Just about every teacher agrees: report card comments are important to provide insights and next steps to students and families. But there are few who actually look forward to writing them.
Because every instructor knows working under tight deadlines to create upwards of 20 unique and detailed reports at the end of the year or term isn’t exactly straightforward (or particularly fun). That's especially true in the era of distance learning.
And while no one at your school knows your students better than you do, writing valuable report card comments for each of them can be a huge challenge.
That’s why we created a list of 107 sample report card comments — starters to help you find ideas, inspiration, and insights while writing your own report cards.
The 107 report card comments in this list will help you:
You'll notice that the report card comments below can act as a springboard for more fully developed ones. But don't worry, using them you'll be able to take some of these one-liners and turn them into insightful and actionable next steps!
For example, you'll be able to take a 1st grade number sense comment like "Your child is able to add and subtract numbers up to 20 using various manipulatives" and transform it into:
Your child is able to add and subtract numbers up to 20 using various manipulatives. This was evident when he was working independently to solve a real-world problem by adding toys in the classroom toy bin. As a next step, they should continue to add to larger numbers to encourage his skills. You can support him by asking him to add his own toy piles at home.
Or taking a responsibility-related learning skill comment from "Your child is able to take responsibility for her own actions both in and out of the classroom" to:
Your child is able to take responsibility for her own actions both in and out of the classroom. She often checks her agenda and day planner to make sure she has all of the necessary materials to complete work at home before leaving. During indoor recess, she takes time to tidy up everything she was playing with.
Notice the difference?
Compared to a single number or letter grade, report card comments can provide even more value to your students and their families. In other words, a number or letter or grade captures the what , while an accompanying comment captures the how .
Depending on the age group or grade level you teach, a letter or grade letter might be enough. However, research in Phi Delta Kappan, the professional journal for educators, suggests:
Comments that identify what students did well, what improvements they need to make, and how to make those improvements, provided with sensitivity to important contextual elements, can guide students on their pathways to learning success and ensure that all learn excellently.
There's no cost to you or your students and Prodigy is fully aligned with state standards for grades 1-8 math and grades 1-6 English.
As we move into language and literacy, the following sections include starter report card comments which cover reading, writing, oral communication and critical thinking skills.
Somewhere around the halfway point to your deadline for report cards, you make your best effort to use time at the end of each week to reflect — and jot down notes — about your students’ performance and class week.
What are their strengths and weaknesses? How are their social skills developing with classmates? How is their class participation - are they an enthusiastic learner? Have they shown great improvement in one particular subject area? Are homework assignments getting done? Have any new challenges come up that affect learning?
Even just a few minutes of note-taking in the weeks preceding report card deadlines will help to ease your stress when the time comes to write your final comments.
Moreover, having a dated log of information detailed throughout the school year will help you remember how students are performing throughout each week, which can be valuable information come parent-teacher conference time.
This will also help to engage and reassure parents who want relevant and detailed commentary about their child’s performance at school.
Use Prodigy to write insightful report cards with a minimum of hassle. Prodigy Math is an engaging math adventure for students where success depends on correctly answering adaptive math questions.
As students play, you’ll get insights into:
Use one of Prodigy’s eight reports to track student progress throughout the year. When the time comes to write report card comments, you’ll have detailed reports on all your students’ achievements.
Just getting started with Prodigy? No problem! The first time students explore the world of Prodigy Math, they’ll start completing the Placement Test — without even knowing. Once they’re done, you’ll have a snapshot of the grade level they’re at, what they know and specific skills they still need to work on.
Prep for standardized tests, deliver adaptive skill practice or test students on a new skill — all while they play Prodigy Math, Prodigy English, or both!
Although every report card cannot be glowingly positive, do strive to write in an encouraging and informational tone. As you write constructive report card comments, use encouraging language that focuses on the student’s opportunity for improvement.
For example, instead of describing a student struggling with listening as a “bad listener,” remark that the student “would benefit from listening more carefully.”
If appropriate, frame a negative comment in terms of what students are doing well -- and consider how this more successful characteristic can help them bolster performance in other areas.
Lead your report card comments with the positive comments, followed by areas that need more attention.
Choosing the right format for reporting information will simplify the entire process, while resulting in a clearer and more organized final product.
If you are unclear about your school’s format for report cards, request samples or consult with other teachers or staff members to clarify.
Being open and honest about a student’s performance requires tact and consideration with regard to how you express those comments. Be transparent, and remain mindful that your goal is to improve your students’ learning experience.
Openness and honesty are key to ensuring that experience is the best it can be. If possible, discuss what intervention strategies you can use to help improve the student’s learning outcomes.
