Parent-teacher conferences give you a chance to talk your child's teachers to discuss your child's progress, performance or problems at school. It's a valuable tool for making sure your child gets the best education possible.
Whether you're preparing for a conference at the beginning or in the middle of the school year, here's a checklist of potential things to ask to help you get the most out of the meeting. It's a long list and the average meeting runs about 20 minutes. Take some time to determine what's the most important to you.
Classroom Activities
- What topics have (or will be) covered in class this year?
- In which classes or subjects does my child do well? Which not so well? What are my child's strengths and weaknesses?
- Does my child participate in class? How much compared to other students? How many students are in your classes?
- Is my child in different groups or "tracks" for different classes or subjects? How are those groups determined?
- How quickly do you move through your lesson plan? When do you know the class in general, and my child in particular, has mastered a skill and is ready to move on to a new one?
- What level of achievement do you expect of your students? For instance, do you expect my fifth grader to read at a sixth grade level? Is my child meeting those standards?
- How did you determine my child's grade? How much weight do you give tests, homework and projects? Do you offer "extra credit?" Did my child take advantage of it? How many of your students got extra credit?
- Is your lesson plan geared to prepare students for the next level - high school or college?
Helping at Home
- How much homework do you assign? How long should my child spend on homework? Do you give students time to do homework during class time?
- What can I do at home to help my child?
- Do you post homework assignments, test dates and grades online so I can keep track of things?
Next: More questions to ask