Two distinct sections, assessed separately.
Learning skills and work habits. Six of them, graded E, G, S or N. These are about how your child works, not what they know.
Subject achievement. Marks or levels for each subject, plus comments on strengths and next steps.
The separation comes from Growing Success, the Ontario Ministry of Education's assessment and reporting policy introduced in 2010, which requires all Ontario teachers from Kindergarten through Grade 12 to assess and report on the same six learning skills.
Skill | What it means in practice |
|---|---|
Responsibility | Work arrives when it's due; owns their part when something goes wrong |
Organization | Devises and follows a plan for completing work; can find their own materials |
Independent Work | Starts without a second prompt; keeps going without constant supervision |
Collaboration | Contributes fairly to group work; listens to classmates who disagree |
Initiative | Asks questions beyond the task; tries things that might not work |
Self-Regulation | Monitors their own progress; asks for help early and specifically |
Each is marked on a four-point scale: E (Excellent), G (Good), S (Satisfactory), N (Needs Improvement).
Worth knowing: the Ministry doesn't define these six skills precisely. It gives teachers examples of observable classroom behaviours that may indicate each one. So there's professional judgement involved, and a teacher's comment will usually tell you more than the letter does.
Because they often explain the marks underneath them.
A capable student pulling a Level 2 in math with an N in Independent Work usually doesn't have a math problem. They have a habits problem that is showing up as a math mark. That's a completely different thing to fix, and knowing which one you're looking at is most of the work.
The reverse is also informative. A student with straight Es in learning skills and a weak subject mark is genuinely struggling with the content — they're doing everything right and it isn't landing. That student needs academic support, not a conversation about effort.
Read the two sections against each other rather than in sequence. The combination is the diagnosis.
Ontario reports achievement against four levels, with Level 3 representing the provincial standard.
Level 4 — achievement above the provincial standard
Level 3 — at the provincial standard
Level 2 — approaching the standard
Level 1 — well below the standard
The thing parents most often get wrong is treating Level 3 as disappointing because it isn't the top. It isn't a B in disguise. It's the standard the curriculum is written to, and it means your child is where the province expects them to be.
Level 2 is the one worth attention — not alarm, but attention. It means a specific gap sits between your child and the standard, and the useful response is finding out which gap rather than reviewing everything.
Work through it in this order rather than starting with the marks.
1. Read the learning skills first. They set the context for everything below.
2. Look for patterns across subjects. An N in Organization in one subject may be about that teacher or that timetable slot. The same N across five subjects is about your child.
3. Compare this report to the last one. A single report is a snapshot. Two reports are a direction, and direction matters more.
4. Read the comments, not just the letters. Teachers are required to write specific, evidence-based observations in plain language. The comment is where the actual information lives.
5. Look for the gap between effort and outcome. Strong learning skills with weak marks means a content problem. Weak learning skills with decent marks means a student coasting on ability who will struggle when the material gets harder.
6. Notice which subjects moved. A slide in one subject is a subject problem. A slide across all of them is usually something else — a difficult term, a social problem, or something at home.
Not sure whether you're looking at a habits problem or a knowledge gap? A free consultation will separate the two, usually in about an hour.
This conversation sets up whether the next term goes better, and most families get the timing wrong.
Not immediately. Read it, think about it, and talk the next day. Reacting in the first five minutes rarely produces the conversation you wanted.
Start with the learning skills. They're more within your child's control than the marks, and they're less loaded. "You got an E in Collaboration — what's that about?" is a much easier opening than a mark.
Ask what they think. Most students already know which subjects went badly and often know why. Asking first tells you whether they have an accurate picture, which is useful information in itself.
Pick one thing. A report card with four problems and a plan to fix all four fixes none. Choose the one that would make the most difference and leave the rest.
Avoid comparison, to siblings and to classmates. It's the fastest way to end the conversation and it teaches the wrong lesson about what marks are for.
If something in the report surprises you, ask. Teachers expect these conversations and they go better with specific questions.
Is this consistent with what you see day to day?
Which specific skill or concept is the gap?
Is this an understanding problem or a work-habits problem?
