Student-Led Family Conferences

Overview

At Henry B. Gonzalez Personalized Learning Academy of Dallas Independent School District, teachers sought to empower students with authentic opportunities to reflect on and share their growth, strengths, and challenges. To accomplish this, teachers supported students in leading their family-teacher conferences.

"How can we make sure that kids have an authentic opportunity to showcase their work? How can we provide a chance for kids to truly, authentically learn about something that really matters to them or that impacts their community, and then how can they share that with others?" - Kristen Watkins, Director, Personalized Learning - Dallas ISD

Approach

To prepare, teachers supported students in familiarizing themselves with the structure of the conference so that they were prepared to lead and guided them through reflections that helped students to identify what they wanted to share. During these family-teacher conferences, students identified their strengths, areas of growth, and prompted their parents or family members to add on. Students ended their portion of the conference by asking for questions that teachers and parents may have had during the meeting.

This strategy is a part of TLA's Hop, Skip, Leapfrog release, which explores the concrete ways in which schools and systems pursued student-centered innovation during COVID-19. Explore the full guide to find additional strategies, insights, and resources.