Writing report card comments for struggling students is one of the most difficult tasks in a Canadian teacher’s year. You want to be honest with families, supportive of the student, and compliant with your provincial reporting guidelines, all at the same time. This guide gives you a clear framework and over 40 ready-to-adapt example comments organized by strength, area for growth, and next steps.

What Good Report Card Comments for Struggling Students Actually Do

Effective report card comments for struggling students communicate honestly about current performance, name at least one genuine strength, identify a specific area for growth, and give a concrete next step the family can understand. They avoid vague praise and coded language. Done well, they open a door rather than close one.

Why This Is Harder Than It Looks

Many teachers default to vague, positive language when writing about students who are below grade level. Phrases like “tries hard” or “is a pleasure to have in class” are not inaccurate, but they fail families who need real information. Ontario’s Growing Success (2010) policy is explicit: descriptive feedback must be meaningful, specific, and actionable.

The same expectation exists across most provincial curricula. British Columbia’s BC Classroom Assessment model emphasizes communicating student progress in ways that support next steps for learning. Families deserve to know what their child can do, what the gap is, and what is being done about it.

The risk of overly soft language is real: parents who read “Mia is working on her reading skills” at the end of Grade 2 may not realize Mia is reading 18 months below grade level. When the next teacher delivers harder news, trust in the school system breaks down.

The Strength-Growth-Next Steps Framework

A reliable structure for any struggling learner report card comment uses three moves in sequence. First, name a genuine, specific strength. Second, name one area for growth using precise, non-judgmental language. Third, give one concrete next step for the student or family. This structure respects the student’s dignity while giving the family something to act on.

Keep each comment to three to five sentences. Longer is not clearer. Stick to observable behaviours and skills, not character judgments.

40+ Example Comments Organized by Category

Strength Comments (Use These as Your Opening Line)

  1. Aiden demonstrates strong listening skills during read-alouds and can retell story events in sequence.
  2. Sofia shows enthusiasm for hands-on science activities and asks thoughtful questions during experiments.
  3. Marcus consistently participates in math warm-ups and is developing his skip-counting skills.
  4. Priya communicates her ideas clearly in conversation and is beginning to transfer this strength to her written work.
  5. Liam shows persistence when working on tasks he finds challenging, and he frequently asks for help at appropriate times.
  6. Chloe has a strong sight-word bank and uses picture cues effectively when reading.
  7. Ethan contributes positively to group work and demonstrates respect for his classmates’ ideas.
  8. Jasmine shows growing confidence in oral reading and is willing to take risks with unfamiliar words.
  9. Noah can identify the main idea in a short passage when given guided prompts.
  10. Olivia demonstrates understanding of basic addition facts and is beginning to apply them to simple word problems.

Area for Growth Comments (Be Specific, Not Vague)

  1. Aiden is working on applying decoding strategies independently when he encounters an unfamiliar word in print.
  2. Sofia is developing her ability to organize her ideas in writing before beginning a draft.
  3. Marcus is working toward consistent recall of subtraction facts within 20.
  4. Priya is building her stamina for independent reading, currently reading for approximately five minutes before requiring support.
  5. Liam is developing his ability to complete multi-step instructions without additional prompting.
  6. Chloe is working on reading fluency; she currently reads word-by-word and is practising to build phrased reading.
  7. Ethan is strengthening his ability to express his ideas in complete written sentences.
  8. Jasmine is developing her understanding of place value concepts up to 100.
  9. Noah is working toward adding supporting details to his written responses.
  10. Olivia is building her phonemic awareness skills, specifically blending and segmenting words with more than two syllables.

Next Steps Comments (Give Families Something Concrete)

  1. Practising daily reading aloud at home for 10 minutes, with a focus on sounding out unknown words, will support Aiden’s progress.
  2. Encouraging Sofia to talk through her ideas before writing will help her organize her thoughts.
  3. Using flashcards or a free app like Prodigy to practise subtraction facts at home will support Marcus’s growth.
  4. Reading aloud together each evening will help Priya build both fluency and comprehension.
  5. We will continue to use visual schedules in class to support Liam; practising this strategy at home will reinforce the skill.
  6. I will continue to provide Chloe with levelled readers matched to her current reading level, and I welcome a conversation about next steps.
  7. I am providing Ethan with sentence frames to scaffold his written work; families can use similar prompts at home.
  8. Jasmine will benefit from hands-on practice with base-ten blocks; I have shared some home activities in the attached note.
  9. I encourage Noah’s family to ask open-ended questions about books and shows he enjoys to build the habit of explaining ideas in detail.
  10. I am working with our learning resource teacher to identify additional strategies to support Olivia’s phonemic awareness development.

