The most important tool in any teacher's tool kit is data. In this day and age of advanced technology tracking for schools, your LMS can provide some really important pieces of information such as time spent on assignments, grade means for an entire class, etc. Before meeting with a parent who may be a little sensitive, gather all of the data necessary to share the facts. And stick to those facts. You cannot allow yourself to get emotional in a meeting such as this. Remember that parents have the best interest of their child at heart. They don't always understand that you have the best interest of MULTIPLE children at heart. Many times a situation like this can be avoided if you have communicated both positive observations and items of concern WELL in advance. The more that parents hear from you (and I always document all conversations whether its email, Remind messages, or phone calls) the less likely they will be upset. Meeting with any parent that may be upset should also be done with a team of people to support you such as your administration and grade level team. Always provide support for yourself as you do for your parents of your students.

I always present the parent with a look at the total time their student has missed and what classwork the student has missed by being excessively absent or tardy so they can see the impact on their child’s education.
Indiana just passed a new law that says after ten absences or tardies, a letter is sent from the county prosecutor’s office informing the parent that future violations can result in jail time and their children being removed from their care.
After three absences, teachers are responsible for connecting with the family to determine what help might be needed and I use it as a time to build on the relationship I have established with the family, to let them know we missed their child and we are excited to have them back! After that, our social worker makes further contact with the families and provides more supports as needed.
Ultimately, the goal is to help the family get their child to school daily, however sometimes that is difficult for a variety of reasons and we work to help eliminate as many reasons as we can.

I like to have the student attend a meeting with their parents. I start and guide the conversation and have the student say what happened. (I teach 4th grade.). I will excuse the student to discuss some goals with parent and a plan. Then, I invite the student to return to the meeting and share that we are all on the same team.