How can you ensure parents and teachers are on the same page about a student's academic progress?

Academic standards of any institution are determined by the overall ambience, activities and personal portfolios of every learner. The same is usually conveyed via school documents and portals and parents are generally oriented once or twice in an academic year regarding the same. The benchmark standards need to be consistently conveyed via focused parent group meetings to ensure that no child is left behind from a holistic point of view. Honouring parents of students who show consistent improvement instead of just the ones topping their classes every year could elevate more children to achieve the desired performance standards. Consistent monitoring and motivation is the key.

Communication! Find ways to communicate and provide effective feedback. Parent-teacher conferences and other communication channels must be established with care. Feedback must be used to set both short- and long-term goals and evaluated to provide students with the proper feedback to support their progress. Studies show that the right feedback has a deep impact on student progress. Effective communication with parents is crucial for understanding both the convergence and divergences in student development. Teachers and parents must work together, providing effective feedback and setting goals in agreement.

This is all about building relationships. Get to know parents through what you know about their child. Establishing respect for the child, and demonstrating that to parents, lays a foundation on which the relationship with parents can be built. Show you respect, care for, and strive to understand the child - and you will have the parents on board.

The challenge in setting goals is what may happen if there is a discrepancy between parents and the school/teachers’ practices regarding a child's goals, when parents have different expectations for their child's academic performance than what the school has set as the standard. For instance, if parents place a strong emphasis on achieving high grades, while the school prioritizes a more balanced approach that includes both academic and personal development, a misalignment can occur. Before setting these goals, there is a need to coordination to foster a collaborative environment. Involving parents in the goal-setting process, seeking their input and insights to ensure a more comprehensive understanding of each student's needs.

When setting goals it is important to remember that students have diverse learning needs and even students in the same class who are the same age will have varying developmental levels. Further, they will also have different skill sets and interests. One of the key points to remember is that both the teacher and the parents need to be on the same page regarding the student's development and what is best for the student. Sadly what happens is that students are compared against set goals and targets such as grades and teachers and parents come to conclusions based on them. However, the teacher and parents must look at things from the student's perspective first instead of comparing student performance with other peers.

Using multiple assessments is very rewarding. Examination is not a true test of knowledge. Children also react to assessments in different ways so engaging them in different activities actually brings put the stuff they are made up of

As a teacher and an admin, there may be nothing I enjoyed more than showcasing assessment to clarify progress. This often came in a form of parents signing progress forms, but more often came in a form of students self checking where they were at and why they were having specific pain points and plans to overcome those pain points. Including the parents in these plans produced special opportunities to utilize the team aspect of learning, accountability, and problem-solving. Education is often a community based project so when teachers, parents, and the student are in sync, there is no limit to how far that student will go.

Considero que la evaluación no debe ser punitiva. Se debe dar a conocer a los padres los logros positivos de sus hijos, lo que no han llegado al objetivo deben ser trabajados con el estudiante. Que él (el estudiante) se de cuenta que el profesor no le dijo al padre que está mal en tal competencia o materia (cosa que ocurre comúnmente) sino que sienta que el padre le felicita y cuando trabaje con el docente en esos "puntos flojos", estoy seguro que lo hará con más entusiasmo. Ahora bien que si persiste en lo mismo, es necesario que sepa que le preguntará a los padres qué está pasando para poder ayudarle, nuevamente, que no sienta esto como amenaza. Recordemos que la educación también es formación.

One very effective and unique way could be regularly scheduled student-led conferences, where students present their work and progress to their parents with the guidance of their teachers, can also be an effective way to keep everyone informed and involved. This approach not only promotes transparency but also fosters a sense of responsibility and self-awareness in students, making all the stakeholders active participants in the child’s educational development.

The best way is to: 1) share evaluation criteria from the onset; it’s easier to pinpoint where and how a student is failing or flailing if those are clear from the get-go. 2) be prompt on the information shared with parents. Notify them as soon as the student shows they are requiring support, in order to establish corrective measures as soon as possible. 3) ALWAYS leave a record of every notification ever sent, both to the student and to the parents. Push comes to shove, teachers are always the weakest link, and safeguards are necessary.

Follow up on previous feedback. Every Parent teacher meeting or orientation ends up in submission of a plethora of feedback to teachers, coordinators as well as admin who then articulate it to the Principal. The responses on all such feedback are decided after a consensus in the post meeting analysis. The next course of action must be worked upon and intimated to the concerned parent within the stipulated time frame as far as possible and recorded by the class teachers in the post PTM documents to follow up during the next meeting. This not only reaffirms the parents' trust in the school but also makes them feel that their voice is heard.

Feedback is a powerful tool that not only enhances communication but also fosters a collaborative learning environment. Encouraging parents and teachers to share their observations and suggestions empowers them to actively contribute to a student's academic journey. Emphasizing the freedom to express thoughts ensures that feedback is constructive and serves as a catalyst for positive change, reinforcing the notion that everyone plays a crucial role in the student's success.

Conversation opportunities set up between school teachers and parents are very essential to deliberately and clearly reflect on students’ achievements and behavior. Also scheduled visit from the school to the student’s home is important to investigate to understand the family impact on the student’s social being, psychology, and the overall environment of student’s learning at home. If effective education meant to be offered, teacher, parents, students, school admins should collaborate to make it happen.

