When a student has an IEP (Individualized Education Plan) for a specific learning disability or other disability (like ADHD, Autism or Mental Retardation), the parent already knows the difficulties that the child faces at school. In fact, the parent should have quite a bit of information on these difficulties from a variety of doctors and professionals.
In this situation, the report card comments need to be less specific as to the difficulties the child has but still honest. Usually, in an inclusion setting, the regular education teacher will be responsible for writing comments on the child’s report card although in some situations the special education teacher will have that privilege. In either case, the special education teacher is responsible for updating the parents on a regular basis in very specific details, so the comments on quarterly report cards can be more generalized.
Here are some sample report card comments for students who have an IEP (remember to use the student’s name in the comments):
Student is working hard and showing eagerness to learn new skills.
Student is strengthening her skills in __. (Subject – usually not the subject where the student receives modified work)
Student is kind to others and makes friends easily.
Student is working well with a buddy student.
Student is learning to listen carefully to directions.
Student is learning to share with others.
Student always takes pride in a job well done.
Student is an eager classroom helper.
Student is eager to participate in classroom activities.
This subject has been modified according to student ability (or according to IEP).
The biggest thing to remember when writing report card comments for a student with an IEP is to avoid insinuating that the student is doing well in the area that is modified. While the student may in fact be doing well with the modified work, this work is not at grade level and inflated comments may provide false hope for the parents.
More Report Card Comments
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