The Power of
PURPOSEFUL FEEDBACK
LAURA GREENSTEIN, ED.D.
LauraGreenstein, 2010
Examiner.com
TODAY’S GOALS
 Explore the research on the
purpose and value of feedback
 Identify quality indicators of
effective feedback
 Utilize feedback to inform and
guide teaching and learning
Q & A: What Are Yours?
THE TRUE VALUE OF FEEDBACK
Ruth Butler (1986)
Students given only comments scored on average
30% higher.
(Grades resulted in no gain, grades and comments
cancelled the beneficial effects of comments.)
Robert Marzano (2001)
Providing feedback yields a 23 percentile gain
John Hattie (2009)
Feedback has an effect size of 1.13. The
equivalent of one standard deviation
Others: Susan Brookhart, Shirley Clarke, Helen
Temperley, Dylan Wiliam, Anne Davies, Carol
Dweck, Avraham Kluger and Angelo Denisi
THE FEEDBACK EXPERIENCE
You call this
lunch!
tvguide.com
Q & A: What comes to mind when you hear the word “FEEDBACK”
FEEDBACK LOOP
 FEED UP: Where am I going;
What’s the target; exemplars?
 FEEDBACK: How am I doing;
descriptive, reflective?
 FEED Forward: What’s the
next step(s)?
clickaclass.com
Medals and Missions: Feedback
Evaluative Feedback Descriptive Feedback
Focused on Targets:
Judgment:
•Accurate work in discussing the
 A+ work
main points. What can you now
expand on?
 Try harder next
•Your hypothesis is a useful
time
proposal. How can you rewrite it
as an if…then…statement?
 Good essay
•Process was correctly followed
 Emerging skills
but you made a simple
mathematical error in step 2.

Remember to check your work.
THE FOCI OF FEEDBACK
 Types of Feedback: (Hattie and Timperley, 2007)
 Task/Performance
 Process
 Self-regulation
 In the Context of
 Timing
 Best
Practice
 Target Audience
douglas.co.us
TASK/PERFORMANCE
Explain your chart
I agree with your data, but
consider alternative conclusions
also.
PROCESS
underwhelmedcomic.com
Character needs development
Describe what your character
looked like and the way his
clothes hung from his body
SELF REGULATION and DIRECTION
 Developing Next Steps
http://assessment.tki.org.nz
Tundra.com
IT’S ALL IN THE TIMING
Wordpress.com
FEEDBACK TIMING
 Immediately in response to a question
 Immediately to student misconceptions
 Sooner for process, slight delay is okay for task
 Longer assignments: within 2 days with a review
 Expectancy of feedback raises achievement
BEST PRACTICE
Specific
Understandable
Best
Practice
Actionable
Descriptive
SPECIFIC
Adequate amount
and detail:
 For the target
 To the student
Incorrect
strategy
Awesome graphing but
remember to label your
axes.
DESCRIPTIVE
About the
 Task
 Process
 Self-regulation
Nice opening
sentence
Your opening sentence grabbed
the reader with descriptive
detail and introduced the
mystery to be solved.
ACTIONABLE
Explains:
 What to do
 How to do it
It looks like you
worked hard on
your poster but
it needs more
detail
You have a good start with your
review of the main ideas in the
center of your poster. It would
help to use the side panels to
provide supporting evidence.
UNDERSTANDABLE
Can be acted upon
 Specific
 Clear
Good
presentation
skills
Cartoon Removed
You engaged the listeners
through your questioning
strategy. Remember also, to
make eye contact with your
audience.
SORTING Thru FEEDBACK
Put the # of each example in the more or less effective column
1. Feedback 2 weeks after the end of the unit. (example is below)
2.Rearrange your sentences in this sequence…then add more detail
to each one.
3. B+
4. I know you can do better with more effort
5. Your data is correct but these 2… are in the wrong category
6. Accurate content in your presentation. Next time think of ways to
engage your audience perhaps with…
MORE EFFECTIVE
LESS EFFECTIVE
1
SORTING Thru FEEDBACK
Put each example in the more or less effective column
1. Feedback 2 weeks after the end of the unit.
2.Rearrange your sentences in this sequence…then add more detail
to each one.
3. B+
4. I know you can do better with more effort
5. Your data is correct but these 2… are in the wrong category
6. Accurate content in your presentation. Next time think of ways to
engage your audience perhaps with…
MORE EFFECTIVE
LESS EFFECTIVE
2
1
5
3
6
4
Q & A: Now You Try It- Respond to this 5th grade
history essay with one feedback statement.
•Pick one focus
•Respond to
content or style
•Post 1 statement
Essay removed. Please
respond to your own
chosen student work.
EMERGING RESEARCH
 Questions yet to be answered: Is it more effective
In certain subject areas?
 At certain grade levels?
 With students from different backgrounds?
 For students with different aptitudes?
 With fixed vs. growth mindset?
 From teacher, self, or peers?

