How many times a year should I have a conference with my child's teacher?

Host: How many times a year should I have a conference with my child's teacher?

Lee Dorman: Having conferences with your child's teacher really depends upon what you need as a parent. Parents have the right to conference with teachers, really anytime they feel that they have a need, but certainly in an elementary school situation, I would suggest that you have at least three conferences with the parent or the teacher and those three conferences would include the get-to-know-you conference, perhaps one in the middle of the year to check and see how your child is doing, whether or not they are getting along with other students, and things like that, and perhaps one at the end of the year, just before the child transitions into the next grade. Middle school probably want to get to know you and often times middle school parents will want to conference with teachers if there is a question that they have or perhaps their student is having difficulty or if their child is doing really, really well.

High school teachers and parents, unfortunately often don't conference unless there is a problem. They see the teacher during back-to-school night, but otherwise, kind of stay out of the school, but certainly high school teachers and parents should conference whenever they want.