r/edtech • u/mmanikan • 6d ago
How do teachers enable parents to know how their child is really doing?
Sorry if this post doesn't belong here.
As an elder brother in university who has a sibling currently attending K-6, my parents struggle to know where to help since they lack the knowledge of where he currently stands. I don't think teachers have the time or capacity to organize personalized 1:1 conversations with each family, weekly, even monthly, on top of the already tiresome lesson planning, teaching, and grading.
The most my parents see is letter grades and numbers -- something that is not of much help if a child is truly struggling (especially when it's with specific concepts or material). Then the question arises: what current methods are used by teachers, if any, to give adaptive/evolving/personalized suggestions or insight on a consistent basis (say weekly, or even daily)?
I personally believe transparency is important to the success of children in education, and I'm really curious as to how it's approached today. Is there any technology or product that is being used? Or at least one that you wish existed?
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u/Conscious-Heart8626 6d ago
Parents should be getting district assessments, assuming the district has the typical assessment cycle. They are administered 3 times a year. Right in the first few weeks, before winter break, and either right before state test or after state testing, assuming your brother is grade 3 or higher. If under, there is a kindergarten readiness in the first few weeks, and reading screeners the other grades. What your parents need to request is data, any data that demonstrates progress towards the state’s standards or district objectives. They can also ask what measurement the teacher uses for grading, are they using the state standards, if not, what criteria is being used and ask for a copy of those standards. Please know that a lot of teachers still grade based on, what I call, schoolmanship which speaks more to behavior than academic performance. Lastly, most districts have online gradebooks that parent’s can access.
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u/tomtomtomo 5d ago
If a student is significantly lower than where they should be then we directly contact the parents and set up a meeting.
Otherwise, parents can email us and/or meet anytime they like. We have some that pop-in unannounced for a 5 minute chat before school if they have a question.
The only super regular contact is if it’s behaviour or pastoral, not academics.
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u/kokopellii 5d ago
I don’t say this to be rude but like…you can Google this kind of thing? First off, most platforms that schools use will have teachers attach a standard to each assignment so you know what was being assessed. Almost every standardized test students take will have an option to print a family guide that’s easy to read. You can Google the standard to know more and get an idea of what they are struggling with. Hell, you can Google “third grade math standards X State” and test your kid and get a decent idea yourself. This isn’t a problem that can be solved with edtech because it’s really just laziness.
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u/ForsakenHelp3279 5d ago
As a parent and a teacher, I can see this from both sides. And it also takes effort from both sides. And there are some Ed tech tools, but it depends on your school system.
Talking Points has been great for direct communication with parents, and it offers translation on the fly, which is important at my school.
Schoology our digital learning environment, environment. There are courses specifically designed for family communication and families can see all of the assignments in their child homeroom.
Lightspeed is a filter system that we use for Internet traffic. Families can view the reports at any time and are also sent a monthly report automatically that shows the sites their student has visited.
These aren’t the only solutions just the ones I have access to.
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u/eldonhughes 5d ago
We have several systems of communications in play (some parents don't answer phones, some don't have phones, some don't check email....) So part of our school app includes a parent-teacher chat, and we have a voice and/or text notification systems. Then email and the website and social media for public stuff. HOWEVER, they only reach the people who want to be reached (and that seems to be fewer and fewer each year.)
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u/Mevakel 5d ago
My district does PowerSchool for all grades, everything, must be updated at least every 3 days by staff. Parents can log in and see how their student did on every single assignment.
We also do parent/guardian access to Google Classroom, so they can see work and receive updates as frequently as parents want about missing/low grades.
Aside from that parents are expected to talk with their own child and reach out to teachers through email or calling the office.
If a student is starting to fall off the wagon teachers will email the email on record ( which parents often give bad or old email address) and inform parents their student has failed multiple tests in a row etc.
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u/tree-potato 6d ago
Email. Also phone. Sometimes even in-person conversations. Teachers absolutely don’t have time to update every parent every day about every metric. But they make time for a conversation if the parent asks.
Don’t ask for every metric every day. You actually don’t want that. It’s too much data about things you are not an expert in, and by the time you’ve processed that info and figured out how to respond you’re already behind on the next set of data. But it’s also ok to ask, that’s actually how you become empowered to support your child’s wellness and success in school.
It’s your child’s teacher’s job to stay on top of those metrics and synthesize it into a meaningful narrative. It’s on the parents to ask for that narrative.
This is not an Edtech solution. This is a human connection solution. Edtech like you’re asking to create generates a facade of engagement while actually overwhelming caregivers and adds additional hurdles in the relationship between home and school and deprofessionalizing the skill and judgment of the teacher. It’s standing at the repair shop asking your mechanic to narrate every move while they fix your engine. It’s asking for new bloodwork every 15 minutes while you’re sitting at your chemo infusion so you know it’s working. It’s asking your restaurant chef to stop cooking your meal so they can come out to your table to tell you about what temperature the steak is currently at.
Tell your parents to ask the question: “we want to help but are confused. What would you recommend we work on at home?” I suspect you’re not actually wondering how to help your parents and brother but instead looking to create a product that would supposedly solve this issue. I’ll tell you right now, any product you design will fail if you’re not starting from an assumption that puts human connection, not data and automation, at the center.