Quality in Education

"…this practice 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."  Rich Stiggins,Phi Delta Kappan, November 1999.

Many teachers using the student-led conference (SLC) model frequently report that, as a result of involvement in student-led conferences, parent and teacher bonds are strengthened. Both teacher and parent are more likely to initiate subsequent contacts throughout the remainder of the school year.

Although the format and content of student-led conferences may vary from school to school, the concept remains the same: the student is in charge of the academic conference with the parents. The teacher simply serves as a discussion facilitator when needed. The beauty of this model is increased accountability moving the student from passive to active participant in a three-way interaction among parent, teacher, and student. Students assume "equal partner" status in discussions concerning their academic progress.

During the conference, students share their data folders (see previous blog entry) which contain graphs and charts of academic and behavioral progress combined with other data collected.  In addition, students share their personal mission statement, SMART goals and other work samples that demonstrate performance.  Learn more about student-led conferences at the web sites below:

• http://www.naesp.org/ContentLoad.do?contentId=460
  
• http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/curr323.shtml
  
• http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/admin/admin112.shtml
  
• http://www.phoenix.k12.or.us/tms/stories/storyReader$15
  
• http://www.nwrel.org/nwedu/fall_96/article4.html
  
• http://www.middleweb.com/CSLV2TchrConf.html
  
• http://ceep.crc.uiuc.edu/eecearchive/digests/1997/hackma97.html
  

What have been your experiences with student-led conferences?  What impact have SLCs had on parent attendance at conferences?  What challenges have you faced in the deployment of SLCs?

Jay