I love the student voice included here!

I love the student reflection you mentioned here.  Not only did they reflect on "school work" but also social development.  This is a fantastic way to encourage honesty and dialogue!

Thomas, 
Thank you for this post.  I think that getting direct parent feedback about this issue is crucial for developing a better relationship.  I am 100% guilty of providing those two yummy pieces of bread to slide in the unappealing center.  Although I am very direct in most settings, I worry about being off putting to parents so they lose trust in me.  I typically work with older students, so parents feel like they have a better sense of their child's abilities, but in reality they usually do not.  Perhaps I need to gain the confidence to be fully honest....