LOGICAL CONCLUSIONS
 How it is used to improve and guide teaching and learning
is primary.
 Reasonable Recommendations
 Use feedback as part of a spectrum of strategies
 Use feedback selectively based on students and setting
 Use feedback responsively to inform instruction
TAKE-AWAYS
The mistake I was making was seeing feedback as
something teachers provided to students… it was only
when I discovered when it is from the student to the
teacher that I started to understand it better. (Hattie, p. 173)
Please leave behind:
Two stars (what will take away?)
and one wish (what else do you need?)
CONTACT INFORMATION
Laura Greenstein
 lauragteacher@hotmail.com
 http://www.assessmentnetwork.net
 What Teachers Really Need to Know
About Formative Assessment
http://shop.ascd.org/productdisplay.
cfm?productid=110017
REFERENCES
 Brookhart, Susan (2008). How to Give Effective Feedback to Your Students.
Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

 Butler, Ruth & Nisan, Mordecai (1986) Effects of No Feedback, Task-Related
Comments, and Grades on Intrinsic Motivation and Performance. Journal of
Educational Psychology 78 (3) pp. 210-216.

 Clarke, Shirley (2003). Enriching Feedback in the Primary Classroom. London:
Hodder and Stoughton.

 Davies, Anne (2010). Making Classroom Assessment Work (2nd Ed.)
Connections

 Hattie, John & Timperley, Helen (2007). The Power of Feedback. Review of
Educational Research. 77, pp. 81-112.
http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/search/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&E
RICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=EJ782448&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&acc
no=EJ782448
MORE REFERENCES
 Hattie, John (2009). Visible Learning: A Synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses relating to
achievement. England: Routledge
 http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=lh7SZNCabGQC&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&ots=
dibQRMWbZG&sig=vqVQFaWbH-d0BNsqV17HwgaUGG0#v=onepage&q&f=false

 Hawk, Kay & Hill, Jan (2001). The Challenge of Formative Assessment in Secondary
Classrooms SPANZ Journal

 Kluger, Avraham, & DeNisi, Angelo. (1996). The Effects of Feedback Interventions on
Performance: A Historical Review, a Meta-Analysis, and a Preliminary Feedback
Intervention Theory. Psychological Bulletin: 119 (2) pp 254-284.
 http://www.tamu.edu/classes/payne/PA/Kluger%20&%20DeNisi%201996.pdf

 Marzano, Robert, Pickering, Debra, & Pollock, Jane (2001). Classroom Instruction That
Works: Research-Based Strategies for Improving Student Achievement. Alexandria, VA:
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

 Sadler, Royce (1989). Formative Assessment and the Design of Instructional Systems.
Instructional Science, 18, 119–44.

 Tunstall, Pat & Gipps, Caroline (1996). Teacher Feedback to Young Children in
Formative Assessment: A Typology. British Educational Research Journal, 22 (4).