DSEA Action!

Building strong partnerships Parent"BE HEARD" B Teacher E Conferences: H A Tip Sheet E A for Teachers R emphasize how "we" can work together to resolve any problems. - from the Harvard Research Project Establish lines of communication. Describe how you will communicate with families (i.e., through notes home, phone calls, email etc.) and they can contact you. Schedule a way to follow up on your conference in the next few months. est intentions assumed mphasis on learning ome-school collaboration xamples and evidence ctive listening Make an action plan. Spend the last few minutes discussing how you and the family will support the student. Be specific about the kinds of things you will do, for how long you will do them, and how you will check in with one another about progress. espect for all arent-teacher conferences are an important component of ongoing home-school communication and family involvement in your classroom. Did you also know that home-school communication predicts positive outcomes for students and for schools? Although you may already be working hard to engage parents in their children's education, this tip sheet is designed to build on your own experiences and provide you with additional information to help make your parent-teacher conferences productive and effective. P Ideas for before the conferences Send invitations. Disseminate information about conferences to families through flyers, notes, phone calls, and community meetings. Include information about the timing and goals of the conferences, as well as alternative scheduling options in your invitations. Review student work. Be prepared to go over student data, assignments, and assessments during the conferences. Think of what more you would like to learn about your students from their parents. Prepare thoughts and materials. Create an agenda or list of key issues you want to discuss about each student's progress and growth. Also consider creating a portfolio of student work to walk through with families during the conferences. Send reminders. The week before the conferences, send home a reminder for when and where the conferences will be held. www.dsea.org D edication to follow-up You may also want to include an outline of your agenda to prepare parents for the conferences. Create a welcoming environment. Make your classroom comfortable for families by displaying student work, arranging seating in circles (with adult chairs, if possible), and making a private space for the conferences. Ideas for during the conferences Discuss progress and growth. Starting with the positive, let families know about their child's ability level in different subjects and in relationship to his or her peers. Help families understand student data to demonstrate progress against learning goals and to identify areas that need to be addressed. Use examples. Walk parents through the assignments and assessments that are particularly demonstrative of the student's progress and abilities. Ask questions and listen actively. Solicit family input into student strengths and needs, learning styles, and nonschool learning opportunities. Ask parents about their hope and dreams for their child. Share ideas for supporting learning. Provide suggestions for activities and strategies families can use at home to help their child learn and grow. Seek solutions collaboratively. Avoid judgements about what "they" should do and instead @dseafan Ideas for the conferences Follow up with families. If practical, contact parents (either by phone or in a note) who attended the conference and thank them for doing so. Ask if they have further questions or concerns and send home materials that can help them support learning at home. Contact parents who did not attend, as well, and offer alternative ways to communicate about their child. Communicate regularly. Communicate on an ongoing basis with families, with positive news as well as updates on student progress and challenges. Also let families know about other opportunities for them to be involved. Connect in-class activities. Create responsive instructional practices based on what you learned about family cultures, home learning environments, and student strengths and needs. Approaching Parent-Teacher Conferences • A two-way conversation The parent-teacher conference is not only an opportunity for parents to learn from you, but for you to learn from them. Nobody knows your students better than their families. Their insights into their child's strengths and needs, learning styles and nonschool learning opportunities can help you improve your instructional methods. Your efforts to better understand their aspirations and perspectives make parents feel respected and build trust with them. • Emphasis on learning You can make the most of parentteacher conferences, and other forms of family involvement, by "linking them to learning." This means bringing events and communication back to a discussion of strategies to support student learning. You can arm parents with knowledge and suggestions for how to help their children learn. • Opportunities and challenges We all need praise and constructive criticism to grow. All parents are proud of their children and need to hear about their strengths as well as their challenges from you. This helps show parents that you value the unique strengths of their children and have high expectations for their ability to succeed in school and in life. For more resources on family involvement, visit www.hfrp.org. These tips are baseds on the following resources: Henderson, A., Mapp, K. L., Johnson, V., & Davies D. (2007). Beyond the bake sale: The essential guide to family-school partnership. New York: The New Press. Lawrence-Lightfoot, S. (2003). The essential conversation: What parents and teachers can learn from each other. New York: Ballantine Books. Copyright © 2013 President and Fellows of Harvard College. Reprinted with permission from Harvard Family Research Project. Since 1983, HFRP has helped stakeholders develop and evaluate strategies to promote the wellbeing of children, youth, families, and their communities. To learn more about how HFRP can support your work with children and families, visit www.hfrp.org. Nov./Dec. 2013 DSEA ACTION! 17

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