As elementary teacher Donna Donaghue remarks in her book A Guide for Beginning Elementary Teachers: Getting Hired and Staying Inspired :
If there is a problem, most parents will be grateful to you for telling them and will want to help you correct it as soon as possible. Many problems that show up at school are also problems noticed at home, so your comments will not surprise parents. Ideally, at some point prior to receiving the progress report, parents have already discussed the problem with you.
If you get stuck completing the comments for a particular student, move on to your other students and return to it later. You will likely have more trouble completing comments for students who have multiple areas needing further improvement and attention.
Feel free to move on and return to those students periodically or as you find the right language to express your insights.
While every report card comment is ultimately about your student, think of your students’ parents or guardians as much as possible and offer suggestions for their participation.
In fact, if you can, keep parents up to date on an ongoing basis. This will help ensure they don't get caught off guard by any of your comments.
As you make note of your students’ strengths and weaknesses, endeavor to include practical insights into how parents can involve and support their child at home. If possible, make reference to how you use differentiated instruction to support the student in question.
Simple examples of tips for parents include:
As high school educator and teaching comprehension expert Anne Goudvis writes in her book Strategies That Work:
It is important that you include the parents in your comment so they know the child’s education is a joint mission. Sometimes you need to sound firm so that parents know you need their help and that you will not allow their child to continue inappropriate behavior.
It is unlikely that your students or parents will compare their report card comments, but it is still a best practice to aim for unique commentary for each student that reflects each, individual learning outcome.
Report card time is perhaps your busiest period of the year, and it is understandable that you want to simply get them over with.
Despite this, you should make sure to double check all your comments before hitting print and handing them out. All your communications to parents are a reflection of you as a teacher, and should mirror the care and attention you show your students in class.
Make use of your school’s parent portal or email system to let parents know — as needed — that report card time is coming up.
This will help parents be prepared, and will also ensure that any important questions they may have are addressed before the final report cards are delivered.
If you're using Prodigy Math in your classroom, you can connect parents to follow their child's progress. A free parent account comes with a monthly report card and insights into classroom learning, helping them stay informed of how their child is doing in class. They can also send their child an encouraging message to cheer their child on as they play and practice skills in Prodigy!
Record and use classroom anecdotes in your assessments. No matter how involved you are in your students’ progress, it can still be difficult to produce specific examples related to their performance if you haven’t recorded them along the way.
When you notice a positive or negative skill, ability, strength, or weakness in a class activity or assignment, be sure to note it down so that you may refer to it in your report card comments. Likewise, consider noting a sample of a student’s work every week or two.
To help with ease of access, keep ongoing files of this work in a personal folder or use a digital tool such as a Google Doc.
Putting this into practice is a time-saver and helps prevent last-minute stress. A strategy like direct observation and note-taking (as soon as possible) is far more reliable than trying to recall information and behaviors from weeks or months prior.
Writer's block happens to all of us, including teachers. If the report card comments in this article didn't help, fear not, there are still plenty of tools and resources to give you a helping hand.
One new option for teachers is using artificial intelligence (AI) to assist with report card ideas. For example, teachers can use tools like ChatGPT to generate examples for their specific needs.
When using chat technology, try to keep your prompt concise and easy to follow. A good template prompt to follow is:
"Write [number] report card comments for students studying [subject] in [grade]."
Here are some more specific examples to help get you started:
Alternatively, you can use spreadsheets and report card builders to manually piece together a report card based on a template of comments.
Important tip: When using AI chat technology, make sure you don't submit any personal details about you or your students. Instead let the tool use a placeholder like "Student".
Report card comments should aim to deliver feedback to students and parents that is personalized, detailed, and meaningful .
Writing report card comments doesn’t have to be stressful. Use these strategies to create livelier, more meaningful evaluations.
Effective report card comments emphasize and discuss:
Effective report card comments are personalized – customized to each, individual student – and discuss:
Effective report card comments are expressed with clear and simple phrasing, using:
Common Sense Education observes that "effective parent communication is crucial in helping students learn. But, for busy teachers it can be challenging just to keep up... Transparency and equity are key to managing any communication between home and school."
Personalized report card comments that are clear, precise, and meaningful are essential for informing students and their parents about what students have learned, what their strengths are and how they can effectively progress.
Among the pressure and deadlines of writing report cards, it can be helpful to keep these key goals in mind.
Get inspired by the report card comment examples — and strategies for success — above to ensure that precision, clarity, and meaning shine through in your report card comments.
When it comes time to hand out your report cards, you can do so with the full confidence that you are doing yourself — and each of your students — the justice your hard work deserves.
Create or log in to your free teacher account on Prodigy — a standards-aligned, game-based learning platform that assesses student progress and performance as they play. Use Prodigy to motivate student learning, control the questions they answer as they play and collect student learning insights all year long.