Implementing Student-Led Conferences

Students and parents benefit from this powerful communication tool!

Jane Bailey and Thomas Guskey, leaders in the field of student assessment, address a nagging issue for both beginning and veteran teachers―how to effectively communicate to parents the learning progress of their children. Every teacher knows the sinking feeling of facing a sea of anxious parents with limited time for in-depth discussion.

Now there is a way for students to take responsibility in communicating their progress and for parents to get the satisfaction they deserve. In this new approach, the teacher serves as facilitator as students lead their parents through a discussion of their work. An important benefit in this innovation―students are required to evaluate and reflect upon their work!

Highlights of Implementing Student-Led Conferences include:

• Overview and philosophy of student-led conferences
• Roles and responsibilities of participants
• What an effective model looks like
• How to prepare, organize, and evaluate for maximum effectiveness
• Anticipating and handling unique situations
• The role of student-led conferences in authentic assessment and reporting

A rich resource section includes everything you need to prepare, conduct, and evaluate successful student-led conferences―sample conference announcements and formats, portfolio planners, reproducible letters, parent and student response forms, teacher surveys, and much more!

This is an essential resource for teachers and administrators at every school level to maximize time, improve communication with parents, and encourage student self-reliance.

Jane Bailey grew up in Chelsea, Michigan, earned her bachelor′s and master′s degrees at Michigan State University, and embarked on her career in public education teaching English and reading at Petoskey High School in Petoskey, Michigan. She went on to serve as high school principal in Alanson and Harbor Springs, Michigan; as staff development coordinator at the Char-Em Intermediate School District in Charlevoix, Michigan; and as director for curriculum and staff development for the Petoskey Public Schools, from which she retired in 2008. She was a nationally known education consultant, a gifted presenter, and co-author of three books on education. Bailey was admired by many as a role model and served as a mentor to numerous young educators. She was a dedicated wife, a proud mother, and the very best of friends. Her kindness, charm, keen sense of humor, and irrepressible spirit inspired everyone who knew her. She left the world a better place because of her passion for life, her dedication to public education, and her commitment to excellence in teaching.

Thomas R. Guskey, PhD, is Professor Emeritus in the College of Education at the University of Kentucky. A graduate of the University of Chicago’s renowned Measurement, Evaluation, and Statistical Analysis (MESA) program, he began his career in education as a middle school teacher, served as an administrator in the Chicago Public Schools, and was the first Director of the Center for the Improvement of Teaching and Learning, a national educational research center. He is the author/editor of twenty-seven books and over three hundred articles published in prominent research journals as well as Educational Leadership, Kappan, and The School Administrator.

 

Dr. Guskey served on the Policy Research Team of the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future, and on the task force to develop the National Standards for Professional Development. He was named a Fellow in the American Educational Research Association and was awarded the Association’s prestigious Relating Research to Practice Award. He was also awarded Learning Forward′s Outstanding Contribution to the Field Award and Phi Delta Kappan′s Distinguished Educator Award. Perhaps most unique, in the 158-year history of his undergraduate institution, Thiel College, he is one of only three graduates to receive the Outstanding Alumnus Award and be inducted into the Thiel College Athletic Hall of Fame.

 

His most recent books include Implementing Mastery Learning (2023), Instructional Feedback: The Power, the Promise, the Practice (with Smith & Lipnevich, 2023); Get Set, Go! Creating Successful Grading and Reporting Systems (2020), What We Know About Grading (with Brookhart, 2019), and On Your Mark: Challenging the Conventions of Grading and Reporting (2015). He may be contacted by email at guskey@uky.edu, Twitter at @tguskey, or at www.tguskey.com.