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[quote=Anonymous]I agree with the thrust of previous arguments. But I'm not sure if one parent-teacher conference should be the basis to pass judgment on the "quality" of a teacher. First, be sure that the quality of the PT conference was truly that bad and not clouded by something that you came in with and didn't get an opportunity to express. In preschool and pre-K, the 15 min. you spend at this conference with the teacher should be characterized by you signing into a log and then reviewing your child's work with that teacher. Yes, this typically means that a lot of that many limited time is spent by the teacher explaining to you how your child does in school. Many schools have a so-called Gold Standards (or similar) assessment that your teacher should have ready for you on a print-out with supporting materials (maybe including photos or video-streams). These print-outs are a little hard to read but they give you an idea about where you child is both academically and socially. There is now an increasing emphasis placed in preschool and pre-K on developing social competence, which is also measured in these tests. It can be scary to find ones own or someone else's child under-performing on those aspects but its very reassuring to know that's what they're working on. Research has shown that this is totally crucial in their ability to keep absorbing the academic portion and growing in it. (I have an older child in elementary school and boy would I have liked to see more of that with them when they were that age!)

If this isn't roughly what you experienced, be that with or without pleasure and satisfaction, and you're sure the teacher just never got to presenting you all of this because you went in thinking you'd be the one talking, then there is a big missing piece that you should discuss with the principal. If this is roughly how you PT conference went, but you didn't hear what you expected, then you first need to sit down and go over those results. What do they mean? What you're looking it, is that a progress report (it's early in the year and and of course they're not all in the "green" area where they need to be by the end of the school year) or are there actual difficulties? Is your child having social or academic difficulties, in if so in what areas? How does it compare with how you experience your child at home? Then, once you've (cool-headedly) figured it out what to put the finger on, regardless of whether you like the teacher or not, you should go back and see if you can schedule a follow-up conference to discuss the results in more detail and see what measures can be taken. For example, my child's first PT conference in pre-K yielded that he was being contrarian and disruptive. Trust me, that wasn't something I liked to hear because (a) that's not how I experienced him and (b) I felt bad that he must be feeling bad at school. So I took that home and tried to figure out tools I could give the teacher to turn this negative course of action around. So I met with her again and said that she might want to try the kind of positive reinforcement methods we were using at home. Instead of calling him out on unwanted behavior, I suggested, she make an attempt for a couple of days to call him out on things he did well. At then end of that week, he came home with a chart full of smiley faces and was happy thereafter. And so was I, believe me. You know your child best but your teacher has your child in a very different setting from the one you see him/her at home. So the one-on-one problem-solving approach is totally crucial.

I'm not excluding that you're looking at a "bad" teacher but, as an earlier poster (moderator?) pointed out, IMPACT is in place, and truly "bad" teachers are not in the system. It's true that IMPACT is not working as well in the preschool pre-K setting as it is for higher grades. Still. But before you conclude that this is a truly "bad" teacher, be sure you've given the teacher the benefit of the doubt. While I admire a teacher who lets parents roam classrooms freely until way past the drop-off time, I also know from experience that this is very unsettling for children and disruptive to the schedule (e.g. they may leave at 9 am to a special and miss their crucial circle time because 16 parents feel the need to chat). So I completely understand a teacher making it clear that this is not the time for conversations or that he/she wants you to make an appointment, even if you choose the often better afterschool window to seek a chat. Also, many teachers are truly much better at interacting with the little bunch than with the parents, especially preschool teachers. Parents can be an intimidating bunch!
Our two children have been with more than one teacher who "are reluctant when it comes to parental involvement" and, despite my suspicion about it, those were often among the better years for them. I think it's because those teachers were just very focused on keeping to a routine and a schedule and did well what they do best, teach children (not adults). Not to say they couldn't make an attempt to learn the communications piece of it all; but I care more that my child is learning and growing emotionally and socially - and that growth is not linear! - than I do about whether I get along with that teacher.

In figuring this all out for yourself, be sure to do so away from your child or you'll turn this into a self-fulfilling prophecy. Your child looks to you about whether to feel challenged and satisfied at school. If you display the frustration you display here in front of him/her, then that'll be his/her year. You may decide that you're at a great school with your child having a teacher who you don't see eye to eye with but who you nevertheless respect and do your best to support. And then a couple of years later (I'm there that's why I say this) decide that maybe you didn't consider the fully complexity of all the pieces that go into teaching.[/quote]

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