Hi again,
It's 8 p.m. on progress-report night and you're on comment box number nine. You've typed "making adequate progress toward this goal" so many times tonight the words have stopped meaning anything. And here's the part that stings: you know the parent reading it will learn exactly nothing about their kid.
Not because you don't have anything to say. You have a folder full of data points that tell a real story. The problem is translating numbers into sentences, times fourteen comment boxes, on a Tuesday night when you're already empty.
That translation is the whole issue today. Three weeks ago (Issue #10) we turned an IEP goal into a data-collection system. This is where that data pays you back — and if you didn't build the system, no problem. Whatever data points you have will work.
What goes in: the goal and the numbers. Nothing else.
Here's the de-identification move for this one, and it's almost easy — because the AI never needed the kid. It needs two things from your files: the goal text and the data points. (One more input comes from you, not your files — your call on whether that adds up to on track. More on that in a minute.)
So you type: "Goal: read 110 words per minute with 95% accuracy in 3 of 4 trials. Data since September: 45 → 52 → 58 wpm, accuracy 91–94%."
No name. No grade book screenshot. No copy-paste from your IEP system, where the name rides along at the top of everything. Just the goal and the numbers, retyped clean. If your district has an AI policy, follow it — their rules are the final word.
The prompt
You are an experienced special education teacher writing progress-report comments. Here are de-identified data points for one goal: [e.g., "Goal: read 110 words per minute with 95% accuracy in 3 of 4 trials. Data since September: 45 → 52 → 58 wpm, accuracy 91–94%"]. My professional call: this student is [on track / not there yet] toward this goal. Draft a 3–4 sentence progress statement a parent with no education background can understand: the goal in plain words, what the data shows, and what we're working on next. Honest but warm, no jargon, no invented details, and don't contradict the data or my call. I'll review and edit the draft; I'm the professional here.
Run it once per goal. What comes back is a draft a parent can actually follow: what the numbers say, and what we're doing about it. Then you spend two minutes putting the real student back in — by hand, in your own system, where the name belongs.
"Making adequate progress" is what we write when we're out of time. The data was always the better comment. It just needed a translator.
One thing the AI can't do, and I want to be straight about it: it can read the numbers, but it has never watched your student fight for word 58. The sentence about how hard she worked to get there — that one's yours. Add it. It's the sentence the parent will remember.
The version that saves you in April
Nobody tells you this about progress reports: the comment that matters most is the not-yet one. "Making adequate progress" on a kid who isn't — that's the comment that turns the spring annual review into an ambush. The parent had no idea, and now you're the one explaining why.
An honest, warm not-yet comment in October means no surprise in April. The AI drafts the wording so it doesn't sound like a verdict. But hear me on this: whether a student is on track is a professional determination that carries legal weight. It's yours to make, not the tool's. That's why the prompt asks for your call up front, before the AI writes a word. And if you're not sure how your district wants lack of progress documented, ask your case-manager lead before the reports go out.
Try it this week
Pick one goal — just one — before you sit down for the full stack of reports. Retype the goal and the data points clean, make your on-track call, run the prompt, edit the draft like the professional you are, and paste the finished comment into your own system. Time it. Then decide whether comment box nine gets the same treatment.
Then hit reply and tell me the phrase you're most tired of typing into a comment box. I'm building next week's issue from your answers, and I suspect "adequate progress" has some competition.
Talk soon,
Shaun
P.S. I've been quietly assembling my best IEP-season prompts — goals, present levels, meeting prep, and now progress comments — into one pack. If you'd want that, just reply with the word "pack." No link, nothing to buy today. I'm counting hands.
A quick but important note: this newsletter is for general educational and informational purposes only. I'm a special education teacher sharing time-saving ideas. The views here are my own and don't represent any school district or employer. I'm not a lawyer, and nothing here is legal, compliance, or professional advice. Always follow your district's and state's policies, especially on AI use and student privacy, and check with the right person in your district before acting on anything significant. You are the professional: review and finalize everything yourself. And never put student names or identifying details into any AI tool.