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Making Assessment Data Meaningful for Parents

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Making Assessment Data Meaningful for Parents

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I found the idea of holding sessions to help parents understand assessment data particularly effective. Simply sharing numbers or grades is not enough if parents do not understand what the data represents or how it relates to their child’s learning. In this example, the teacher explains what the data shows, what teachers are looking for, and how parents can support learning at home. This helps parents move from being passive recipients of information to active partners in the learning process.

I was also struck by the deliberate effort to avoid educational jargon and acronyms and instead use clear, accessible language. This approach positions reporting not as a final judgement, but as a way of sharing evidence to support learning. By making assessment data understandable and meaningful, the school strengthens collaboration between teachers, parents, and students and creates a shared responsibility for progress.- Megumi

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Sharing Data to Create Stronger Parent Partnerships

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We know the parent-teacher meetings are important. We just don't know how to conduct one.

A parent-teacher emphasizes the importance of being well-prepared by having specific examples of student work, progress, and areas for improvement. The article suggests creating a welcoming atmosphere by setting a collaborative tone, focusing on the student’s strengths first, and framing challenges as opportunities for growth. Teachers are encouraged to listen actively to parents' concerns and to work together to set clear, actionable goals for the student's development. The article also highlights the value of follow-up, with teachers recommending periodic check-ins to assess progress and keep communication open. Overall, the article stresses that parent-teacher conferences should be a partnership aimed at supporting the child's academic and emotional well-being.

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Engaging With Families Through Parent-Teacher Conferences

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These strategies for before, during, and after conferences help teachers create genuine partnerships with families.

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Here is a very useful article on shifting the focus from grades to growth in parent-teacher conferences. There are some great ideas offered here. The ice-breaker is obvious, and the idea of inviting parents to join in on the conversation with a survey is great, but honestly, parents are busy and I can imagine there would not be a total success in this at the schools I have worked at. I love the idea of student led conferences though. I think most parents would love to see their child articulate their growth. The article offers some ways to make them work with younger students too.

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Emphasizing Growth, Not Grades, in Parent-Teacher Conferences

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You can involve students and their parents or guardians in conferences by focusing on growth and goal-setting.

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Sharing Data to Create Stronger Parent Partnerships

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Sharing Data to Create Stronger Parent Partnerships

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Assessment as learning では、学習者を中心に、学校・教師・保護者を含む learning community がうまく機能していることが大事だと思うが、この動画はまさにそれが実現している例だと感じた。データが管理や説明責任のためではなく、対話とサポートのために使われていて、保護者が自然に学びのパートナーになっているのが印象的だった。こうした実践を可能にしている背景には、教師のデータ活用に関するリテラシーの高さもあるのかなと思った。

I think that, in assessment as learning, it is important for a learning community that includes the school, teachers, and parents, with the learner at the centre, to function well, and this video feels like a clear example of that being realised. The data is used not for management or accountability, but for dialogue and support, and it is striking how parents naturally become partners in learning. I feel that what makes this kind of practice possible is, ultimately, the high level of teachers’ data literacy.

Prompt: Translate this into English without changing the tone or intent or adding any information.
Translated by ChatGPT (GPT-5.2), 16 January 2026

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Sharing Data to Create Stronger Parent Partnerships

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One-on-One Conferences and Fostering Parent Communication

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One-on-One Conferences and Fostering Parent Communication

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According to educators Sarah Wysocki and Kristen Moore Cove (Edutopia), middle school is a time where communication between kids and parents tends to decrease. Here is where they step in with their ideas of intentionally creating opportunities for teens to open up.

Wysocki suggests 3 ways of getting parents involved in the conversation at school: she makes student-led updates a habit, she purposefully builds two-way communication, and she sends a 'picture of the week' to get students and their parents talking at home.

Cove, in her ELA classroom, carves out one-on-one time to conference with her students. Conferences give her a chance to find out about her students' strengths and weaknesses, build trust and eventually, understand them as a whole person and not just through their grades.

