Let’s talk yearend reports. How honest do I have to be? It’s a no brainer for the kids that are staying at our school. I’m honest and give ideas for summer enrichment when appropriate. I don’t want to saddle my coworkers with a kid who isn’t prepared. Luckily, most of my parents are already aware of the things I’ve mentioned in their child’s report, so it’s just a formality. I’m also proud to say that most of my students are receiving glowing reports.
But. . .what about Sneaky Kid who isn’t coming back next year? His parents are an incredible pain in the ass. The stop by your room, pull their kid out early a lot, say they are working with him but aren’t kind of parent. Are you familiar with this breed?
Should I be honest about everything and make my conference extremely uncomfortable or do I sugarcoat it with general remarks and coast my way to summer? I’ve met with these parents at least 4 times since Christmas. One meeting included the kid’s educational therapist who I exchange emails with weekly. Both of us are frustrated by the parent’s inability/ lack of desire to help the kid work at home. These are the folks who sent the “this homework is to hard for my son” note.
What would you do?
