Who attends a parent/teacher conference?
- Parents – Preferably both parents attend the conference. With the number of families in which both parents work, this is more difficult to achieve. Teachers have a limited number of evening conference times. If at all possible, both parents should make arrangements to attend the conference even if that means taking off work.
- Teacher(s) – If your child sees a regular education teacher as well as one for special education services, both should be present.
- Support Service Staff
- Advocates
- The student? – This depends on the age of the child. Often, schools will request that students that are third grade and older attend the conference. This gives the child accountability. Check, first, to confirm the policy of your child’s school.
- No younger siblings – If at all possible, make arrangement for younger siblings to stay at home. Young children in the conference can be a distraction for everyone involved. Young children left outside (in the hall) of the conference can easily get into behaviors that are distracting or unsafe. . . not to mention they eat lots of cookies, etc. that are intended for parents who are waiting!
Checklist of Items to Bring:
- Student’s report card
- Student’s progress report
- Student’s IEP
- Information regarding any medication changes
- Contact information changes
- Samples of student work with which you have questions/concerns
- Questions about how to help your child in particular areas
- Copies of any outside testing results
When You Have Concerns about Your Child’s IEP – Some concerns can be discussed at conference. If there is a significant concern, it is always best to contact the teacher as the situations arise. By the time conferences roll around, things that could have easily been taken care of earlier could be way out of control.
If you have a number of concerns, it is probably best to ask for the IEP team to reconvene. Remember that it is always your right as a parent to ask for that anyway when you see a need.
A Note to Consider: Teachers become teachers because they love children and want to see them succeed. No one has ever gone into teaching with the thought of working against student success. Talking calmly about questions and concerns can take care of most situations that come up.
Lynn Moore - Moore is a freelance writer, experienced special education teacher, and mother of two. She has worked as a developmental therapist for ...
