Wendy's 5-year-old son Logan recently started kindergarten. "Like every mom out there, I'm very proud of him. He works really hard and he's doing his best in school," she says. But she's concerned that he might be a little behind his peers when it comes to reading and writing, and she finds it hard to judge his progress on her own.

"I don't think he's getting the most he can get out of his classroom experience," she explains. "I've tried talking to the teacher and I'm not making any progress. I'm just not getting the feedback that I need from her. I'm worried that if I talk to someone else at the school that it'll reflect on Logan and I negatively. I don't want to be labeled as a problem parent and I don't want Logan to be labeled as a problem child ... I want him to be able to catch up and have the best education possible."

Rachael invites Logan's teacher, Mrs. Schubert, to discuss what Wendy can realistically expect from her without getting labeled as a "problem parent."

"I have 42 students that I deal with on a daily basis, that I have to manage and keep the parents informed of what is going on," says Mrs. Schubert. Because her teaching schedule is so busy, it sometimes takes her 2-3 days to return parents' emails. She appreciates Wendy's active interest in her son's progress. "I think it's great that parents are approaching teachers," she says. We have an open-door policy, they can make an appointment at any time. I like meeting parents face-to-face better than through e-mail."

Jaynellen Genkins, principal of Holdrum Middle School in New Jersey, stresses how important it is to avoid an adversarial relationship between parent and teacher. "First thing you want to do when you set up these academic interventions is also set up a follow-up meeting so you can measure the success," she suggests. "That target will help you all set goals for the student as well."

As for when it's time to get the principal involved, she suggests that parents respect the chain of command, and only contact the principal after "three strikes" with the teacher.