How to Improve Parent-Teacher Communication

Your school’s teachers are faced with multiple responsibilities. They also have a responsibility to each and every student’s parents. In addition to the job of teaching in the classroom, teachers are required to report on student performance and behaviors. Normally, this is done through monthly or quarterly parent-teacher meetings, but today’s parents need more.

The more busy parents get, the more worried they become about their child’s well-being and academic performance. The introduction of new school management software has helped reduce the burden off on both parents and teachers, giving them the ability to communicate with the teachers and monitor their kids’ progress.

Let us take a look at some of the issues that can be addressed, and how school administrators can help encourage teacher involvement and parent satisfaction.

 

Establish a Transparent Communication Method

A child’s academic results are the result of a team effort. If grades are good, it means teachers are using effective methods to keep their students interested in the subjects, and leading them towards excellence. In turn, teachers and parents alike are motivated by their school administrators. It is the schools’ job to think of ways to improve student performance.

There are times when parents’ expectations are not met. This might be a result of poor communication methods. Schools at times tend to reach out to parents when a student’s bad grade has started to become a habit and getting more frequent, which at this point might be late. School administration should not limit communication via school head and parents alone, but involve teachers so as to set up a transparent manner to help build a solid foundation for student success.

 

Frequent Communication Builds Trust

Just as it is in any relationship, communication builds trust slowly and it must be maintained continuously. You gain parents’ trust when you let them in on each of their ward’s progress in school. Teachers should see themselves as the parents’ best friends because they are the bridge between the students and parents.

Parents need to have the option to check up on their children with the same ease they get from consulting their GPS to get directions to a destination. The more open you are with the students’ scores, performance, and behavior to the parent, the more at ease they will be leaving the fate of their young ones in the school administration’s hands.

 

Extracurricular Communication

Parent-teacher meetings can’t address every issue a student may have. There are urgent matters that can arise in between parent-teacher meetings and must be dealt with via other means. It is right for every school to implement other communication channels – Phone calls, video calls, emails, texts. All these can be used to make reports and give updates, rather than relying on a monthly newsletter alone.

In today’s world, parents feel like they should be involved in everything that concerns their kids. Making information easily accessible and available is just the number one step to achieving this. Parents demand access to student report cards, records compilation, accounts, admission forms, attendance records, and a session calendar. Schools that offer this information in an easy-to-use platform establish themselves as leaders in education.

Some schools also go the extra length of creating and sending personalized messages to parents concerning important developments inside and outside the classroom. With the right school management software, you can empower your school staff to send updates to parents in a transparent, accessible manner through an easy-to-use system.