Published: November 1, 2005

Got Mail

While e-mail links teachers with parents, a surprising number don't use it at all.

I recently attended back-to-school nights at my oldest son’s middle school and my younger boys’ elementary school. I sat in the classrooms of seven teachers, all quite different in personality and teaching style.

Yet in every classroom, I heard the same request about how the teachers wanted to communicate with parents: They all emphasized that by a long shot, they preferred to use e-mail—not the telephone—to keep us informed...