In the end, it seems, it requires a concerted effort by teachers to communicate assessment evidence data with the learning community.

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How to conduct parent teacher meetings (Mai Kusunoki)

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How to conduct parent teacher meetings (Mai Kusunoki)

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Parent-teacher conferences are chances to build stronger relationships, trust, and communication between educators and families. The writer shares some conference strategies:

1. Reach out to families beforehand and ask what they would like to talk about the most in conference.

2. Start the conference with positive statements, and ensure that family members and students have a chance to talk as well.

3. Provide information on students' academic progress and how the family can support their child's success at home.

4. Ask questions to learn more deeply about their students

We should focus on building relationships in conferences rather than just informing students' grades and areas of improvement.

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Engaging With Families Through Parent-Teacher Conferences

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These strategies for before, during, and after conferences help teachers create genuine partnerships with families.

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About Communicating assessment evidence and data with the learning community

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About Communicating assessment evidence and data with the learning community

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Communicating assessment evidence and data with the learning community helps keep students, parents, and colleagues informed and engaged in the learning process. In IB Chinese language teaching, for example, teachers can share assessment results, such as performance on oral commentaries, written interpretations, or cultural comparison essays, with students to highlight strengths and areas for improvement. Teachers can also discuss trends and insights with parents or other educators, explaining common language challenges or successes in intercultural understanding. This open communication encourages collaboration, allows students to take ownership of their learning, and helps the learning community support strategies that enhance language proficiency and cultural awareness.

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Parent Workshops: Strengthening the Learning Community

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Parent Workshops: Strengthening the Learning Community

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It was an enlightening video to watch, as it was my first time seeing a parents' workshop where students could share their work directly with their parents. Typically, this kind of interaction occurs during open days, with parents' workshops being separate events. However, in this video, the parents' workshop revolved around what the students were actually learning in the classroom.

The use of digital tools in presenting their learning was very efficient and showcased the students' creativity and expertise in their chosen topics. It was evident that differentiation was being implemented in the classrooms, aligning with the school's focus on being a learner-centered community.

I wholeheartedly agree with the purpose of the parents' workshop, which is to build a stronger relationship between the school and the family to help students reach their full potential. This collaboration is a hallmark of IB PYP schools, where families are treated as partners and co-collaborators in their children's learning journey. As highlighted in Vygotsky's socio-cultural theory of learning, people learn through interaction with others. It was particularly interesting to note that even the parents in the video were emphasizing the importance of these workshops and sharing their takeaways from attending them.

As the current PYP Coordinator (PYPC) in our school, I find it fulfilling when, at the end of a workshop, parents experience a shift in perspective and are able to articulate the reasons behind various educational approaches.

Connecting the classroom learning to the topic for the parents' workshop and providing suggestions for home support was a well-crafted alignment that I hope to implement in my own school. Previously, I viewed parents' workshops as separate events, but I now see how they fit into the bigger picture of providing comprehensive support for student learning. Making a clear connection between the parents' workshop, the students' learning, and home support is an approach that could have a lasting impact on students' overall growth.

Moving forward, I would like to explore how different schools approach parents' workshops and investigate ways to make them more effective in building stronger relationships within the learning community. This exploration could lead to innovative practices that further enhance the partnership between schools and families, ultimately benefiting the students' educational journey.

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Parent Workshops: Strengthening the Learning Community

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Through the Student-Led Conference, students showcase their learning with the guidance of teachers. Collaboration enables students to spend time reflecting on their growth in each area. The teacher then helps them select work (making sure specific material is chosen for the portfolio to continually monitor growth). Through different learning stations, students show instruction and practices to help parents understand how learning happens. After the SLC, parents share feedback and set goals with their children. Significantly, success criteria are measured as students are able to transfer their learning and understanding into meaningful student action in real life situations. Some of the greatest benefits of the SLC are that students are able to demonstrate skills and aspects of the Learner Profile over time. In addition, they gain self-confidence and satisfaction through the development of their portfolios and the demonstration of learning.

