Success Through Student-Led Conferences

What began as a Master’s Action Research Project for 8^th grade teacher Pam Walthall has become one of the unique benchmarks of our St. Agnes-St. Dominic Junior High program-the student-led parent-teacher conferences.

“I wanted to find a way for students to take ownership of their learning achievments and really take pride in their work, so I researched the effects and benefits of student-led conferences as opposed to the traditional teacher led conferences,” said Mrs. Walthall. “I learned that the traditional parent-teacher conference does not lend itself for student empowerment and ownership of academic successes and failures.”

Mrs. Walthall collaborated with the Deans and the Junior High teaching team to create a plan to shift to student-led conferences. They developed a form for students to set goals and enabled them to hold themselves accountable to these goals throughout the school year. Students then presented their achievements to their parents in the spring.

Now in the program’s third year, students begin the process in the fall semester by setting SMART (specific, measurable, attainable/achievable, relevant and time bound) goals. Students are able to adapt and adjust goals as the year progresses. They review goal progress periodically throughout the year and create a presentation to share with their parents at the spring conference.

Dwyer Yarrow, SAA 7^th grade student, shared her thoughts on the process: “It definitely helped to keep me on track and take ownership of my grades. Setting goals-academic and personal-that I shared with the teachers, down to specific points, made me work harder to achieve those goals.”

During the conferences, the students share their progress in all classes, share successes and challenges, share work samples, teacher comments, and their current grade report. The conferences are solely student-led.

“The students really get to show off for their parents--to show them who they really are,” said 7th grade teacher Julia Schuster.  “I think they surprise themselves! The effort the students put into it is impressive. The students step out of their traditional role as child and into the role of a young person discovering their own gifts and talents. They introduce themselves to their parents in a unique way in their conference.”

When students are in 8^th grade, there is an additional reflective component to the conference. Students are asked to consider how the Dominican Pillars-Study, Prayer, Community and Service-have helped them to grow during their time at the school. Ann Hayes Bubrig, current 8^th grader shared, “I thought about how the Pillars, through my time here, have guided me and given me a foundation. When I reflected on it, I realized that I have a way to direct my faith and my studies based on that foundation.”

In explaining parent participation, Mrs. Walthall explained: “As parents or family members, the role is to focus on the learning process (not just grades), recognize their child’s achievements, ask questions when information shared is unclear, and work to set goals for future success.” It is truly a collaborative venture, with students, teachers and parents working together for the continued growth of each child.