After the conference
- Talk about the conference with your child.
- Talk about the positive points, and be direct about problems.
- Tell your child about any plans you and the teacher created.
- Keep in touch with the teacher during the school year.
- Did you run out of time? It's often hard to fit it all in during one conference. If you still have unanswered questions, follow up with a written note, or schedule a second face-to-face meeting. Develop a solid relationship with your child's teacher — consider it your homework for the year!
Please consider…
Parent Benefits
Positive parent-school communications benefit parents. The manner in which schools communicate and interact with parents affects the extent and quality of parents' home involvement with their children's learning. For example, schools that communicate bad news about student performance more often than recognizing students' excellence will discourage parent involvement by making parents feel they cannot effectively help their children.
Parents also benefit from being involved in their children's education by getting ideas from school on how to help and support their children, and by learning more about the school's academic program and how it works. Perhaps most important, parents benefit by becoming more confident about the value of their school involvement. Parents develop a greater appreciation for the important role they play in their children's education.
Student Benefits
Substantial evidence exists showing that parent involvement benefits students, including raising their academic achievement. There are other advantages for children when parents become involved — namely, increased motivation for learning, improved behavior, more regular attendance, and a more positive attitude about homework and school in general.
Teacher Benefits
Research shows that parental involvement can free teachers to focus more on the task of teaching children. Also, by having more contact with parents, teachers learn more about students' needs and home environment, which is information they can apply toward better meeting those needs. Parents who are involved tend to have a more positive view of teachers, which results in improved teacher morale.
Good Two-Way Communication
Good two-way communication between families and schools is necessary for your students' success. Not surprisingly, research shows that the more parents and teachers share relevant information with each other about a student, the better equipped both will be to help that student achieve academically.