​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Overview: Academic Parent Teacher Teams (APTT)

Academic Parent-Teacher Teams (APTT) is a family engagement model designed by Dr. Maria Paredes of WestEd that strengthens teacher-family relationships by focusing on student academic growth and achievement. APTT is a classroom-based, teacher-led, data-driven strategy that reimagines the traditional parent-teacher conference experience.

What is APTT? APTT meetings include six essential elements. 

​During the 75-minute meeting, all parents and families receive materials for the practice activities to support at-home learning. After 60 days, parents and families are invited to the next meeting to receive an updated graph of every child's progress and learn about another skill. Teachers, parents, and families meet for APTT meetings three times during the school year. Additionally, APTT includes individual conferences between parents and teachers to help families learn about other important topics such as

1) their child's current progress in all content areas,
2) assessment results,
3) attendance,
4) behavior, and
5) how to further support their child's academic achievement at home. ​

​Why is APTT the right high-impact family engagement model for my school? ​

APTT stresses the importance of teachers and parents partnering together to ensure students' academic achievement. As shown in the graphic below, students only spend 12% of their time with their teachers at school. This leaves 55% of their time when students are awake and away from school.  As a team, APTT allows parents and teachers the opportunity to share responsibility for student mastery of foundational skills at each grade level.  Teachers cannot do it alone.  Families cannot do it alone.  Teachers and families need to work together to support student learning for the best results and in the best interests of students. 

​When did APTT begin in Georgia? 

The Georgia Department of Education began its partnership with WestEd, APTT's parent company, during the 2014-2015 school year to provide training and support on this innovative approach to improving student outcomes through collaboration between teachers, parents, and families. Initially, ten Title I schools joined the first APTT cohort and then, in subsequent years, trained other schools within their district. All APTT schools formed Core Teams to lead the implementation process in the school, and district officials formed Family Engagement Leadership Teams (FELT) to ensure district-level support of the program and its continuation and growth throughout the district.

The process for implementing Academic Parent-Teacher Teams evolved to meet the needs of teachers, families, and parents over the following years. In 2018-2019, several members of the Georgia Department of Education and APTT practitioners from across the state participated in a year-long course to become certified WestEd Trainers for Academic Parent-Teacher Teams. In 2020-2021, as the COVID-19 pandemic halted the opportunity for in-person family meetings, the Georgia class of trainers, under the leadership of WestEd, pivoted to a virtual meeting model and guided APTT schools to support this transition.

In July 2021, Family Engagement Specialist, Megan Roedl, a WestEd certified APTT Trainer, joined the Family-School Partnership Team with the Georgia Department of Education. Megan's previous experience included oversight of the management, training, and implementation of APTT within a large school district. She now coordinates the APTT Initiative at the State level by providing direct training for new Core Teams in LEAs that have not previously had APTT schools and supporting existing APTT schools. 

Where is APTT in Georgia?

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APTT Resource Library: Don't reinvent the wheel! 

District and school leaders for APTT – we would like to remind you of the GaDOE APTT Resource Library. Look here​ for activities on the following topics.

Activities by Foundational Grade-Level Skill

• Addition and Subtraction Fact Fluency
• Analyzing, Comparing, Sorting
• Multiplication Fact Fluency
• Number Sense
• Phonics
• Reading Comprehension
• Reading Fluency
• Science Content
• Sight Words

We hope to expand this resource bank with new activities to support networking and sharing of materials across our state. Please consider highlighting your great work by completing the following form. Thank you for your contributions. APTT is The Place To Be! 

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Who is implementing APTT in Georgia? 

Check out the links below to see which of your neighboring districts are already implementing APTT and begin networking! 

Coming soon!

How does the APTT implementation process work?

APTT Responsibilities and Scope of Work ​