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Alexis Tamony discusses three traditional grading practices that she believes should be reevaluated. Firstly, Tamony argues that the use of the 100-point scale for grading is flawed, as it can be arbitrary and does not accurately reflect a student's understanding. Instead, Tamony suggests using a scale that focuses on mastery of content. Secondly, the article addresses the issue of late penalties, stating that they can discourage students from completing assignments and may not effectively teach time management. Tamony proposes alternative approaches to address late work. Finally, the article advocates for a shift from grading based on averages to a more holistic assessment of student learning. The author emphasizes the importance of providing students with multiple opportunities to demonstrate their understanding and growth. Overall, the article calls for a reexamination of these traditional grading practices to better support student learning and achievement.

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This article by Lory Walker Peroff discusses involving students in conferences and the importance of not making the report card the star of the show. It highlights the need to shift to focusing on the learning and growth itself.

As a homeroom teacher in Japan, we are in charge of having parent-teacher-student conferences. The report card and external test scores are definitely the star of the show as well as attitudes and behavior in the classroom. Most of the time this is because teachers can't discuss the learning that goes on in those classes as we are not their or aren't informed about it. We only have the grade to go off, so that often becomes the talking point.

By making the students take ownership and talk about their learning in their classes we can shift the focus from the grade. We as homeroom teachers can also gain insight and learn more about each of our students from them.

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Emphasizing Growth, Not Grades, in Parent-Teacher Conferences

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You can involve students and their parents or guardians in conferences by focusing on growth and goal-setting.

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Quick Study: Telling Stories with Data in 3 Steps

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Quick Study: Telling Stories with Data in 3 Steps

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I just cannot help sharing this here. This is a hopeful video for those who feels that acquiring data-interpreting skills requires is a huge task for teachers! Set up, Conflict, Resolution, that’s the simple steps to tell stories in any context, when you want to sell your favorite tea, to entertain children for bedtime, or to share the assessment data with the learning community. So simple, so powerful.

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Telling Stories with Data in 3 Steps (Quick Study)

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It’s an amazing exemplar of how a kindergarten student could lead parents conference.
Findings:
• The 5-year-old (?) kid explained what she learned and how she worked on, such as singing, reading skills, art pieces, and science drawing.
•The above includes how she likes her own science-art butterfly piece in more than 3 sentences — the size comparison, color choice, and conceptual understanding like “asymmetry.”
• According to the teacher, it requires before-hand practice. All students practice and share own portfolio with their classmates in advance.

I’m astonished to know how much higher-order thinking the young learner can handle. I think this much of “practice” (one demo in front of her classmates) won’t do harm on learning because learning should be shared with peers anyways.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmIReiqI1ec

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This resource is meaningful for me in that it shows a variety of Student-Led Conference (SLC) practices. It can be a huge poster presentation session with all the classroom walls coved with student’s work, having a kid presenting (or demonstrating?!) learning to own parents. Or it could be parents, a student, and a teacher sitting around a table looking though one’s portfolio with some explanation. It could be just a parent and a student chatting over an iPad talking about one’s own work in the family-familiar language.

I personally felt a bit strange towards the poster-presentation-like conference because it requires practice in advance. As a teacher, I do not want too many occasions of scripted performance because it eats up the limited class time. On the other hand, if not practiced in advance, a parent would ask “why did you get interested in this topic?” Then the kid would say “I don’t know” or “I forgot” and would run away. It’s OK to have natural child-like behavior, but parents still need to grab some ideas of learning. It’s not simple…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5ritQblqnE

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Wakelet collection for communicating data and evidence

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Wakelet collection for communicating data and evidence

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This is the wakelet collection for this aspect of the assessment capable practicitioner.

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Communicating assessment evidence and data with the learning community

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Resources to support the IBEC classes at Tamagawa University