Student-led parent conferences allow students to gain significant insights about themselves as learners in ways traditional parent-teacher conferences do not. This guide draws on two teachers' experience to help other teachers implement student-led parent conferences that will enhance parent involvement and student learning. Chapter 1, "Why…

The purpose of this practicum was to broaden and strengthen the classroom assessment of literacy development in a third grade. Goals were to implement authentic assessment techniques, to involve both students and parents in goal setting and ongoing evaluation processes, and to develop writing portfolios exhibiting a wide range of student…

A brief overview of the societal context for current grading practices forms the background for a discussion of alternatives to the assignment of letter or numerical grades to represent student performance. According to the author, in order to meet the criteria for effective feedback, schools and colleges must undergo several fundamental attitude…

Based on a workshop developed and tested in the Spokane, Washington, School District under Title 1 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the Parents Enrich Program (PEP) approach is designed to improve parent teacher attitudes in urban schools by involving parents (primarily the disadvantaged) in direct support of the educational program…

The sixth of seven modules on team teaching, this document deals with evaluation. The major objectives are to cause teachers to understand the importance of emphasizing individual progress in evaluating and reporting children's continuous progress, the value of a system which accurately reflects a child's progress in relation to other children and…

Explains that the purpose of parent-teacher conferences is to communicate the student's progress to the parents. Provides guidelines for a successful conference, including holding the conference in an open area and using a conversational communication style, avoiding educational jargon. Includes a sample student progress report. (CMK)

A study was conducted to determine what methods of student evaluation parents felt were most effective in helping them assist in their child's efforts to develop skills and understand their child's performance in school. A survey was conducted among 168 parents in central Virginia, including parents of kindergarten through fourth grade students in…

This report describes a project that sought to ascertain the educational expectations and actual levels of participation by Black, low to low-middle income parents of 36 regular and special education students entering three Baltimore (Maryland) public schools. The parents' initial expectations and the development of these expectations over the…

This practicum was designed to provide an assessment instrument that would serve as an alternative method of documenting the progress of kindergarten students. The portfolio approach to assessment of student progress was implemented in a kindergarten class and applied as an ongoing process. During a 12-week period, teacher and student selected…

The hypothesis that the relationship between the technology and social structure of a school or classroom affects teacher behavior is explored with longitudinal data from a case study of faculty who attempted to replace letter grades and report cards with individualized, descriptive student assessment. (Author/GDC)

Describes the use of student-led conferences in place of traditional teacher-parent conference. Notes that conferences reflect curricular change to reading and writing workshops and thematic studies, belief that students should take responsibility for their own literacy behaviors, and use of portfolio assessment. (TM)

A study of children's progress through the first 3 years of school followed 32 students in 10 schools in the Wellington, New Zealand area. Data were collected through interviews with children, teachers, and parents; school records; and video recordings of children in the classroom. Sections of this report of the study discuss: (1) assistant…

Over 240 secondary school principals, guidance counselors, and teachers were interviewed to determine the relative degree of emphasis that should be placed on various topical areas in evaluation during the preservice training of teachers. The specific topical areas included writing behavioral objectives, developing objective tests, developing…

Parents have a real opportunity to influence their child's education through participation in the Committee on the Handicapped process which includes referral, evaluation, Individualized Education Program (IEP) planning and review. Specific guidelines for parent participation in this process are discussed, including parent/teacher conferences,…

Describes several ways to share information with parents about their children's progress in physical education class, noting both traditional and nontraditional reporting methods, discussing standard report cards, and examining newer report cards that are based on stated learning standards and driven by technology. Additional methods of sharing…