What would you do first if you were me?
What does improvement look like by the next report?
Is there support available at school I should know about?
That third question is the one worth asking every time. Teachers can usually answer it immediately, and the answer determines what kind of help is actually useful.
Slow down before acting, because the most common mistake is responding to everything at once.
Separate the causes. Marks fall for different reasons — missing content, poor organization, absence, a difficult social term, anxiety. The response differs completely, and a report card alone rarely tells you which.
Watch for the pattern across reports. One weak report is a bad term. Three in a row is a trend that won't correct itself.
Take math seriously earlier than other subjects. Math is cumulative in a way most subjects aren't, so a weak math mark compounds rather than sitting still. A Level 2 in Grade 6 math is far cheaper to address than the same gap in Grade 9.
Don't let the conversation become about character. Most students receiving a bad report already feel it. Framing it as effort when it's actually a knowledge gap adds shame to a problem that isn't solved by trying harder.
Make one plan, not four. Pick the subject or skill with the largest downstream effect and start there.
Ontario students receive more than one report, and they aren't the same document.
The Elementary Progress Report comes early in the year and is largely about learning skills and early observations rather than achievement. It's often skimmed because there are few marks on it, which is a mistake — it's the earliest formal signal you get, and it arrives while there's still most of a year to act.
The term and final reports carry subject achievement alongside the learning skills, and these are the ones families read closely.
The practical point is about timing. A concern first visible on the progress report and still present at the term report has been there for months. Acting on the first signal rather than the second is the difference between a small correction and a rescue.
In secondary school, reports arrive per course rather than per year, which compresses everything. A weak mid-term report in a semestered course leaves weeks rather than months, so the response has to be faster.
Report cards generate a lot of intention and not much follow-through. A short, concrete plan beats a long one.
Within a few days: read it properly, talk to your child, and decide the single thing you're going to address.
Within a week: email the teacher if anything surprised you, and ask whether it matches what they see in class.
Within two weeks: put whatever you decided into the actual schedule. A plan that doesn't have a time attached isn't a plan.
Before the next report: check whether the thing you chose has moved. If it hasn't, that's useful information — it usually means the diagnosis was wrong rather than that your child didn't try.
That last step is the one almost everyone skips, and it's the one that turns a report card into something other than a stressful evening.
Level 3 is the provincial standard — the level the curriculum is written to and the level the province expects students to reach. It is not a mediocre result, though many parents read it that way because it isn't the top of the scale. Level 4 indicates achievement above the standard, and Level 2 means your child is approaching it with a specific gap to close.
They're the four-point scale used for the six learning skills and work habits: Excellent, Good, Satisfactory and Needs Improvement. They're assessed separately from subject achievement, because how a student works and what they know are different things. An N is worth taking seriously, particularly if it appears across several subjects.
Read them together, because the combination is what tells you something. Weak learning skills alongside decent marks usually means a student coasting who will struggle when the work gets harder; strong learning skills with weak marks means a genuine content gap. Learning skills are also generally more within a student's control, which makes them a better starting point for a conversation.
One term is a snapshot rather than a trend, and dips are common after a transition, an illness, or a difficult stretch. What matters is whether it's happening across subjects or in one, and whether it repeats next report. If the drop is in math specifically, act sooner — that subject compounds in a way others don't.
Yes, and teachers generally welcome it. Email the teacher directly, say briefly what you'd like to discuss, and ask for a time. You don't need to wait for a scheduled interview night, and a conversation in November is considerably more useful than one in June.
Read the learning skills before the marks, because they usually explain them. Level 3 is the provincial standard rather than a disappointment, and Level 2 means a specific gap rather than a general problem.
Then pick one thing rather than four, and ask the teacher the question that matters most: is this an understanding problem or a work-habits problem? If you're not sure which you're looking at, talk to us — we'll find out where the gap actually sits before anyone starts working harder.
Report card formats, achievement reporting and learning skills assessment follow Ontario Ministry of Education policy and may differ in other provinces and in private schools. Check with your child's school about its specific reporting practices.
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President of Tutorbright