How to Write a Progress Report

Progress reports are an important part of student development. They tell students and their parents where they stand, in addition to laying out expectations and objectives. Progress reports should not be a simple matter of good versus bad. Rather, they should be a nuanced expression of what has happened, how it compares to standards and expectations, and what the instructor requires going forward. Progress reports may be time consuming, but with a little time and attention you can write information that is helpful for students and their families.

Instructions

1. Prepare your information. Get the student's previous grades together. Look at any projects that you may still have, including your comments on them. Refer to notes that you have taken on student behavior and class participation. This information will be essential to you in writing a fair, nuanced progress report for each student.

2. Use objective criteria. Your progress report should include a good amount of objective criteria. List the broader expectations of students and rate them in a manner that refers to actual student behavior and progress, not merely your opinion.

3. Write a summary of the course work. Describe with words what the class is working on. This provides the broader context that the student's performance exists within.

4. Discuss the student's strong points. Begin your specific discussion of the student by stressing what he is doing right. No matter how poorly the student is performing, find something that provides a basis to improve upon.

5. Discuss the student's academic shortcomings. Conversely, no matter how great a student is, she will have places where she is not performing as well as she could. Provide examples for the student and her family where she is falling behind. Always follow a negative appraisal with an opportunity for improvement in that area.

6. Enumerate opportunities for improvement. Synthesizing the good and the bad should create a place to talk about what the student can do going forward. Use language that is specific as possible. When you must generalize, make sure to use specific examples such as class participation or quality of specific assignments.

7. Edit thoroughly and carefully. Make sure that you have not only spelled everything correctly and used proper grammar, but also that you have worded things in the most useful way possible. Be sure that the things you say in a progress report are helpful and what you want to say. Read your progress report over several times before sending it off to parents.

References

• Vocational and Educational Services for Individuals with Disabilities website: Reporting Progress to Parents
• National Association of Independent Schools website: The 10 Commandments of Writing Student Progress Reports