QUESTIONS
PARENTS CAN (and SHOULD) ASK TEACHERS
Our children go to school to learn. They go there to get and develop skills:
We want our children to be happy in school. But we also want them to be happy in the life's work in the year's ahead. This means they have to have these skills.
Grades and Achievement
Q. Do you grade student work to match the standards? Can you show me some of my child’s work and explain to me how you graded it?
Q.
Is my child on grade level in all of his or her subjects? If not, at what
grade level is my child at?
Q. What level work is my child doing in each subject: Level One-failing, Level Two-needs improvement, Level Three-proficient, or Level Four-advanced? What are you doing to move my child up to the next level? How and when will you let me know if my child needs more help?
Q. May I have a copy of your annual plans for each subject?
Q.
Does what you teach match the standards? Does
what you teach match the state (TEKS) standards? How did you change what you teach to
match the standards? What standards are you teaching this month? What will you
teach in the next few months?
Q. How do you use the TAAS results from last year to improve my child’s performance on the test this year?
(Note: This question would only be appropriate for parents of students in grades 4th and up.)
Reading
Q. Other than state provided basal readers, what other kinds of
books is my child reading in class? (Self-selected library books, leveled
readers, etc.)
Q.
What level of books is my child
reading? What kind of books is he or she reading in school? Can you give me the
names of other books I should get from the library for my child?
Writing
Q.
What kinds of writing do you do
with your students? May I see some samples of my child’s writing? Will
you please provide a writing sample that can be used as a standard or benchmark
for my child? What was my
child’s score on the baseline writing tests you have been giving? May I see
his or her test?
Q.
A child’s schoolwork, homework,
and tests can tell you a lot about what he or she knows and doesn’t know. Do
you look at student work to learn what each child still needs to learn? What
have you learned about my child’s learning needs from his other work?
Q.
Does my child like to learn? How do
you know? How do you encourage him or her to learn? What is your teaching style?
Q.
Does my child like to learn?
How do you know? Do you know my child’s learning style?
What is my child’s learning preference(s)?
Describe your teaching style and tell me how it matches or doesn’t
match my child’s learning preference. If the two styles don’t match, what
are you willing to change in order to help my child become a better learner?
How do you encourage him or her to learn?
(Note: Learning style refers to all people, usually unconscious, preference that optimizes his/her learning. Some of these are: time of day [am or pm], sound [background noise or total quiet], formal room arrangement or informal [in a desk or on the rug], alone or with others, light [dim or bright room], etc. There are several more, but this gives you an idea. Many teachers’ teaching styles and the students’ learning preferences do not match and sometimes they even clash!)
These questions are based on the work of some teachers and parents involved in the Boston Plan for Excellence in the Public Schools.