Teaching · For Tutors

Parent meetings
that end with a plan.

A parent meeting goes best when the family talks as much as the tutor, sees the work and leaves with one thing to do. Build each agenda in timed items and mark who leads each. The builder adds up the minutes, shows how much time the family and student lead and flags a meeting where the parent never gets to speak.

Plan a meetingWhat you get
$12one-time · every device you sign in on
Buy · $12

Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Or get it in the Tutoring business kit, $69 for 80 items.

Parent meetings

The worked example is made up: a progress meeting four minutes over, a concern meeting with no work samples ready and a start-of-term meeting where the parent has no slot. Student codes, not names. Saved on this device only.

Loading the meeting form. If nothing appears, turn on JavaScript.

What you get

Teaching · For Tutors$12 · included with Classroom and Whole-school licenses

What you finish with
A record per meeting: date, start, student code, purpose, minutes booked, agenda items with minutes and who leads, evidence to show and five checks. Works out minutes against time booked and the share led by the family and student; lists meetings with their minutes; flags agendas over time, no parent-led item, concern meetings without work samples and summaries not sent after a meeting.
Who it is for
Independent tutors and tutoring company staff who meet with parents and guardians.
Format
Browser agenda builder with a saved record per meeting. Prints one agenda to share with the family, every meeting in a table or a blank agenda; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); exports and imports a file.
Access
$12 one-time, yours on every device you sign in on; the tool opens once you are signed in with it. Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Also in the Tutoring business kit ($69) and the Teaching Suite pass ($199), and 1 more bundle. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The For Tutors space in Caveat Teaching.
Support
Questions about access, an order or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. Pick the purpose first.
  2. Give the parent an item of their own.
  3. Fit the minutes to the time booked.
  4. Bring two work samples.
  5. Send a short summary within a day.

Plan a meeting

The shape of a good meeting

A twenty-minute parent meeting1A real strengthOne example, from theirchild’s work.2The evidenceSamples or scores, side byside.3Their viewWhat the family sees at home.4One requestSomething doable this month.5Next stepsWho does what, and when youwill check.6In writingA short summary the same dayor next.A twenty-minute parent meeting1A real strengthOne example, from their child’s work.2The evidenceSamples or scores, side by side.3Their viewWhat the family sees at home.4One requestSomething doable this month.5Next stepsWho does what, and when you will check.6In writingA short summary the same day or next.
The parent’s part is the one most often squeezed out, and it is where tutors learn the most.

One request

Families leave a meeting with a list of five suggestions and act on none. Ask for one thing that fits their week, such as ten minutes of reading aloud before bed, and check on it at the next meeting.

Concern meetings

Lead with something specific the student does well, then show the evidence of the concern, then ask what the family sees. A plan both sides wrote is a plan both sides keep.

Sources

  1. Harvard Family Research Project (2010). Parent-teacher conference tip sheets for principals, teachers and parents.
  2. Henderson, A. T. and Mapp, K. L. (2002). A New Wave of Evidence: The Impact of School, Family, and Community Connections on Student Achievement. SEDL.
  3. National Student Support Accelerator. Family engagement in tutoring programs (studentsupportaccelerator.org).
  4. Mapp, K. L. and Kuttner, P. J. (2013). Partners in Education: A Dual Capacity-Building Framework for Family-School Partnerships. SEDL and U.S. Department of Education.

The worked example is made up. Nothing you type is sent to Caveat. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.