Retroalimentación y dialogo es primero entre docentes y estudiantes, aunque por experiencia, observo que aun hay docentes que no aceptan la crítica del estudiante y esto termina por quedarse allí, sin futuro. La retroalimentación va de la mano con evaluación, para que después se explique al padre como dialogar con su hijo cuando no logra una meta, un objetivo, desarrollar una competencia. Luego se pueden programar lo que se propone en otros aportes conferencias, talleres, etc.

Cuando me asignaron un aula me dijeron que no sabían leer y que no reconocían categorías gramaticales (espa?ol) y efectivamente lo comprobé en una evaluación mediante un cuestionario. Pero observé que en el recreo hablaban entre ellos y se reían y hasta el mas callado lo hacia (no había mucha tecnología aún) pero de que hablaban... de una serie llamada Gokú. Asi que en clase escribí una oración sobre el Maestro Roshi y su alumno Gokú. Todos se quedaron quietos y luego uno me preguntó si veía esa serie (no la veía en ese momento, solo vi un capítulo, después termine viendo todas las sagas) le dije que si y así empezó todo y todas mis clase y redacciones fueron sobre Gokú. Ahora muchos son profesores de Lengua. Creo que abordé un problema.

Actually I am of a different opinion here. As per my personal experience the celebration of too much too soon could actually deter students from straining every nerve to achieve the desired outcomes as they would easily be satisfied with average performance standards. Having a diverse portfolio of scholastic and non scholastic activities itself calls for a huge applause which all the teachers should constantly do but celebrating it all would be going a little overboard. What should be celebrated is a sample of a really good learning experience via 'What good work looks like' soft boards or personal positive descriptives by teachers in notebooks. Individual appreciation goes a long way in providing motivation.

Dear Shameem, I do understand your concern, my opinion here is that each moment of life itself is a celebration of manifestation of life, which itself is such a dynamic and concurrent happening all the moments. And celebration does not always have to be a pomp and show. A soulful thanks to the supreme, elements of nature and gratitude to the fellow beings who support and cause life to happen in every moment is also a grand celebration. All this said, it is the utmost responsibility of each human being to contribute to the world to their fullest and exploit their potential to the maximum. Hope we human beings come to realise that we are a special creation of God who possesses the intellect and the power of discrimination....

Too much of celebrating even little successes leads to a fragile mindset ill-prepared to face a heartless world. Balance is important.

El celebrar los logro y éxitos definitivamente es de gran ayuda para alinear la triade de estudiantes, padres y docentes. Celebrarla por más mínima que sea y tomando en cuenta las capacidades de cada estudiante. Se me viene a la cabeza la fábula del mono, la jirafa, el elefante y la tortuga donde el profesor felicita al que trepe más rápido el árbol. No debemos caer en ese tipo de metas.

Many times we see parents themselves stereotyping their children on being a certain defiant and argumentative type and they give up on them very easily. They become completely reliant on the school and teachers to make the children work hard for them to succeed. Psychological counseling also doesn't seem to work much. My submission to these parents here is to first develop a growth mindset themselves that this situation is bound to change with constant love, support, monitoring, guidance and mindful accompaniment. Constant bickering, nagging and complaining only makes the situation worse.

Embrace the love for the journey. As a team, revolving around the student, utilizes the teachers and parents, the growth of the student should be the centerpiece. Focusing on enjoyment of the path, enjoyment of the learning, could arguably be the entire point of the learning process. When a student falls in love with the journey the results are byproducts, the success has already been reached. When teachers and parents guide the student, a changing of the guard occurs as the student takes more responsibility, more accountability, effectively showcasing promoted growth mindset.

Lograr esto es en definitiva formar estudiantes críticos y autosuficientes, en donde se den cuenta qué capacidades tiene cada uno de ellos, de tal manera que cuando se les asigne una actividad, cada uno asumirá un rol, pero un rol que, si se le hace fácil en ese momento, se dé cuenta que debe esforzarse para poder realizar lo que sus otros compa?eros hacen. Que se den cuenta que algunas cosas le son fáciles de hacer pero que debe esforzarse para poder realizar otras. Que recuerden que todos podemos hacer todo, todo es proponerse a hacerlo.

Parents can sometimes have pain points among involvement within their children’s academic progression. Often they may feel unhelpful, sometimes even shame, or guilt. The goals as educations are in line with utilizing the team approach of providing education, and parent involvement is a key factor. Consider focusing on instilling a culture of solutions. Parents should understand we are not here to blame them, but to work with them for the future progress of their child. Keeping these priorities clear can go a long way in a beautiful team atmosphere between parents, students, and educators in collaboration.

Complicado dar fórmulas o recetas. Lo que debemos tener en cuenta primero son con que competencias y capacidades llegan nuestros estudiantes y en qué contexto se desarrollan, quiénes les rodean y si les apoyan o no. Saber por qué llegan tarde o muy temprano, por qué llegan desali?ados, por qué no llevan lonchera, por qué están tristes o son agresivos. Hay que ser buenos observadores y no medir a todos con la misma vara. Debemos conocernos y aprender a conocer a nuestros estudiantes. Hay muchos casos escritos en las redes. A veces, y en general, debemos cambiar nosotros, para lograr un cambio en nuestros estudiantes.