Parents and teachers don't have to be at odds, says speaker

Published: 2004-04-15

BOSTON (CNS) -- Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot, an education professor at Harvard University and a sociologist and author, would like to see at least one thing change in this country's current education system -- the often dreaded annual parent-teacher conference. "Everyone believes that parents and teachers should be allies and partners, but more often than not it doesn't happen," she told thousands of Catholic educators in a keynote address April 14 at the National Catholic Educational Association's 101st annual convention in Boston. Lawrence-Lightfoot, author of "The Essential Conversation: What Parents and Teachers Can Learn From Each Other," spent two years observing parent-teacher conferences around the country in private and public schools in urban and suburban areas and for students of all ages. She came away from these conferences more convinced than ever that something needs to change.

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