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So your child’s school recently finished the first quarter or trimester of school and conducted the parent-teacher conferences.  Did the conference go as well as you had hoped? 

Unfortunately for all involved, those parent-teacher conferences create a lot of anxiety.  Teachers are worried that a parent will come upset about a grade and will verbally attack them because they must certainly shoulder the brunt of the responsibility for the poor grade.  Parents are worried that the teacher is going to point out some sort of flaw in their child.  It’s too bad that P/T conferences have become the most hated event in a school year when actually it should be looked upon as an event to motivate and celebrate. 

I am wondering how many of you parents heard the words “testing” or “evaluation” in your P/T conference?  Without a doubt, those two words are often the deal-breakers in maintaining a good working relationship between teacher and parents.  Even though testing means “solution” to a teacher, parents correlate testing with labeling.  When a teacher says “I think we should look into having your child tested,” most parents hear “I think your child is suffering from a serious learning disability, is drastically deficient, and needs intervention.”

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Testing or assessing is the best tool parents and teachers have to discover the way in which a student learns.  Testing is done by a licensed teaching consultant on an individual basis to allow the examiner to closely monitor your child’s level of effort in a supportive, non-threatening environment.  The assessments administered include looking for cognitive development, academic achievement, visual perception, motor coordination, visual-motor coordination, and behavioral and emotional development.

Along with the testing, parents and teachers are routinely asked to fill out forms to determine their perceptions of how the student is acting in the home and in the classroom.  In addition, the consultant will observe the student in the classroom to get yet another picture of her behavior.  All of these pieces will be fit together to determine what will help the entire team of teachers, parents, and most importantly, the student, achieve success.

Ultimately, the information gathered will show what obstacles are preventing a student from learning to his or her full potential.  Teachers and parents will be given recommendations to try like behavior interventions, teaching strategies, and learning environment changes.  All of these options are to benefit the child. 

What is most important to know is that at no time is the consultant labeling or diagnosing your child with a specific disability, which is what so many parents are afraid of – if my child is diagnosed with a disability, then he will be labeled for the rest of his academic career.  And it is that fear which so often prevents a child from being tested in the first place.  And without that testing, the teacher has no idea what she can do to help your child.

Think of it this way.  If your child had trouble breathing you would most likely take her to a doctor to find out the causes of the problem.  The doctor would in turn investigate the problem, describe what the problem is, and design a treatment plan.  (Similar to what the educational consultant would do.)  And what parent wouldn’t agree that having your child be able to breathe properly wasn’t important.   So why is it so hard for parents to agree to have their child tested for problems in their learning?  In my opinion, refusing testing can be just as harmful to the growth of a child as refusing to give as asthmatic child their Albuterol to aid their breathing.

That may be a bit harsh to read, but the truth of the matter is that testing is an important tool for many students to be able to achieve success in the classroom.

Margaret Andersen is the mother of three teenagers and is a middle school teacher somewhere in the Midwest.  She is a regular ShareWIK.com columnist. For more Margaret Anderson articles, click here. 


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