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January 1, 2005
Vol. 47
No. 1

Where Students Lead, Achievement Follows

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Opal Dawson grew up on the rough streets of Chicago's South Side. The daughter of a single mother and sister to five siblings, she learned at an early age the value of clearing her mind of the word “can't.” A crucial component to overcoming the odds was finding support and learning to build on it. Now, as the principal of an urban Montessori school where 67 percent of the students also come from single parent households, she looks for any chance to share this philosophy. Through practice, she's found that student-led parent-teacher conferences are a way to create positive alliances between home and school and empower students to take ownership of their own success.

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Students in the Middle

These student-led conferences support accountability, Dawson said. They put students in the middle of learning goals and teacher expectations. With the teacher as the facilitator, students review and reflect upon their work with their family and teacher. Students are no longer passive recipients of grades, and parents no longer feel in the dark about the work leading up to a culminating grade. Along with their parents, students explicitly analyze how their work stacks up to the criteria the teacher uses to judge the assignments.
As students review their educational progress through the conference, they are the primary agents for setting their own goals, Dawson noted. “The open communication style of a student-led conference means that parents are going to interact a lot more and get a lot more information about their child's learning and skills,” she added. This is key to securing parent support of the goals set by the student and teacher. Also, students can help bridge language barriers between teachers and parents, making conferences less intimidating to non-English-speaking parents.

Dos and Don'ts

Dawson offered a few guidelines for getting started using student-led parent-teacher conferences:
  • Do role-play conferencing with teacher peers or the student beforehand.
  • Don't let the conference be the first time you meet parents. Call or e-mail parents during the first weeks of school. Try to arrange an informal meeting at the first school event.
  • Do let data guide you. Save work samples and review them objectively.
  • Don't be afraid to ask parents for help. Ask them, “What works at home?”
  • Do set an agenda before the conference—it can be tight or loose based on your rapport with the parents.
Student-led conferences get students, parents, and teachers all working toward the same goal, Dawson noted. These conferences help school communities tap their inherent power by sharing expectations, goals, and a firm belief in “can.”

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