A teacher’s job typically includes out-of-classroom time to spend with parents who want to stay current with their child’s academic progress. A parent-teacher conference offers a great opportunity to invest in your child’s future to meet the teacher and discuss a student’s progress.

If your child’s grades are fine, you may feel there is no need to meet with the teacher beyond the occasional parent-teacher conferences scheduled by the school. But additional meetings give parents more information about the classroom environment, teacher-student relationships, and even who’s who among your child’s classmates.

After-school chats about the class bully or the super-achiever provide connections to your son or daughter’s daily routine, which can be especially helpful when juggling extracurricular activities and work schedules. Even students earning A’s can benefit from a parent-teacher meeting to consider an Honors-track program or pre-college classes.

Parents of special needs students should meet with the teacher on a regular basis – perhaps monthly, schedules permitting - to provide feedback, check the child’s grades and classroom adaptation, and collaborate to facilitate the student’s progress.

Depending on the student’s needs, conferences can include hearing specialists, nutritional experts, and family counselors.

No matter how a student is doing, parents who work with teachers can help to guide the child appropriately and head off potential problems. A safety net involving student, teacher, and parents can provide a firm foundation of support at every educational level.

To make your teacher conference effective, here are a few suggestions:

Schedule a conference at the teacher’s convenience. A teacher’s day does not begin with the first class of the day. She arrives early to set up the classroom and review the day’s syllabus and lessons. After teaching classes and monitoring lunch and playground duty or study halls, she faces a mountain of papers to grade and new lessons to prepare. Teaching is virtually an all-day job. However, most teachers are more than willing to work with parents to help students reach their potential. Try to be flexible setting meetings before or after school, or during evening hours.

Go prepared to your meeting. Make a list of any questions or concerns. Stay focused. Unless she is able to prepare in advance, a teacher will be unable to review your child’s entire academic record at the meeting. Stick to the most current issues, such as problems that have come up, or grades, attitudes, or behavior.

Be a good listener. The teacher can offer useful feedback about what your child does during class time and among peers. If you are given negative information, hear it out, and then ask questions for clarification. Remember that no child is perfect, and neither are adults. Parents and teachers can work together to address negative habits that may interfere with your child’s academic progress. Defending your child’s problems will only reinforce them and block opportunities for improvement.

Establish a follow-up plan. Arrange another conference within a few weeks to see how things are going. Staying connected will help teachers and parents to exchange current information and keep on track with the child’s progress.

Your child’s education lays the foundation for a future career and character development. It should not be short-changed. Stay involved to support your child’s efforts to become a successful student and future citizen.