The teacher facilitates the conference, but the student is responsible for answering parent questions and concerns about student learning. Students share with their parents what they have learned, show their parents their student portfolios, and discuss the reasons for their academic grades. Students accept personal responsibility for their academic performance. Parents attend conferences at increased rates. Students learn the process of self-evaluation.
Students develop organizational and oral communication skills.
Avis Breding, who teaches sixth grade at Jeannette Myhre School in Bismarck, North Dakota, has been involved with student-led conferences for four years. She finds that asking students to fill out forms before the conferences is very useful. In fact, she hands out three forms to students to help them evaluate their learning and prepare for the conference with their parents. One of the forms asks students to rate the subjects they like best and least and to explain why. Another form challenges students to rate themselves on a variety of skills and habits, including how often they complete their work on time and how well they get along with their classmates.