A growing body of evidence suggests that family engagement matters for student success. Research shows that family engagement improves school readiness, student achievement, and social skills. Furthermore, an increasing number of innovative approaches to education leverage and connect the many settings and times in which children learn and grow to…

This article explores preservice teachers' emotional responses to simulated parent-teacher conferences. The authors examine the transfer of a medical education pedagogy as it is diffused to teacher education, scrutinizing the types of emotional responses teachers exhibited as they engaged with standardized parents in six clinical parent…

Examines the nature of the relationship between educators and parents of children in public schools, focusing on minority families. Discusses the need for flexibility and adaptability, the value of informal assessment, effective joint parent-teacher problem solving, and family differences and support. Provides options for improving communication…

Uses a psychoanalytic approach to examine effective ways to articulate concerns to parents about their child's difficulties. Presents methods for developing trusting relationships, planning prior to the conference, conducting the parent-teacher conference and post-conference follow-up, and meeting teachers' concerns. Describes two situations in…

Provides guidelines for educators to prepare for potentially difficult parent conferences and to conduct them to a successful conclusion. Suggestions include anticipating concerns, accentuating the positive, listening to parents, being truthful, being firm, being polite, offering solutions and assistance, asking for suggestions, admitting…

This report describes a project to research and create a lesson book and audiotape cassette to help adult English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) learners acquire specific language skills, vocabulary, and oral practice for communicating confidently and effectively with their children's teachers. The report describes the procedures for development and…