5 Tips for a Successful Parent-Teacher Conference
March 26, 2012 RSS Feed PrintParents and high school teachers are not typically people with ample free time. But as the two groups that often influence children and their education the most, parents and teachers need to make time to communicate with each other.
They should form a partnership, says National Parent Teacher Association (PTA) president Betsy Landers, because parents and teachers both want their students to succeed. One important way to ensure the child's success is by engaging in effective parent-teacher conferences.
For parents, the most important step is showing up to the conference, which often means taking time off of work. In fact,Maryland legislators are currently working on a bill that would force business owners to give their parent-employees up to four hours of unpaid leave twice each semester to attend parent-teacher conferences.
[Read how students learn better with engaged parents.]
Parents in every state need to "do their homework" before attending the meeting, says Landers, and must know how to make every minute count once it starts. Here are five tips from Landers on how to do just that.
1. Talk to your child: Before attending the conference,