Intended to help middle grade teachers and school leaders explore conferences as a communication strategy for school family partnerships, this booklet provides guidelines for designing or refining a conference format to meet the needs of teachers, students, parents, and families. Following an introduction, the first section examines scenarios that illustrate how four schools designed conference formats for their particular needs. The four formats considered are: (1) the advisory conference, which involves principals, counselors, and teachers in leading advisory groups of approximately 18 students in grades 6 through 8; (2) the student-led conference, during which students in grades 5 through 9 present to parents and teachers a portfolio of assignments and self-assessments; (3) the arena conference, which offers parents an opportunity to meet with each of their children's teachers on a one-on-one basis; and (4) the team conference, which involves teams of teachers, support personnel, and administrators meeting with parents and families in three different types of conferences. The second section discusses elements for effective conferences, including school policies that promote best practices and strategies found to work well in actual conference settings. A comparison chart that breaks down conference elements for the four scenario schools is also included in this section. The booklet concludes with an annotated list of seven resources. (AC)