For parents of achieving students it’s a time to celebrate your child’s hard work.

For parents of under-achieving students it’s a time that is not looked forward to.

For parents of teens, it can be a whole other issue altogether. (see previous entry about how parent-teacher interviews can go horribly wrong)

Teens can be uncommunicative at best, so one school in Baltimore came up with a unique solution to talking to teens about report cards—they brought in neutral third party from John’s Hopkins who are not invested in the report card results.

The third party is objective and not likely to be upset by poor grades the way a teacher or parent is. The third party has a better chance of communicating with the teen about poor grades without the teen getting defensive or upset.

And so far, the program is working. It’s an opportunity for teens to talk formally about their progress and goals with an objective adult—a system that is especially good for teens too proud or embarrassed to ask for help.