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Building communication between home and school

Fred Nidiffer Director of Elementary Education

by Fred Niddifer, Director of Elementary Education

Both as parents and as educators, one of our most important challenges is to create strong, positive, and consistent communication between home and school. A tremendous amount of research and old-fashioned common sense, tells us clearly that the success of our children in school is built upon this foundation.

As we look at the ways in which schools can communicate directly with parents, we quickly think of the report cards which inform parents about their children’s progress. Parents rely upon these reports to provide timely, accurate information as to how their children are doing, both academically and in other important ways. At the elementary school level in Knox County, we have spent much time and effort over the past year in looking closely at the format of the report cards we send home throughout the school year. Through these efforts, we have made several changes for the 2007-08 school year. We believe these changes will make the report cards much more “family friendly” than what we have used in the past.

Traditionally, elementary schools have sent report cards home at six-week intervals. Our middle and high schools, however, use nine-week grading periods. This can be somewhat confusing for those parents whose children attend several different schools. To remedy this discrepancy, the elementary grading period will also change to a nine-week format beginning next year. This allows for a common “report card day” for all Knox County students. Each elementary school will also send home a comprehensive interim report for each child at the halfway point of each grading period, ensuring that parents can monitor their child’s performance on a monthly basis.

The revised elementary report card will include a few other changes, mostly minor, to do a better job of addressing our most important subject areas, to get rid of some educational jargon, and to create greater consistency and clarity with our grading scales. Nearly two thousand teachers and parents, representing all fifty elementary schools, had a voice in shaping these changes, and we believe parents across Knox County will be pleased with the results.

It is important to remember that no report card, no matter how thoughtfully crafted, can ever take the place of direct person-to-person communication between the parent and the teacher. All of our elementary schools encourage parents to meet in regular conferences with their child’s teacher, providing powerful opportunities for honest two-way communication about the child’s strengths and needs. In an excellent Time Magazine article several years ago, Dr. Michael Thompson provided some solid advice for parents as you approach a conference with your child’s teacher:

• Be there. Research shows that children do better academically when their parents attend conferences. A parental no-show sends a message to a child that maybe school is not priority, or perhaps the child is not.

• Remember to focus. The aim of the conference is to build a mutually respectful alliance that will support a child’s sometimes-difficult journey through school.

• Share “insider information.” Tell the teacher what you know about your child as a learner. You know what your child loves and hates about school, what motivates your child, what has worked in the past. Also, tell the teacher about your hopes and fears for your child. That information can help a teacher fine-tune instruction or make interaction with the child more effective.

• Use the report card as a jumping-off point, not as the centerpiece of the discussion. Turn any review of grades into an opportunity to get the teacher’s more detailed observations about what is working and what is not. Do not dwell on the grade itself. Remember, an A student will not die from getting a B, nor will a B student suffer irreparable harm from getting a C.

• Inquire about your child’s progress in areas that are not easily measured by grades. Not every child is a brilliant student, but you want your child, brilliant or not, to be a loving, respectful, productive citizen who can live in community with others. Ask whether she or he has friends, is part of a group, knows how to socialize and work respectfully with other children. How your child functions with other people is going to make a big difference in later life.

• Ask what you can do. Be receptive to advice on how you can support your child’s success without “hovering” or rescuing him from mistakes and the valuable lessons they offer.

• Leave your own school baggage at home. We all have memories of teachers and classes that made us miserable. Set those aside and approach your child’s teacher as a peer and partner. Assume a teacher wants to see your child succeed in school and in life, just as you do. The respect you show a teacher is contagious and will find its way back to your child.

Parents can learn from conscientious teachers, and teachers can learn from engaged parents. Together, our partnership and shared commitment will afford all of our children the best possible opportunities for success.

Also in this Issue:

Focal Points is the Knox County Schools system-wide newsletter published five times each year (August, November, February, April, and June). Focal Points is mailed to parents of Knox County students and is available as a downloadable PDF file here.

Volume I, Number 4: April 2007 Focal Points

• Knox County School System looks beyond No Child Left Behind
• Building Communications between home and school
• KCS selects teachers of the year