher will likely have discussed the problem(s) with the student. Other things done prior to conferences include talking to the school counseling center office and talking with other teachers.

An expectation of the conference would be to discuss the strategies to help students improve study skills, work habits, behavior and/or academics.

Conferences are also held to deal with influences outside of school that may be impacting a student’s behavior or accomplishment in school.

Conference Preplanning Parent Point of View

Home can provide an important extension of the classroom experience and parents can be partners with teachers to provide superior experiences in the academic fields.

Parents should come to the conference with a clear cut objective. (Example: how to help at home, specific curriculum questions, social issues, etc.) Conferences often revolve around problem solving but may also be used to exchange information important to the student’s performance. Planning for the conference may include parent/student interactions regarding school.

The need for a conference may come about in a various way. It may be as a result of an ongoing dialogue at home, a report card, change in attitude and interest of a student, drop in grades, change in behavior, or contact by a concerned teacher.

Following the conference it is important for parents to give feedback to the student. It is vital to give students consistent messages from home and school.

Suggested topics for conferences

A student’s academic success will be affected by learning styles, study habits, ability levels, and social and emotional issues. It is helpful to both the teachers and the parents to be aware of any factors that may be interfering with a student’s academic progress or emotional wellbeing.

What teachers and parents observe in the following areas are important to discuss at a conference:

Academic Performance

· Level of achievement

· Effort

· Homework record

· Thoroughness of class work and homework

· Organizational skills

· Focus and attentiveness in class

· Any known or suspected learning difficulties

· Gaps or deficiencies in content areas

Social and Emotional Concerns

· Interactions with peers (ease of interactions, who student spends time with, cooperation in groups…)

· Level of distractibility

· Attitude toward staff and other students

· How happy or unhappy a student generally appears to be

· Mood swings

· Attendance patterns

· General behavior-in the class room, halls, cafeteria, etc

· Factors at home (e.g. family illness, separations, divorce, sibling situations, and the like) which will affect students’ emotional state and level of performance

In Summary

The time available for parent conferences is limited and participants want to make the most of it. The agenda for a successful conference includes:

· State the issues

· Problem solve

· Summarize actions

Continuous evaluation of academic performance and effort is provided during the year through phone calls, interim reports and the report card. Certain situations require other forms of communication between parents and teachers. These actions may be determined at the conclusion of a parent conference in order to monitor a child’s progress. Teachers may agree to initial a student’s assignment notebook on a daily basis in order to ensure that the homework was recorded. Parents may agree to initial the book in the evening to note that homework was completed. The assignment notebook can serve as vehicle for daily communication between parent and teacher if questions or concerns arise. Parents may request a phone call from the school counselor after a few weeks to provide feedback from the teachers about a child’s progress. The school counselor may also circulate a behavior report to be filled out by the child’s teachers and then call home with the results to regularly provide feedback to parents. Communication between home and school is essential in order to monitor, evaluate and revise action plans.

Parent and teacher conferences may be called for a variety of reasons but all have the goal of ensuring a positive, successful middle school experience.

Parent/Teacher Conference Checklist:

· Be on time

· Call if you need to reschedule

· Be prepared to take notes

· Summarize plan of action

· State reason for conference

· Review responsibilities for action plan