Establishing a productive parent-teacher partnership requires effort to create a positive, equitable relationship.   Whether you have already talked to your child’s teacher or have not yet met, a parent-teacher conference may be the perfect opportunity to start a cooperative partnership.  Here are a few critical steps a parent can take to ensure a productive and positive conference:

• Before the conference, talk with your child.  Children should understand why the conference is taking place. Is it a routine meeting for all parents, or due to a problem?  Find out if your child has any concerns with schoolwork or classmate relationships, which should be discussed with the teacher.
• Become familiar with homework assignments. How is your child doing with homework?  Are the assignments understood? Work getting done? The conference is the appropriate venue to discuss any homework issues or concerns.
• Prepare to collaborate. Teachers will most often give parents bad news because they want the student to succeed.  Naturally, parents can become defensive and protective, when hearing negative feedback about their child. Assume the teacher has your child’s best interest in mind, and respond calmly and tactfully. Set a date to further discuss the problem or work out a solution.  Remember, teachers are as afraid to give bad news as parents are to hear it.
• Ask Questions.  Prepare a list of questions to ask your child’s teacher.  Is my child meeting expectations or struggling in any area?  If you have any concerns about your child’s behavior or performance, take this opportunity to ask the teacher for feedback. Request any recommended materials or resources to further assist with your child’s educational growth.

Because the average conference lasts only 20 minutes, planning ahead will help you make the most of every minute and maximize the experience.  The parent – teacher conference provides a great opportunity for you and your child’s teacher to share information and insight.  You can develop a relationship with the teacher, open the lines of communication essential to student success, and be a team player in your child’s education.

Recently, I have been reading about standardized testing, including reviews of the Reading First program. There are some studies reporting it does not improve reading in early elementary school children any better than regular programs. Other studies report that it does positively effect early reading test scores. There is so much controversy about the program, that I wonder why we are forgetting about the children. I continually read that the teacher is the one who makes the difference in children’s learning, nearly regardless of the material used. I think that the important feature of early education is how carefully the teacher monitors students’ progress – not how well they have been prepped to take a test. If the test has validity, meaning it is aligned to the skills/standards/objectives of the curriculum, the results will show how well they know the material.
What about early school testing? I think that it can show what children have learned from instruction as well as show where they need review or further instruction. Most early school testing is designed so that the few who need additional work are diagnosed and can be assisted.

What do you think?