Assessment News in Brief

School Puts Students on Conference Hot Seat

By The Associated Press — February 24, 2015 1 min read
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A school in central Illinois is taking a new approach to the dreaded parent-teacher conference by putting students on the hot seat.

At Dennis Elementary in Decatur, it’s the students who do the talking, presenting parents with grades and progress reports in the presence of their teacher.

Fifth grade math teacher Jennifer Parks says one student in particular who had been goofing off in class made a big turnaround after having to answer directly to his parents.

Principal Matt Andrews says the idea is also to get students thinking about their weaknesses and how to improve.

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A version of this article appeared in the February 25, 2015 edition of Education Week as School Puts Students on Conference Hot Seat

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