Student Led Conferences Pilot Results Fall 2008

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Student Led ConferencesPilot ResultsFall 2008

• Wrightstown Elementary School
• Nicole Crawford, Principal
• Pilot Participants
• Joanne Beckert Sharon Forte
• Sandy Pierce Charlene Borah
• Sara Jane McLaughlin Kelly Schubert
• Andy Bowman Anne Marie Owings
• Kristen Van Kuren Dee Marks

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Student Led Conferences PilotParent Letter

• October 2008
• Dear Parents
• As we continue our mission to provide a
  preeminent education for our children, we strive
  to find ways to increase student involvement in
  the learning process. Research supports that
  when students are engaged in assessing and
  reflecting on their progress, they are better
  able to set goals and make adjustments where
  needed. This year at Wrightstown Elementary, we
  will be piloting the concept of student-led
  conferencing. Your childs class will be
  participating in this pilot.
• This years conference will provide an
  opportunity for your child to reflect upon
  his/her success and to provide you with examples
  of what he/she has learned in the core academic
  areas. Although the teacher will work with your
  child to prepare for this conference, your child
  will lead the conference and the teacher will
  take on a supporting role. If you feel that you
  would like more time with the teacher, an
  additional conference can be scheduled.
• We are very excited about this program. It is
  an extremely positive opportunity for your child
  to emphasize his/her strengths, acknowledge areas
  of need, and plan for improvement. We also view
  student-led conferences as an opportunity to
  improve the lines of communication with your
  child about his/her education. It is also an
  excellent way to connect children with their
  learning in a meaningful way.
• Your child will need to attend the conference
  with you. Please do not hesitate to contact me
  or your childs teacher if you have any questions
  about student-led conferences. We are looking
  forward to meeting with all of you.
• Sincerely,
• Nicole Crawford, Principal

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Parent Data How would you rate the overall
student led conference?
(138 parents responded to this survey)
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Parent Data To what extent do you believe your
child benefited from this experience?
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Parent Data Would you recommend this format to
other parents?
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A Sampling of Parent Feedback The Best Part of
My Conference Was...

• Listening to my child reflect on her learning and
  talking to my child as a team with the teacher
• Hearing my child describe her strengths and areas
  of need
• The three way interaction between the parent,
  child and teacher was very beneficial
• I liked that my child worked with the teacher to
  reflect on his progress in school and then
  presented it to me
• Hearing the pride in my childs voice as she
  shared about her strengths and needs
• Being able to question my daughter on her
  progress with the teacher present
• Listening to how my daughter perceived her
  learning skills and behavior
• Seeing that our child was very well prepared for
  the conference and listening as she delivered it
  with confidence, poise and accuracy
• Having my child think about his learning style
  and reflect on ways he can improve
• Being able to hear about my childs school
  experience in her own words
• This was an excellent experience for both my
  child and me

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Points to Consider Based on Parent Feedback

• Schedule additional time alone for the teacher
  and parent
• More time for the conference
• Include more goal setting for the following
  marking period
• Make sure the child has a clear and written
  action plan for the child to refer to the
  following marking period
• Provide the parent with an agenda and a set of
  goals for this conference in advance
• Include more examples of student work
• More emphasis on what should be worked on at home
• Have the children address/reflect upon more than
  the three core subject areas- include more with
  Science, Social Studies etc

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Student Data How would you rate your overall
student led conference?
(120 students responded to this survey)
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Student Data To what extent do you believe you
benefited from this experience?
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Student Data Would you recommend this format to
other students?
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A sampling of student feedbackThe best part of
my conference experience was

• I liked listening to what my teacher thought
  about me
• Showing my work
• Talking and sharing with my teacher and parents
• That I was there with my mom
• Sharing the artifacts
• Reading my reflections to my parents
• I liked answering my moms questions
• I got to tell my parents how I was doing in
  school
• I liked leading the conference
• Being there
• Talking about my rough spots and sharing how I
  can improve
• Sharing my behavior charts
• Practicing making eye contact while I shared my
  work
• Hearing what my parents and teachers said about
  me
• Preparing my artifacts
• Being able to see my parents reaction to the
  conference

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A sampling of student feedbackWhat
improvements should we consider for future
student led conferences?

• To have more stuff to share
• Make the conference time longer
• To read and talk more slowly
• To show more artifacts
• My neatness
• Make it so I can share a full power point instead
  of just one slide
• Not have as many reflections to share
• Have a different format for the reflection sheets
• Share about Science and Social Studies
• Having a more casual meeting with less papers to
  read and more talking

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Teacher Data How would you rate the overall
student led conference experience?
(8 teachers responded to this survey)
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Teacher Data To what extent do you believe your
students benefited from this experience?
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Teacher Data The conference materials that I
used were effective
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Teacher Data Additional comments/suggestions
for future student led conferences

• I really liked the process and believe that it
  held the students accountable. I felt that the
  expectations were set for the students and there
  were no questions about areas the student
  performed well in as well as and ways the student
  may need to improve
• I would like to add more artifacts to my
  conference for next year!
• I would like to include more artifacts!
• Next time I will have the students write a
  welcome and ending part for the conference
• It held the children accountable

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Teacher Data Should we continue to use the
student led conference approach in the future?
Yes 100
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Teacher Data How many parents requested a
traditional conference in addition to the student
led conference?

• Out of the 158 student led conferences held, 3
  families requested an additional conference.
• This is less than 2.

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Next Steps

• Mrs. Gormley, incoming principal, will
• inform parents of next steps at the
• beginning of the 2009-2010 school year.

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