Questions to Ask at Parent-Teacher Interviews About English

by Rachel Esco November 06, 2026

Parent-teacher interviews are short. You might get ten or fifteen minutes, and half of that can vanish into small talk and a glance at the mark. If you're wondering which questions to ask at a parent teacher interview so you walk out with something useful, this post is for you.

I'm an OCT-certified English teacher with 14 years (and counting) in education, and I've sat on both sides of that little table. Here's what I've learned: the best questions aren't about the mark. They're about the skill behind it.

Under Ontario's Growing Success policy, elementary progress reports go home between October 20 and November 20, and interviews tend to follow soon after. Each board sets its own dates, so check your board's calendar, such as the one on the York Region District School Board site. Either way, fall is the right moment for good questions, while most of the year is still ahead to act on the answers.

Before the interview

A little preparation turns a polite chat into a plan. The TDSB's parent-teacher interview page offers good general tips. For English, here's what I suggest:

• Read the progress report with care. Look past the "progressing very well, well or with difficulty" line and read the teacher's comment. The comment tends to name the skill that matters.
• Look at recent work. Ask your child to show you a piece of writing or a reading response from class. You'll ask sharper questions once you've seen it.
• Talk to your child first. Ask, "What's the hardest part of English right now?" Kids often give a blunt, honest answer.
• Pick three questions, not ten. You won't get through ten. Choose the questions you most need answered.

Parents getting ready for interviews at a Thornhill Woods school often bring me a list of questions, and nearly every one is about the mark. I suggest swapping two of them for "Can I see a piece of writing you're concerned about?" and "What's the one skill to work on before the report card?" Those two questions give you something you can work on at home.

If the progress report said your child is "progressing with difficulty" in English, read my post on what "progressing with difficulty" means in English before you go. It will help you know what to ask.

Questions to ask at a parent-teacher interview about reading

Reading problems hide well. A child can read aloud with smooth, confident expression and still miss what the text means. These questions dig underneath that:

1. "Does my child understand what they read, or mostly decode the words?" Teachers know the difference. Ask them which one they see.
2. "Can my child explain why something happened in a story, not only what happened?" Inferring and explaining are where many kids start to slip in the junior grades.
3. "Is my child choosing books at the right level?" Too easy and they coast. Too hard and they give up without a word.
4. "What should we be reading at home?" Many teachers have great suggestions that no one asks for.

Questions about writing

Writing is where English marks are won or lost, especially from grade 4 on. Try these:

1. "Can I see a piece of writing you're concerned about?" This is the most useful question you can ask. Seeing the work tells you more than any mark.
2. "Is the problem the ideas, the organization or the sentences?" Each one needs a different kind of help. A child with great ideas and messy paragraphs needs structure, not more brainstorming.
3. "Does my child support their ideas with evidence or examples?" This is one of the most common gaps I see, and teachers mark it with care.
4. "Does my child start writing tasks with ease, or get stuck at the beginning?" A child who can't start isn't lazy. Most of the time, they don't know how.
5. "What's the one skill to work on before the report card?" One skill. That's a plan you can follow.

High school questions: what to ask at parent-teacher interviews

High school interviews are different. Your teen has several teachers, interviews may be quicker, and your teen may not want you there at all. (Bring them anyway, if you can.) The stakes are higher, too.

Ontario has brought back mandatory final evaluations for the 2026-27 school year. They count for 20% of the final mark in grades 9 and 10 and 25% in grades 11 and 12, and English is included. First-semester exams come at the end of the semester, so a fall interview is a good time to ask about them.

Five questions for your teen's English teacher

1. "How is my teen doing on essays and written analysis, not only quizzes?" Strong quiz marks can hide weak writing.
2. "What will the final exam look like in this course?" Will it be an essay, short answers, a sight passage? Knowing early changes how your teen studies.
3. "Does my teen ask for help when they need it?" Many teens don't, and teachers notice.
4. "Are there missing or late assignments?" A low mark is sometimes a missing-work problem, not a skill problem. That's good news, because it's easier to fix.
5. "If you could change one thing about how my teen writes, what would it be?" Teachers tend to know the answer on the spot.

For grade 9 parents, it helps to know that grade 9 English is now de-streamed, so it's one course for everyone. Some strong grade 8 students find the jump bigger than they expected, and the interview is a good place to ask how your teen is adjusting.

After the interview

The interview only pays off if something changes afterward. Within a day or two:

• Write down the one skill. Whatever the teacher named, put it somewhere you'll see it.
• Share it with your child in a kind way. Try, "Your teacher thinks you're great at ideas. The next step is organizing them." Lead with the strength.
• Do one small thing a week. Read together and talk about why characters do things. Ask your child to explain a paragraph they wrote. Small and steady beats big and rare.
• Follow up with the teacher. A short email a few weeks later ("We've been working on supporting ideas. Have you noticed a change?") keeps you both on the same page.

When an English tutor for kids helps

Sometimes the interview confirms what you already suspected. The teacher names a skill, you try to help at home, and homework turns into a nightly argument. That's normal. It's hard to teach your own child, and writing is the hardest part.

That's where an English tutor for kids can help. I start with the same things a teacher would look at: a real piece of your child's writing, how they read, and what the teacher's comment points to. Then we work on that one skill, online, until it holds. I work with students in grades 4 to 12, and I know the Ontario curriculum from the inside.

If the interview left you with more questions than answers, see how online English tutoring works, and we'll start with the skill your child's teacher named.

Keep reading

• How to Read EQAO Results
• The Learning X-Ray assessment

Want a clear picture of where your child stands before you act? The Learning X-Ray assessment shows which skill to work on first.

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