Using this approach, students are responsible for preparing their work to show to their parents, and for explaining the grades they receive. The teacher and/or adviser are there to answer questions and participate in conversation—not to report on his/her impression of the student’s grades, effort, or outcome. Teachers and advisers help students prepare for the progress report that can cover a marking period or a semester, for example, or any school-defined period.
Instruction in the 21st Century is becoming more and more student-centered. So it is logical for assessment and reporting to match that model. With student-led conferences bringing the process full circle, students will have had an opportunity to make curricular choices, participate together in assessing their understanding of a topic, and report their growth and deepened understandings to their parents. That can be much more informative than telling parents that their child has a B+.
Marcus Whitman Middle School (NY) has instituted student-led conference. “We found the [student-led] conferences most beneficial," said teacher Keith Eddinger. "From a teacher's perspective, we were able to get a better picture of each child. It forced us to sit down with each student and review strengths and weaknesses. This conversation often told us the students learned more than perhaps we had measured through conventional assessments." (Source: Student-Led Conferences: A Growing Trend.)
The conference is based on students putting a portfolio of work together. The process of creating the portfolio is no small task. There must be a system in place that ensures portfolios contain student work, student responses to the work, teacher responses to the work, and student reflections on their progress through the semester or term. While the school determines what is necessary for the portfolio, that content should include student-selected work, teacher selected assignments (which would be the same for all members of a given class), and assignments which show growth over time, such as a term paper which includes notes and rough drafts, or a math project with notes and trials.
“The format is important, but I believe the success of a student-led conference is most determined by how well students are prepared," wrote Laura Hayden, a seventh-grade communications teacher at Derby Middle School in Derby, Kansas, in “Letting Students Lead Parent Conferences,” from the National Association of Elementary School Principals in Middle Matters.
If you have an advisory program at your school (as many private-independent schools do), sessions can be dedicated to working on the SLC portfolios. The adviser would be responsible for tracking each student as they work on the portfolio and making sure the appropriate assignments are included for each course. This requires a well-planned and organized system, and good communication among the faculty. In addition, the adviser monitors each portfolio for required student responses and reflections. This is a challenging task, but provides an excellent means for the adviser to know what the students are working on in their classes and how they are doing academically.
Finally, in the week or two before the actual conferences, students need time to rehearse what they will say to their parents and how they will use the assignments included in the portfolio. Again, this is a good use of advisory time. Students form pairs or trios and rehearse for one another. Each student should have an opportunity to rehearse with peers at least two or three times before the live event with their parents.
Student-led conferences help the student understand that he or she is responsible for learning—and for the outcome. And it also gives students to chance to explain themselves, in the presence of the parent and the teacher—rather than the parent only hearing what the teacher has to say in a traditional conference.
Parents may not be 100% sold, either. They want to hear from the teacher alone on some matters. “As a parent, I felt like I still needed some info from the teachers and wanted more. But, I do think the student gets a new perspective on their grades. … Personally, I don't think it would be good to do this often, but once a year is good. When you ask if they were 'beneficial,'I can say yes and no. They were more beneficial to the student than to the parent,” said one parent whose child attended L.C. Jones Middle School (NE).
Still, recognizing the focus on accountability in most every school, teachers see the overwhelming advantage of students taking responsibility—and being able to show successes that may not be evident in a stark report card.
