“Student-led conferences open kids’ eyes to what they are really learning. They can see things on a larger scale, and they realize that they have to make a plan for themselves and their learning.”

Mike Jordan, Two Rivers parent

What are student-led conferences?

A student-led conference is a meeting to share a student’s current level of performance and to set goals for future learning.  The student-led conference—which includes a student, family members, and a teacher—replaces the traditional parent-teacher conference, giving the student ownership over presenting his or her work and setting goals for future growth. Student-led conferences exist on a continuum from students being present at the conference to students leading every element of the conference.  Ideally, the student speaks for the majority of the conference, curates his or her work in a portfolio, and reflects on data from the work and standardized measures.

Learn More

Learn about why students should lead conferences, creating and using portfolios for conferences, and the biggest challenge in starting student-led conferences and more here.

Download the above slides in the Additional Resources section.

Additional Resources

How do you prepare students for student-led conferences?

Lessons to Prepare Students for Student-Led Conferences
(This series of 8 lessons prepares students for student-led conferences within a crew or advisory structure.)

Example Student Portfolio
(This is an example student digital portfolio.) 

Student-Led Conference Evaluation Checklist
(This checklist with specific targets can be used to evaluate a student’s presentation during his or her student-led conference.) 

Student-Led Conference Script Prep Sheet
(This is an outline of the basic script we use for student-led conferences with portfolios and a blank prep sheet for students to write their personalized scripts.) 

Data Notecatcher for Students
(This is a note catcher designed to help student organize their data prior to analyzing for conferences.)



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Data Slides for Students
(These Powerpoint slides provide an example template for the slides students use to present their data during conferences in November.) 

Reflection for Students Note Catcher for Thinking about Progress Reports
​(This is a note catcher that student can use to analyze their progress in math, English, and scholarly habits, and to set goals and action plans for realizing those goals .)


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​Data Conference Scripted Cards
(These is are specific scripted note cards we use for student-led conferences with portfolios.)




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Sample Student-Led Data Conference Agenda and Script
(This is an annotated agenda and script to prepare students to share their data at the first student-led conference of the school year.  At this first conference, students share their data from the beginning of the year but do not create portfolios.)

Scaffolded Agenda for Students
(This is a detailed agenda for students to understand the components of their conference.)

Blank Agenda for Students
(This is a blank agenda that students use to start writing their script for their conference.)





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Accountability, Motivation, and Progress: One Student’s take on Student-Led Conferences
(This blog post gives an Expeditionary Learning student’s perspective on student-led conferences.)

Sample Questions for Parents to Ask their Student(s)
(These are sample questions that we give to parents to help them engage with their child during the student-led conference.)

Want to learn more about student-led conferences? Read our deep dive.

Do you have a question about student-led conferences or feedback about what we've shared? We'd love to hear from you. Send us an email at info@learnwithtworivers.org.