Why do parent teacher conferences have such low attendance?
Most parents, especially those of struggling students, fail to show up for scheduled conferences despite hours of waiting by teachers. Because parents already have online access to grades and attendance, they do not see the value in attending, leaving teachers sitting alone for hours.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Scheduling individual video or Zoom conferences at flexible times when both parties are free
- 2Sending online updates, email notifications, and progress reports twice a quarter
- 3Canceling designated conference days entirely to avoid wasted time and lost instructional hours
- 4Offering evening times instead of daytime hours
- 5Switching to remote or Zoom conferences
- 6Communicating via email or messaging platforms like ParentSquare instead of formal conferences
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“When I saw 14, I was feeling impressed... But I sat prepared all day for nothing.”source ↗
“The parents of students who are struggling the most and about whom I most which I could have a parent conference are the parents who never come.”source ↗
“We do conferences from 5pm to 7pm after school for two days and I really detest sitting in my room doing nothing but waiting when I could be at home.”source ↗
“We've even tried calling the families of students failing multiple classes and using the phrasing "your student is failing, and we are requiring a conference." Nope.”source ↗
“At the start of my career, I would average about 1/3 of parents showing up (high school level). Now I see about five over the seven hours I am available.”source ↗
“With online access to grades and attendance, parents don’t seem to need or want what we are offering here.”source ↗
“Do any of you know of a better system that seems to work in your district? I’d love to see our district change to something more worthwhile.”source ↗
Where this came up
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