Full Three-Part Example Comments (Ready to Adapt)

  1. Reading, Grade 2: Chloe demonstrates a strong sight-word vocabulary and uses picture cues confidently. She is currently working on using phonics strategies to decode unfamiliar words independently. Daily oral reading at home with a focus on “sounding it out” will support her progress this term.
  2. Writing, Grade 3: Ethan communicates ideas enthusiastically in discussion and contributes creatively to group storytelling. He is developing his ability to organize and record his ideas in written form. I am providing sentence starters and graphic organizers in class, and I encourage this support to continue at home when possible.
  3. Math, Grade 1: Olivia shows confidence with counting objects and recognizing number patterns. She is working toward consistent understanding of addition concepts within 10. Practising simple addition stories at home (“We have 3 apples and 2 more. How many altogether?”) will strengthen this skill.
  4. Math, Grade 4: Marcus is an engaged and curious learner who asks great questions. He is working to strengthen his understanding of multiplication and division concepts, which are foundational for Grade 4 expectations. I am providing additional practice opportunities in class and will share targeted resources with his family.
  5. Reading, Grade 1: Jasmine is enthusiastic about books and demonstrates excellent listening comprehension. She is developing her ability to read printed text independently, currently working at a Level C/D reading level. I have connected with our school’s reading intervention team, and we will discuss next steps at our upcoming three-way conference.
  6. General, any grade: Liam consistently demonstrates effort and a positive attitude toward learning. He is working on building independence during work periods, particularly on multi-step tasks. We are using visual checklists and “chunking” tasks into smaller steps, strategies that transfer well to home routines.
  7. Writing, Grade 2: Sofia loves to draw and can describe her pictures in rich oral detail. She is working on transferring her spoken ideas to the page in complete sentences. Encouraging her to dictate her stories to a family member who then writes them down is a strong bridge strategy at this stage.
  8. Reading Comprehension, Grade 3: Noah participates actively in class discussions about texts and makes thoughtful connections. His written responses currently rely on retelling rather than analysis. Asking “Why do you think that?” and “What is the author trying to show?” during home reading will help build his inferencing skills.
  9. Oral Communication / French Immersion: Priya engages willingly in French conversations during structured activities. She is working to use French more consistently during independent and unstructured times. Watching short French-language shows or using a French language app together at home will provide enjoyable additional exposure.
  10. General learning skills, any grade: Aiden demonstrates kindness and is well-regarded by his classmates. He is building his ability to stay on task independently and to complete work within the time provided. We are working on self-monitoring strategies together in class, and I am happy to share these at a time convenient for your family.

Words and Phrases to Avoid

Certain phrases have become code for “struggling” in a way that is neither honest nor helpful. Families often sense the softening and lose trust in the report. Avoid these and replace them with specific language.

  • Avoid: “tries hard” / Replace with: a specific observable behaviour (e.g., “consistently asks clarifying questions”)
  • Avoid: “is working on it” / Replace with: the specific skill and where the student currently is
  • Avoid: “needs improvement” / Replace with: the specific skill that is developing
  • Avoid: “is a pleasure to have in class” as the only comment / Replace with: an actual academic observation
  • Avoid: “struggles with” (pathologizing) / Replace with: “is developing” or “is working toward”
  • Avoid: referencing a diagnosis in the report card / Replace with: focusing on skills and next steps
  • Avoid: comparing the student to peers / Replace with: language anchored to curriculum expectations

A Note on Coordination With Learning Resource Teachers

If a student has an IEP or is receiving learning support, coordinate your comments with the learning resource or special education teacher before submitting. Your comment should align with the language in any formal plan, and it should not introduce information (such as a formal identification) that the family has not already been given in person. Ontario’s IEP resource guide offers helpful language around descriptive feedback for students with identified needs.

You can also explore curriculum-linked resources by subject or province using our links by subject and links by province directories to find materials that align with your specific reporting context.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you write positive comments for struggling students?

Start by identifying one genuine, observable strength, not a personality trait but a specific academic or learning behaviour. For example, “demonstrates strong oral retelling skills” is more useful than “is enthusiastic.” Anchor the positive comment in something you have actually observed so it reads as credible to families and to the student.

What should you say in a report card for a failing student?

Be honest about where the student is relative to grade-level expectations, using curriculum language rather than judgmental terms. Name one area for growth with specificity, reference any support the student is already receiving, and include a concrete next step. Families of students well below grade level deserve clear, direct language paired with a path forward.

How do you write growth-oriented comments?

Use phrases like “is developing,” “is working toward,” or “is building” to signal a skill in progress rather than a deficit. Connect each growth area to a specific expectation from your provincial curriculum and follow it with a next step. This approach reflects the descriptive feedback principles in Ontario’s Growing Success (2010) and similar frameworks across provinces.

How do you write next steps for struggling students?

A strong next-steps comment names one specific strategy, says who will carry it out (the teacher, the student, or the family), and connects it to the area for growth named earlier in the comment. Keep it to one sentence and make it something a family without teaching experience can actually do, such as “practise reading aloud together for 10 minutes each evening.”

Should you sugarcoat report card comments?

No. Sugarcoating report card comments does real harm: families make decisions about tutoring, referrals, and supports based on what they read. Honest, respectful language and coded, vague praise are not the same thing. You can be both kind and clear. The goal is language that a parent can act on, not language that makes the conference feel easier in the short term.

Continue the Conversation

Report card season is easier with the right tools in hand. Browse our teaching resources and teaching ebooks for assessment support materials, or visit our teacher tools section, including our 5-point rating tool and timetable builder, to lighten the administrative load. Our blog has additional tips on parent communication, differentiation, and classroom management for Canadian teachers at every grade level.

If you want to share your own go-to comment phrasing or ask for feedback on a comment you are working on, join the discussion at the Canadian Teacher Community Forum. Teachers across Canada are working through the same challenges and your experience is valuable there.

Writing honest, constructive report card comments for struggling students takes practice, but the framework is straightforward: find a real strength, name the gap precisely, and give the family one clear next step. The comments above are starting points; adapt the language to the individual child in front of you, and the result will be a report that opens a real conversation.