Beyond Parent-Teacher Conferences: Partnerships That Maximize Student Learning

CGLR has long advocated for productive parent-teacher partnerships and has hosted several webinars in recent years that revealed why “big bets” should be made on this strategy, which has the potential to make more than the usual increments of change. When parents (or any primary caregiver for a student) build relational trust with their child’s teacher and come to see them as a colleague and a collaborator on the success and well-being of their children, it can make a noticeable impact on student learning and development. 

Moderator and family engagement leader Gloria Corral of the Parent Institute for Quality Education (PIQE) introduced the session by engaging five state and national leaders in a discussion of what research from parent surveys has revealed about their various beliefs about schooling and learning. Cristina Gonzalez of Abriendo Puertas-Opening Doors, Jessica Kelmon of GreatSchools.org, Gina Martinez-Keddy of Parent Teacher Home Visits (PTHV), Shana McIver of Learning Heroes and Helen Westmoreland of the National PTA talked about the need for mindset changes across the board.  They discussed what makes parents feel welcomed and, importantly, recognized for their knowledge of and contributions to their children’s learning, and what teachers need in terms of professional development to best partner with parents. Capturing this idea, McIver emphasized the importance of trust in building relationships and the need for this to be part of the whole school’s approach to student learning: 

“Like any relationship that we can think of, the strongest are grounded in trust and teamwork. Same applies for parents and school-based leaders, teams and educators. Family engagement strategies need to be anchored in student learning and student well-being. This is the work of everybody in the schoolhouse and school community. And so when [everybody is on board], schools are more likely to have authentic cultures of engagement where you see clear communication.”

Corral then engaged with two district leaders who are training educators and cultivating partnerships between parents and teachers in their schools. Principal Katie Kriscunas of the Lakeview and Pajaro Middle Schools in the Pajaro Valley Unified School District in California and Nancy López of the Elk Grove Unified School District and trainer for PTHV discussed their “on-the-ground” work to educate teachers on what it takes to understand family context, build trust and then work to engage with parents as partners in their children’s learning. Kriscunas shared how she is working to leverage her personal experience to change mindsets and facilitate a systemwide commitment to strong relationships with parents and families: 

“In my experience as a teacher, an assistant principal, and an administrator, I found that I’m capable of building those relationships one on one with families when I’m meeting with them. So then, how do I bring that to go beyond the administration, beyond the office staff, beyond our counselors and really invest my time and energy in those systems and elevate student learning and student well-being as a key result of strong parent relationships?