For much of the country, the first batch of reports cards are about to be issued, followed by begging and pleading from students and, eventually, phone calls or emails from parents. A conversation with the parents of a struggling student need not be awkward or intimidating. After all, you’re both on the same side: the student’s.

Here are some things to keep in mind when that phone rings.

Make sure this isn’t your first contact

This conversation will automatically be awkward if it’s the first conversation you’re having with these parents. Hopefully you made it a point to reach out earlier in the year, just to introduce yourself and establish a rapport. If you still have time before report card day, drop a quick email to all the parents letting them know that report cards are coming (especially if you feel there will be a lot of bad news this grading period). You don’t want the start of your relationship to be based around their child’s lack of success.

Check out the student’s history

I hope that your LMS is one in which you can see a child’s previous grades all the way back to when they entered the district. Perhaps the kid is a perennial slow starter. Maybe he struggled a bit at the end of last year, and since your curriculum for the first grading period was review from last year’s, of course he would still struggle. The more information you can gather before talking to the parents, the better informed everyone will be.

Put the grades into context

Many states are beefing up their standards this year, which has meant a more rigorous curriculum. Of course, there will be a period of adjustment! Some parents don’t know about the changes, so take this opportunity to inform them about the landscape. Make it a point of mentioning that their student isn’t the only one having these “growing pains” (as long as that’s the truth). If there is no need to panic, make sure the parents understand that.

Collaborate on a plan of action

The parents will feel a lot better about the situation if there is something they can do. Instead of advocating a “wait and see” approach, enlist their help. If the student could use some help with organization, have the parents sign a daily planner with any assignments that are due. Give them a heads-up when a big project is coming up so they can prepare themselves to help their child. Offer to arrange a conference with the child’s other teachers if yours is not the only trouble class for the student. If you give them something to do, the parents won’t feel as helpless.

Last week we discussed the changes in the new Common Core assessments and how you can better prepare your students for the tests. Links were included to the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers and Smarter Balanced websites to view the samples for yourself, which is well worth the time, but let’s have a more in-depth discussion about what these assessments actually look like.

The assessments from both PARCC and Smarter Balanced are designed for computers and, eventually, tablets. This allowed the designers a lot of freedom and flexibility to create tests that really capture the spirit of the Common Core. Kids now have to perform rather than just regurgitate.

Let’s look at what a sample test question from a current statewide assessment might look like:

“The total land area for the United States is 3,537,438 square miles. What is this value rounded to the nearest thousand square miles?” followed by four multiple-choice answers.

It’s basic rounding, a skill every elementary math student will be asked to master. Testing this skill with multiple-choice questions asks for virtually no proof that the student knows what they’re doing. An unprepared child still has a 25% chance of getting the question right.

A sample assessment item released by Smarter Balanced handles this skill quite differently. There is an animated video of five swimmers.

Then there is a text box. That’s right. Not only will the students have to write in a math test, but they will also have to explain their reasoning regarding the skill at hand, much as if someone would have to do if rounding digits was part of their job.

You also probably noticed the mention of video. Multimedia will be an integral part of the new assessments. It simply gives the designers more options to present material in an effort to get the tests as “real world” as possible. Older students can fully expect to see tasks they would see at the workplace, which flows seamlessly with the Common Core’s stated goal of preparing students for the world of college and career.

The Next Level

Have you seen the samples from PARCC or Smarter Balanced? What struck you about the difference? Educate us in the comments below.

If you thought this article brought up some valuable points, please share it among your social networks using the buttons.

And if you feel your child needs a little more help preparing for this rigorous new curriculum, please find out more about Athena’s services and how they can help you using this link.

You’ve spent a few years preparing yourself and your educational practice for the arrival of the new Common Core standards. Perhaps you’ve even begun to integrate some of the differences in the standards into your lessons, adopting more rigor and critical thinking tasks instead of “drill and kill”.

The good news is that those steps are half the battle toward success on the new assessments that go along with the Common Core. But if you think teaching to the test will add up to Common Core success, you’re mistaken.

What will they look like?

By now you’re probably familiar with Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers and Smarter Balanced, the two consortia the Common Core states have aligned with to develop the next-generation assessments. Both promise state-of-the-art, computerized tests that fully assess both the skills and the spirit of the new standards.

Those computer skills are the first step to preparing your students for the new tests. It’s hard to imagine a child not being technologically savvy these days, but plenty may not be efficient enough at typing or other skills needed to write effectively on the computer. Make sure they are also familiar with manipulating virtual objects, as the assessments feature interactive, skills-based items.

Reading and writing on the assessments

The technology provides the consortia to assess in the true spirit of the Common Core, meaning multiple-choice items will be rare. For example, the new standards want students to be able to effectively read complicated text, both fiction and non-fiction, and be able to refer back to that text when composing a response. On the assessments, they may even be asked to highlight key passages in the text. They will certainly be asked to write more, even on the math assessments as a way to justify their answer.

The best preparation for that part of the testing is to simply have the students read deeper, more challenging text, from multiple sources, and then be asked to react through writing. Math teachers need to ask the students to write more as well.

Math on the assessments

Speaking of math, the Common Core is all about using computational skills in the real world. Endless lines of multiplication questions will give way to assessment items that will require students to solve real-world problems, without telling the students which skills they will need to do so. Number sense and situational math become paramount.

Again, the best way to prepare is to practice. Ask the kids to perform math based on realistic problems. For every math concept, a real-world application. And gradually increase the complexity of your practice problems until they are no longer fazed by complicated, multi-step word problems and situations.

One more important point about the assessments themselves: both PARCC and Smarter Balanced have made sample assessments available on their websites. They are definitely worth a look.

The Next Level

Have you seen the samples yet? What were your impressions? Educate us in the comments below.

If you thought this article brought up some valuable points, please share it among your social networks using the buttons.

And if you feel your child needs a little more help preparing for this rigorous new curriculum, please find out more about Athena’s services and how they can help you using this link.