Parent–Teacher Conferences: Teachers' Information Provision and Parents' Involvement in Children's Schooling

Abstract

Abstract:Parent–teacher conferences are considered an important bridge between home and school, but there are little data on what teachers discuss during these conferences and whether it is linked to parents' involvement in children's schooling. Parent–teacher conferences (N = 431) with parents of young elementary school children (mean age 7.68 years) were audio-recorded and coded. A subset of 255 parents reported on their involvement in children's schooling approximately 5 months later. Teachers mainly discussed children in the academic context, with little attention to the curriculum or parents' involvement. Teachers concentrated less on math than literacy and adopted less of a process orientation (e.g., a focus on strategies and motivation) for math. Only teachers' process orientation was associated with parents' involvement: The more teachers adopted such an orientation, the more parents were involved.