Teacher Feedback in
Formative Classroom
Assessment
Susan M. Brookhart
Presented February 27, 2008
At the University of Calgary Lecture Series
International Perspectives on Student Assessment
What is the role of
teacher feedback in
formative classroom
assessment?
Internal Regulation
External Regulation
Butler & Winne, 1995, p. 248
Greene &
Azevedo,
2007
Student Use of Feedback
Internal Regulation
Teacher Feedback
External Regulation
Role of teacher feedback in
formative classroom assessment
• To provide information
• Relevant to the learning task
• Which the student perceives as
information
• And uses for internal regulation of
learning
– Cognitively, taking the next steps for
improvement
– Motivationally, understanding his/her
control over the learning
What kinds of
feedback are most
effective?
What kinds of feedback best…
• Provide information
• Relevant to the learning task
• Which the student perceives as
information
• And uses for internal regulation of
learning
– Cognitively, taking the next steps for
improvement
– Motivationally, understanding his/her
control over the learning
Feedback Strategies
Feedback strategies
can vary in…
Timing
In these ways…
Amount
•How many points made
•How much about each point
Mode
•Oral
•Written
•Visual/demonstration
Audience
•Individual
•When given
•How often
•Group/class
Timing
• Immediate feedback for knowledge of
facts (right/wrong)
• Slight delay for more comprehensive
reviews of student thinking and processing
• Never delay feedback beyond when it
would make a difference to students
• As often as is practical, for all major
assignments
Timing
• Bangert-Drowns, Kulik, & Kulik (1991)
Amount
• Prioritize – pick the most important point(s)
• Choose points that relate to major learning
goals
• Consider student’s developmental level
Amount
• Kluger & DeNisi (1996)
• Sadler (1989)
Mode
• Best mode for the message – would a comment
in passing the student’s desk suffice?
Conference needed?
• Interactive feedback (talking with the student) is
best when possible
• Written feedback on written work or on
assignment cover sheets
• Use demonstration if “how to do something” is
an issue or if student needs an example
Mode
• Evaluation vs. grading studies about
“written feedback”
• Modeling and social learning theory for
demonstrations
Audience
• Individual feedback says “The teacher
values my learning”
• Group/class feedback works if most of the
class missed the same concept on an
assignment – becomes an opportunity for
reteaching
Audience
• Classroom management and differentiated
instruction literature
• Johnston (2004)
• Bloom (1984)
Feedback Content (1)
Feedback content can
vary in…
In these ways…
Focus
 The work itself
 The process the student used
 The student’s self-regulation
 The student personally
Function
 Description
 Evaluation/judgment
Comparison
 To criteria for good work
(criterion-referenced)
 To other students (normreferenced)
 To student’s own past
performance (self-referenced)
Feedback Content (2)
Feedback content can
vary in…
In these ways…
Valence
•Positive
•Negative
Clarity
•Clear to the student
•Unclear
Specificity
•Nit-picky
•Just right
•Overly general
Tone
•Implications
•What the student will “hear”
Focus
• When possible, describe both the work
and the process – and their relationship
• Comment on student’s self-regulation if
the comment will foster self-efficacy
• Avoid personal comments
Focus
• Hattie & Timperley (2007)
Function
• Describe
• Don’t judge
Function
•
•
•
•
•
Ryan, Connell, & Deci (1985)
Butler & Nisan (1986)
Crooks (1988)
Tunstall & Gipps (1996)
Black & Wiliam (1998)
Comparison
• Use criterion-referenced feedback for
giving information about the work itself
• Use self-referenced feedback for giving
information about student processes or
effort
• Use self-referenced feedback for
unsuccessful learners who need to see
how they are making progress, not how far
they are from the goal
Comparison
• Bangert-Drowns, Kulik, Kulik, & Morgan
(1991)
• Sadler (1989)
• Classroom environment or classroom
structure studies
• Covington (1992)
• Ames & Archer (1988)
Valence
• Use positive comments that describe what
is well done
• Accompany negative descriptions of the
work with positive suggestions for
improvement
Valence
• Typology of Teacher Feedback (Tunstall &
Gipps, 1996, p. 394)
Type A
Type B
Type C
Type D
Rewarding
Approving
Specifying
attainment
Constructing
achievement
Rewards
Positive personal
expression
Specific
acknowledgeme
nt of attainment
Mutual
articulation of
achievement
Warm
expression of
feeling
Use of criteria in
relation to work
behavior; teacher
models
Additional use of
emerging criteria;
child role in
presentation
General praise
More specific
praise
Praise integral to
description
1
Positive
Feedback
1
Achievement
feedback
Positive nonverbal feedback
2
Negative
Feedback
Punishing
Disapproving
Specifying
improvement
Constructing
the way
forward
Punishments
Negative
personal
expression
Correction of
errors
Mutual critical
appraisal
2
Reprimands;
negative
generalisations
More practice
given; training in
self-checking
Provision of
strategies
Improvement
feedback
Negative nonverbal feedback
Evaluative
Descriptive
Clarity
• Use vocabulary and concepts the student
will understand
• Tailor amount and content of feedback to
student’s developmental level
Clarity
• Sadler (1989)
Specificity
• How “specific” depends on the student and
the task
• Feedback should be specific enough that
the student knows what to do, but not so
specific that it’s done for him/her
• Identify errors or types of errors, but
correcting every one (e.g., copyediting or
supplying right answers) doesn’t leave the
student anything to do
Specificity
• Kluger & DeNisi (1996)
• Sadler (1989)
Tone
• Choose words that communicate respect
for the student and the work
• Choose words that position the student as
the agent
• Choose words that cause students to think
or wonder
Tone
• Johnston (2004)
• Covington (1992)
Conclusion
• What is the role of teacher feedback in
formative classroom assessment?
– Part of the external regulation of learning
– Feedback is what the teacher does but in the
end what matters is what the student does
– The role of feedback is to present students
with the means, motive, and opportunity for
internal regulation of learning.
Conclusion
• What kinds of feedback are most
effective?
– Discussion of research on feedback (including
some major reviews) and other relevant
literature in light of the realities of classroom
practice
– Classify findings into choices for teachers
about feedback strategies and feedback
content
Conclusion
• How to Give Good Feedback, coming out
in September, 2008, ASCD
• Academic literature review, this lecture
• brookhart@duq.edu