Dance Progress Reports That Don't Make You Want to Cry

When I first started teaching ballet, my evaluation "system" was just a copy of the rolls, foggy memories, and a tight deadline. It felt like "can you evaluate Kendra?" always came three days before recital and in between "is dress rehearsal required?" and "I can't find my ballet shoes." Sound familiar?

Oof, it's stressful just remembering those first years. I wanted to be able to give my studio director, students, and their parents thoughtful feedback but I either got frustrated by what I couldn't quite remember or I ended up spending 10 minutes per student evaluation. Finally I realized that evaluations are a mess if you don't decide ahead of time what your goals for the year are. How can I say whether Noah improved or not without knowing what we hoped to achieve? The transformation to a thoughtfully structured evaluation process has been long but it's made a huge impact on my teaching effectiveness and studio culture.

From Chaos to Clarity

The turning point came the year I created the first draft of the Geeky Ballerina curriculum. It was still missing tons of information but when it came time to evaluate dancers I realized that instead of looking back and trying to decide if the growth had been "enough," I could look at what we were planning to do next year and evaluate which level the dancers were ready for. It felt so much more joyful when we reframed the placement classes as looking at what growth dancers were ready to do instead of looking for their shortcomings.

It was such a game-changer that I designed the next draft of the curriculum with mid-year progress reports in mind. (Have you noticed that my experiences jump around from end-of-year evaluations to fall placement classes to mid-year progress reports? Different studios have different approaches and at this point I think I've tried them all!) My curriculum now builds in three key elements that make evaluation seamless:

• Minimum standards for advancement that create clear benchmarks. Can't do these things? You're not set up to succeed in a higher level.

• Essential vocabulary by level. This isn't the comprehensive list of all the vocabulary the dancers learn during the level, it's the most crucial vocabulary that supports that level's key principle. (And yes, the curriculum does include that comprehensive list, but the key vocabulary is clearly listed at the beginning of each level to make them easy to find.)

• Built-in celebration points that acknowledge milestone achievements in each unit. These make it easy to encourage students in every class (even when your brain is fried) and is a great resource for the "things Ximena does well" part of progress reports. Parents and students will feel very discouraged if you neglect to mention what the dancer is doing well.

Making Dancer Progress Reports Work For You

My favorite benefit of sending progress reports is the way it facilitates communication with parents. Some parents have a dance background, but lots of them really don't know what I mean when I say port de bras, frappé (not a coffee), or pas de chat. Progress reports are a great opportunity to help parents know what their kids are working on.

Here are the two keys that make progress reports more effective for everyone involved:

1. Include both achievements and growth areas - Progress reports should celebrate what students have mastered while clearly identifying what needs continued focus. I really can't overemphasize how important including those celebration points are!

2. Make comments specific and actionable - Vague comments like "needs to work harder" aren't helpful. Instead, try something like "developing core strength will improve balance in retiré." Or if you're talking about something the dancer is doing well, replace "great job!" with "feet are pointing so much more consistently in sautés!"

Creating Templates That Save Your Sanity

You want templates. Mine aren't currently pretty but they get the job done. It turns out parents care a lot more about my teaching skills than my graphic design skills. I'm sure yours will feel the same way. So whether you use software to make it pretty or just draw a grid on some paper with a Sharpie, here are the sections I think you need:

1. A list of the key vocabulary the class is working on - If you like to send home multiple reports in one year (fall and spring are pretty common), you can use the same form both times.

   1. Checkbox elements combined with narrative spaces - Some elements (like "maintains turnout during barre work") can be simple checkboxes, while others benefit from personalized comments. This mixed approach saves time while allowing personalization where it matters most. I usually have three columns: the vocabulary or evaluation point, a checkbox, and a blank space I can write in if I want.

2. Space for specific goals before next evaluation - Each report ends with 1 or 2 concrete focus areas for the student. This forward-looking element transforms the report from assessment to roadmap.

And do you have a pre-written comment banks for common situations? You want one of these. I have a google doc of well-phrased comments for frequent scenarios (like "inconsistent attendance affecting progress" or "excellent focus throughout class"). If your worried that someone will feel their report is impersonal, as long as you copy-pasted the correct comment I promise that they won't. This will just save you so much time when you get past that "15 evaluations written tonight" point and your brain has trouble remembering words.

Teaching Tools, Not Paperwork

Dancer progress reports used to feel like a huge burden, a ton of mental work for little pay (or worse, none!). Doing a good job just felt very under-appreciated and yet the kids and parents loved receiving them. Now they're an opportunity to celebrate growth, strengthen my relationship with parents, and create individualized simple roadmaps for my students' development.

It sounds so weird to say but doing the undramatic work to create a curriculum that includes clear benchmarks, essential vocabulary lists, and built-in celebration points had made it so that the mental work of writing progress reports is practically gone. Well, not quite - but now it's easier to focus on each student instead of just the darn task.

What are your progress report struggles? Have you found templates or systems that make your life easier? Are there certain phrases or formats that your studio families particularly appreciate?Share your thoughts in the comments - I'd love to swap ideas and learn from your experiences too!

And if you're interested in a curriculum that already has these evaluation tools built in, you can explore the Geeky Ballerina options.

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