Ontario report card comments

Built on the Elementary Progress Report Card, Grades 1-8. Rate each learning skill and subject yourself, then write both Strengths/Next Steps for Improvement boxes from a checked bank. Free, no login, and names stay on this computer.

Report card: Elementary Progress Report Card, Grades 1-8. Fall progress report, October 20 to November 20.

The card, in order

• Learning Skills and Work Habits (Page 1): Responsibility, Organization, Independent Work, Collaboration, Initiative, Self-Regulation. Comment box: Strengths/Next Steps for Improvement.
• Subjects (Page 2): Language, French, Native Language, Mathematics, Science and Technology, Social Studies, History, Geography, Health Education, Physical Education, Dance, Drama, Music, Visual Arts. Comment box: Strengths/Next Steps for Improvement.

How Ontario reports

• Schools will use the Elementary Progress Report Card between October 20 and November 20 of the school year.

  Ontario Ministry of Education, Growing Success: Assessment, Evaluation, and Reporting in Ontario Schools (2010), p. 53. The fall reporting window the studio is built for.

• between January 20 and February 20 … towards the end of June

  Ontario Ministry of Education, Growing Success: Assessment, Evaluation, and Reporting in Ontario Schools (2010), p. 53. When the two provincial report cards go home. This studio is written for the fall progress report.

• Teachers will use the following letter symbols to report on students' development of the six learning skills and work habits: E - Excellent G - Good S - Satisfactory N - Needs Improvement

  Ontario Ministry of Education, Growing Success: Assessment, Evaluation, and Reporting in Ontario Schools (2010), p. 55. The learning skills scale. You choose the letter; the studio never does.

• In the space provided for anecdotal comments, the teacher will elaborate on the student's demonstration of the skills and comment on "strengths" and "next steps for improvement".

  Ontario Ministry of Education, Growing Success: Assessment, Evaluation, and Reporting in Ontario Schools (2010), p. 55. Why every learning skills box asks for a strength and a next step.

• Teachers will check one of the following to indicate progress: Progressing With Difficulty / Progressing Well / Progressing Very Well

  Ontario Ministry of Education, Growing Success: Assessment, Evaluation, and Reporting in Ontario Schools (2010), p. 56. The progress indicator for each subject. You choose it; the studio never does.

• In the event that a student did not receive instruction in a subject/strand, the teacher will check the NA box.

  Ontario Ministry of Education, Growing Success: Assessment, Evaluation, and Reporting in Ontario Schools (2010), p. 56. Why every subject offers NA.

• In writing anecdotal comments, teachers should focus on what students have learned, describe significant strengths, and identify next steps for improvement.

  Ontario Ministry of Education, Growing Success: Assessment, Evaluation, and Reporting in Ontario Schools (2010), p. 64. The strength-then-next-step shape of every comment in the bank.

• Teachers should strive to use language that parents will understand and should avoid language that simply repeats the wordings of the curriculum expectations or the achievement chart.

  Ontario Ministry of Education, Growing Success: Assessment, Evaluation, and Reporting in Ontario Schools (2010), p. 64. Why comments are measured for reading level and never print curriculum codes.

• Teachers should also strive to help parents understand how they can support their children at home.

  Ontario Ministry of Education, Growing Success: Assessment, Evaluation, and Reporting in Ontario Schools (2010), p. 64. Why some comments carry a home tip (marked with a Home tip chip).

• It is important that teachers have the opportunity to compose and use personalized comments on report cards as an alternative to selecting from a prepared set of standard comments.

  Ontario Ministry of Education, Growing Success: Assessment, Evaluation, and Reporting in Ontario Schools (2010), p. 64. Why every box stays editable and every sentence is a starting point.

• In the case of the Elementary Progress Report Cards, it is not necessary for teachers to comment on all subjects/strands in the one space provided for comments.

