Students shouldn’t be included in conferences

Giving someone constructive criticism about their work ethic, successes, or lack thereof will always be a bit uncomfortable. Because of this, it is best that students are not be included in parent-teacher conferences.

In a poll, 44.6% of 178 middle school students agreed that students should not be included, whereas 28% said maybe, and 27.4% said yes. Student-parent-teacher conferences could be established, but those conferences should not replace parent teacher conferences. When students were asked if they thought their parents would want them to be at the conferences, 46.5% of 178 ASL middle school students said maybe, 31.4% said no, and 22.1% said yes.

It is important that the students hear what their teachers observe, but if students were there, some teachers might censor their feedback. An alternative to replacing parent teacher conferences with student-parent-teacher conferences could be having both types of conferences throughout the year. And so, if both types of conferences are established, it will enable both parents and students to be fully and accurately aware of their teacher’s feedback, and understand how they can improve and grow academically.

About Helen Roth ('21)

Opinions Editor (2016-2017)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *