Community of Practice || Student Led Conferences
At Detroit Prep, student-led learning is an essential component of our curriculum. We believe that when students are engaged in their learning they become more well-rounded, reflective, and active participants in their education. Students participate in Student-Led Conferences (SLC) four times a year to highlight work that they are proud of and areas that they would like to improve on.
Student-led conferences replace the traditional Parent/Teacher Conference. Crew leaders facilitate the meetings, but ultimately the student is the leader. Students resolve the authentic problem-based task: How do I share my learning with my family?
During SLCs, students present a portfolio of their work, reflecting on their learning as well as their strengths and areas for growth specific to each content area. Students use their portfolio to explain their progress toward and mastery of academic and character learning targets. Adults present are encouraged to ask questions in order to understand the student’s work. Over time, the compiled portfolio pieces and the accompanying reflection will provide evidence for students’ passage presentations in the 4th and 7th grades.
The SLC is an opportunity to support the student’s continued progress, both by reinforcing successful habits and identifying and executing new routines and structures to maximize the student’s capacity to produce his/her best work.
In addition to Student-Led Conferences, we have also been exploring how our students with Individual Education Plans could be empowered to take more ownership over and at least partially lead their annual IEP meetings. We are currently working toward identifying criteria to determine which students would be good candidates for Student-Led IEPs, as well as developing protocol to help prepare these students for the task. We believe this process will further enable students to understand their disabilities and IEPs, self-reflect on their progress and needs, and advocate for themselves both here and when they transition to high schools.
Our Community of Practice investigated the guiding questions:
How might we deepen our understanding of our existing core practices to continuously strengthen and inspire student learning?
How do we strengthen SLCs to be more vertically student-driven?
How can we authentically prepare students to goal-set and reflect on their process?
First, we separated into smaller research groups. We explored best practices in SLCs across the country. We also started to research developmentally appropriate reflections and writing.
Next, we held our March Student Led Conferences and piloted some of the reflection practices we learned about, including developmentally appropriate scripting, using discussion and feedback protocols for practicing before SLCs, and preparing artifacts each week alongside our Habit of Character Reflections to deepen student ownership and incorporating specific evidence of their learning in their reflections.
Our next step is to create a continuum of best practices and exemplars from Kindergarten through 8th grade that outline our criteria for an excellent Student Led Conference or Student Led IEP at each grade level! We know that this will help support our students in authentically knowing themselves well as learners, and increase their independence and investment in their growth.