Student-led Conferencing
In the previous blog entry, Michael shared ideas to increase parent involvement with the school. Let me add another example to the mix – student-led conferencing. Schools using Breaking Ranks in the Middle© as a framework for school improvement will find this practice clearly helps implement several of the recommendations found in the Core areas of Personalization and Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment. My former school has used this practice for nearly 15 years – the first year we went school-wide, conference attendance rates jumped from 45% to about 95% - that’s a 50% increase in the number of parents/guardians attending their child’s conference! A colleague of mine at NASSP has a daughter who teaches 5th grade in a diverse, high-needs elementary school. This past fall she implemented the practice with her class – and much to the surprise of the rest of the staff, she had 100% attendance. When students are put at the center of the conference, parent participation increases.
Assessment specialist Richard Stiggins says student-led conferencing "… is the biggest breakthrough in communicating about student achievement in the last century. When students are well prepared over an extended period to tell the story of their own success (or lack thereof), they seem to experience a fundamental shift in their internal sense of responsibility for that success. The pride in accomplishment that students feel when they have positive story to tell and tell it well can be immensely motivational. The sense of personal responsibility that they feel when anticipating what it will be like to face the music of having to tell their story of poor achievement can also drive them to productive work." (Phi Delta Kappan, November 1999)
I’ll say upfront that the practice does take time and energy to implement but the payoffs are worth it. In addition to increasing parent participation, students learn and demonstrate the real life skills of organization, communication, and leadership as well as gain in their ability to be self-reflective and set goals. Parents who do not speak English feel less threatened with this conference format as their child can present the conference in their native language.
To implement this type of conference requires a collaborative effort among a staff to design a plan that speaks to the needs of their particular school and community – not always easy, but well worth the effort for schools looking to improve their conferencing process and increase parent involvement. I have been involved in the creation of several resources available to help schools implement this practice. For NASSP members, an article called Letting Students Take the Lead can be found in the archives of Principal Leadership. Other resources can be purchased at the National Middle School Association website.
