Parent–Teacher Conferences

Purposes

Parent–teacher conferences can serve several purposes. First, they serve as a vehicle for bidirectional, reciprocal communication between parents and teachers. The intent of the conference is not solely for the school to provide information to the family but for the family to also contribute their expertise and knowledge. Second, conferences facilitate an exchange of information specifically related to the child's development in home and school settings. Third, parent–teacher conferences provide an opportunity to problem-solve potential issues or needs. Fourth, these meetings also serve to outline shared responsibilities between the school and family to further the academic, behavioral, and social development of the child.

Global Assumptions

Betty Jo Simmons identifies three global assumptions that are essential to producing effective parent–teacher conferences:

• 1.
  Assume good will. This implies the belief that both parents and teachers are coming in to the conference with positive motivations and positive results in mind.
• 2.
  Assume competence. Maintain the viewpoint that parents and teachers share expertise about a child, in different arenas. In an effective conference, both parents and teachers are able to share their expert opinions about a child and his or her functioning.
• 3.
  Assume shared responsibility. Both parents and teachers are invested in the life and development of [Page 766]a student. Both parties must agree to cooperate and work together to seek a common solution that will lead to a child's success.

General Guidelines

There are several general guidelines that enhance the effectiveness of parent–teacher conferences. First, it is helpful to keep the meeting solution focused, following a problem-solving framework. This prevents the meeting from concentrating on what is wrong and redirects the focus to how the issue might be addressed. It also provides the conference with purposeful intent. Second, strategies developed in the conference should be strength-based. Concerns should be addressed in ways that will build upon the strengths and resources possessed by the student, family, and teacher. Third, the discussion should be centered on the child's performance. This separates the performance of a behavior from the entity of the child. Thus, it is not that the child is “bad”; rather, it is that the behavior is not desired. Fourth, it is beneficial to develop a shared ownership of the problem solution. This enhances everyone's commitment, increases the fidelity of intervention developed, and allows for a sharing of resources and demands required in implementing the intervention strategy. Fifth, goals developed should be objective and meaningful. This allows for the evaluation of the effectiveness of the intervention strategy and ensures that the goals are realistic and achievable. Finally, a system for future communication between parents and teacher should be developed and implemented. This provides follow-up information on current issues, promotes future collaboration, and prevents future problems from occurring.

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