  Ontario Ministry of Education, Growing Success: Assessment, Evaluation, and Reporting in Ontario Schools (2010), p. 64. Why the subjects share one box and you choose which subjects to write about.

• Comments about student achievement should be in nine-point type, for legibility.

  Ontario Ministry of Education, Growing Success: Assessment, Evaluation, and Reporting in Ontario Schools (2010), p. 49. The only size rule in Growing Success. It sets no character or word limit, so the studio's limit is yours to set (your board's software may impose one).

• Strengths/Next Steps for Improvement

  Ontario Ministry of Education, report card templates, Elementary Progress Report Card, Grades 1-6 (83-0465E, 2023/07) and Grades 7 and 8 (83-0467E, 2023/07), Pages 1 and 2. The heading of both comment boxes, as printed on the current templates. The outline follows the template's order.

Sample comments

Shown with the name Sam and they/them; the studio uses your student's first name and pronoun.

• Responsibility, Good, strength: Sam usually completes class work and homework on time and takes good care of their classroom jobs.
• Responsibility, Good, next step: A next step is for Sam to use the class agenda each day so that every assignment is handed in on time.
• Self-Regulation, Satisfactory, strength: Sam keeps trying when a task is a little difficult and is beginning to ask for help when stuck.
• Self-Regulation, Satisfactory, next step: A next step is for Sam to raise a hand or check with a classmate when unsure, instead of waiting.
• Language, Progressing Well, strength: Sam understands most texts read in class and can identify the main idea.
• Language, Progressing Well, next step: A next step is for Sam to reread their writing and revise it to make ideas clearer.
• Mathematics, Progressing With Difficulty, strength: Sam can solve problems with adding and subtracting and is building confidence with multiplying.
• Mathematics, Progressing With Difficulty, next step: A next step is for Sam to practise multiplication facts daily, starting with 2s, 5s, and 10s.

Questions teachers ask

When does the Ontario progress report go home?

Growing Success (2010), p. 53: "Schools will use the Elementary Progress Report Card between October 20 and November 20 of the school year."

What scale do Ontario learning skills use?

E (Excellent), G (Good), S (Satisfactory) and N (Needs Improvement), for each of the six learning skills and work habits (Growing Success, p. 55). You choose each one; the studio never does.

How is progress shown for subjects on the progress report?

Teachers check Progressing With Difficulty, Progressing Well or Progressing Very Well for each subject, or NA if the subject has not been taught yet (Growing Success, p. 56).

Is there a character limit for Ontario report card comments?

Growing Success sets no character or word limit; its only size rule is nine-point type (p. 49). Board software can impose a limit, so the studio counts against the limit you type in.

Do I have to comment on every subject?

No. Growing Success, p. 64: "it is not necessary for teachers to comment on all subjects/strands in the one space provided for comments."

Where do student names go?

Nowhere. Names, ratings and comments are kept in this browser's storage on your computer and are never sent to Milestone Teachers or anyone else. One button clears them.

Does the studio choose ratings for my students?

No. You choose every rating, level and proficiency indicator. The studio then offers sentences written for the level you chose and shows why each one fits.

Can I use it for a whole class?

Yes. That is what it is built for. Paste your first names, rate your class on one grid, and every student's boxes are drafted from that student's own ratings. You review each card, swap or reword any sentence, and copy it or export a CSV for your board's software. Names, ratings and drafts stay in this browser.

Honest limits

• Every sentence is a starting point to adapt from your own evidence. Only you know your student.
• Built for the fall progress report. Learning skills comments also suit the provincial report cards; subject comments are written for progress indicators, so adapt them when you report grades or marks.
• Your board's wording rules and character limits come first. Growing Success sets no character limit, so the limit here is the one you type in.
• French, Native Language and Kindergarten are not in the bank yet.
• This is not a report card system. Nothing is submitted anywhere: you copy the text into your board's software yourself.
• Independent resource from Milestone Teachers, not a Ministry of Education publication. Where your board's forms or wording differ, use your board's.

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