feedback that moves learning forward

MARKING OR FEEDBACK?Assessment that moves learning forward.

Ofsted 2014:• “There is too much variability in the quality of some marking across the school.”

• “The school needs to improve by ensuring that marking is consistently good across the school and all teachers give students clear guidance about how to improve their work, and time to respond to their comments.”

Two clear goals

1. Improving the quality of feedback

2. Giving students time to actively respond to their feedback.

Why is feedback so important?

In 2012, the Sutton Trust published the Pupil Premium toolkit, designed to show schools which broad approaches work best at improving achievement.

Feedback was top of the toolkit table.

Toolkit findings

Cost per pupil

Effec

t Size

(mon

ths

gain

)

£00

10

£1000

Feedback

Meta-cognitive

Peer tutoring Pre-school

1-1 tutoringHomework

ICT

AfL Parental involvement

Sports

Summer schools

After school

Individualised learning

Learning styles

Performance pay

Smaller classes

Ability grouping

PromisingMay be worth it

Not worth it

What have we already done about this?

• In the Summer term, we had a staff meeting focused on marking and feedback. We asked departments to share best practice, and asked all teachers what we thought our policy should be.

• The responses indicated that everyone agreed how important marking and feedback are – but that there was still a lot of work to be done.

• Learning walks showed some outstanding feedback, but that this was still not consistent enough either across the school, or within departments.

• Clear evidence of students actively responding to feedback was even more inconsistent.

GOAL 1Improving the quality of feedback

What is effective feedback?

Feedback is information

given to the learner and/or

the teacher about the

learner’s performance

relative to the learning goals

which can then redirect the

teacher’s and the learner’s

actions to achieve the goal.

The ‘Learning Loop’

Adapt teaching to meet goals

Agree learning goals

Assess where pupils are

Not just about giving feedback – implementation is key

• It’s not what you do, it’s the way that you do it that counts.• Where marking is less effective, it is used as a one way

street, when the most valuable information is to be found from the pupils themselves.

• Marking is also less effective when it is unfocused - simply urging pupils to do more of the same.

• Feedback can even be detrimental to performance if it focuses on the wrong things.

The difference between marking and feedback

Marking FeedbackSummative FormativeAssessment of Learning Assessment for LearningMeasures learning Moves learning forwardDirects thinking Provokes thinkingSolves Suggests

“You should…” “How could you…?”

Feedback that moves learning forward

• “Good feedback causes thinking.” – Dylan Wiliam• Feedback that provokes thinking offers hints and

suggestions rather than complete solutions.• It asks learners, “How could you…?” rather than telling

them, “You should…”. The emphasis is then on the learner rather than the teacher.

• Effective feedback makes students think about their learning. It also helps them to see that learning is incremental rather than fixed. This metacognition is a crucial aspect of Tallis pedagogy, linked to our work on Habits of Mind and a Growth mindset.

Giving feedback by asking questions

1. You should organise your writing into paragraphs.

2. You need to make sure you are facing the audience at all times.

3. You should always use historical detail to back up your answers.

4. Explain the impact of deforestation on global climate patterns now and in the future.

1. How could you organise your writing more effectively?

2. How could you use the space in a more effective way for the audience?

3. How could you support your points more effectively?

4. Can you explain the link between deforestation and photosynthesis?  How could this help you explain global climate change?

GOAL 2Giving students time to actively respond to their feedback

How can we make sure our feedback has impact?• Too often we spend a great deal of time marking student

work and giving them excellent feedback to improve. Crucially, however, students often spend a relatively short amount of time scanning the feedback for a grade or a level and then move on.  

• How can we redress that balance?• “How do we get inside students’ heads and turn up the

knob that regulates quality and effort” (Ron Berger)

DIRT• DIRT stands for Dedicated Improvement and

Reflection Time. • When giving feedback, make sure you give students a

chunk of time to reflect critically on how to craft and improve their work and then to develop new techniques to put your feedback into practice.

• The idea is that they must respond to the suggestions made in your feedback by writing responses underneath.

• They must have time and space to do this.

The importance of critical reflection• “Most discussions of assessment start in the wrong place.

The most important assessment that goes on in a school isn’t done to students but goes on inside students. Every student walks around with a picture of what is acceptable, what is good enough. Each time he [or she! ] works on something [s]he looks at it and assesses it. Is this good enough? Do I feel comfortable handing this in? Does it meet my standards? Changing assessment at this level should be the most important assessment goal of every school. How do we get inside students’ heads and turn up the knob that regulates quality and effort” (Ron Berger, ‘An Ethic of Excellence’, p.103)

DIRT - top tips

1. Allow time and space - expect students to spend approximately twice their time reflecting on their feedback as you have devoted to giving feedback.

2. Keep it focused - with clear task instructions, including timing and outlining exact expectations, students can be more focused in their DIR time and considerably more effective.

3. Model and scaffold – although DIRT is about independent reflection, teacher guidance is crucial.

Summing up

We are asking for more consistent use of two fundamental principles in order to improve feedback across the school:

1. Feedback should be phrased as questions;

2. Students are given time and space to respond to and act on their feedback.

Where next?

• We will be asking Curriculum Areas to revisit their marking policies, ensuring that the emphasis is on effective feedback. We will use these to write an updated school feedback policy.

• Further consideration of the role of oral and peer feedback.