Parent-Teacher Conferences: Frequency

What I Learned In School Today: How often should we have parent teacher conferences?

Nothing raises teacher anxiety in an elementary school quite like parent-teacher conference week. Tensions rise as the perceived pressure placed upon teachers from parents comes to the forefront in the form of direct face-to-face conversation. Twice a year parents come into the school to discuss their child’s progress and growth and expect to leave knowing how their child is doing in school.

One of the key tenets of how people learn is feedback. We act, we receive feedback, and we change future actions. The more frequent and meaningful the feedback, the more likely learning will occur. In essence, the purpose of parent-teacher conferences is to teach parents of the academic, social, and behavioral progress of their child. Are two conferences a year enough to provide sufficient feedback? Is that infrequent feedback going to give parents the information they need to be meaningful members of the educational team? Probably not.

Every day parents send their children away to school and trust that other adults will keep them safe and help them grow. If schools and parents want to be genuine educational parents, frequent communication is needed.