Resources

Parents and teachers must work together to ensure student academic progress. Students work harder when they know teachers care about them and they have the support they need in school and at home. Communication between teachers and families is very important and is key to making this progress happen; everyone should be included in this process and commit to a common goal.

Many families struggle to support their children academically, either due to time constraints or lack of knowledge about academic concepts. The Common Core State Standards are very rigorous and we teach in very different ways than many parents learned. Parents especially struggle to understand many of the math strategies taught today, and while they may want to reinforce the way their child is learning how to...

Ongoing communication continues to be a family engagement practice that teachers prioritize to include families as partners in their child's academic success. Using the form of communication the family has identified as their preference is key to building a trusting relationship. We've learned that some families prefer email communications to stay informed about their child's academic growth. However, this is also a...

These four straight-forward tips will help you prepare for successful Parent-Teacher Conferences. Whether you need guidance for your outreach strategy or a template for a survey to disseminate to families after the PTC to assess its effectiveness and growth areas, you will find valuable insights in this resource.

Parent teacher conferences are an excellent opportunity for teachers and parents to partner around raising student achievement. However, teachers often report challenges in getting families to come to conferences, particularly the families of students they really need to talk to. Families can face a myriad of challenges in coming to conferences, some that are certainly out of teachers’ control. Fortunately, there...