The research of John Hattie and how it applies to student achievement The FEEDBACK Loop The research of John Hattie and how it applies to student achievement

John Hattie, in his book Visible Learning, uses the dial to help us understand the hinge point. He explains that we want to use strategies or “innovations” that fall in the zone of desired effects. These are the influences that have the greatest impact on student achievement. The orange zone indicates what teachers can accomplish in a typical year of schooling. The yellow zone is considered to be what students would achieve if no schooling took place. The red zone includes harmful effects-those that decrease achievement. Remember the dial?

John Hattie will remind us… Know what works best and the explanatory story of why it works best Hattie reminds us that it is our responsibility to know what works best. Beyond that, we need to understand the story of why it works. There are explanations of the research and conditions in which each innovation was measured, and we need to understand those stories, as well as how each works together with others to achieve the greatest impact. John Hattie will remind us…

The only goal of education should be to help students exceed their own expectations. It is not enough to have them “do your best”. Our goal should be to exceed their “best”. Hattie says,

The secret is knowing when to switch from one method to another. Ex: I can be the best reciprocal teacher on the planet, but if one of my students isn’t learning that way, he needs something else. I am responsible for the achievement of ALL of my students. Diagnose, feedback, interventions, etc… “By the way…If a kid can’t read by age 8, they are OUT! This is based on meta-research from all over the world.” Implications? Hattie just threw out that last statement, almost like a throw-away. We certainly need to do a better job with early intervention, but what does he suggest for those kids who don’t read by 8? What does he mean by “can’t read”? Know Thy Impact

Student Expectations/Assessment-Capable Learners 1 Student Expectations/Assessment-Capable Learners 1.44 Piagetian Programs 1.28 Response to Intervention 1.07 Teacher credibility 0.90 Providing formative evaluation 0.90 Micro teaching 0.88 Classroom discussion 0.82 Teacher clarity 0.75 Feedback 0.73 This is the list he presented at Oakland on August 15th. The Winners

FEEDBACK: 0.73 effect size He has changed the title of his number one “innovation” several times (from Student Reported Grades originally) but feels Assessment-Capable Learners says it best. By this he means that a learner must be aware of his or her own assessment, and be able to articulate what he/she needs to improve. He says that you can go into any school and almost universally any student will be able to tell you how he’s doing. For example, if you said, ‘We are going to study the history of WWII next. What grade would you give yourself on this topic?’, most kids could tell you exactly where they stand (‘I’m about a C on that subject’) and also what they would need to be proficient. We just need to learn to listen! Feedback from student to teacher is directly correlated to Assessment-Capable Learners (effect size: 1.44)

If feedback is so important, what kind of feedback should be taking place in our classrooms?

Who is most responsible for your learning? Elementary students answered “I AM!” High School students answered “MY TEACHER” In a study, researchers asked elementary students and high school students the same question: Who is most responsible for your learning? Who is most responsible for your learning?

Feedback thrives on error You only learn something when you don’t already know it. Reframing errors Error management Productive failure Desirable difficulties Impass driven The PIT of CONFUSION We need to reframe our thinking about “failure”. This is connected to mindset theory…those with a growth mindset understand they just can’t do it YET. Feedback thrives on error

The Pit of Confusion is a great graphic of what it feels like to learn something new. You teach kids that it is normal to feel the things on the graphic at each stage of learning…embrace the pit! The Pit of Confusion

Remember, these innovations are all interconnected Teacher Clarity .75 effect size This is why posting the learning targets is so important. Teachers often think that posting the learning targets is just a hoop to jump through, and they certainly don’t re-visit the targets with the students effectively. However, the goals help with teacher clarity. The teacher needs to be perfectly clear in his/her own mind about what he/she is teaching and why, then communicate that clearly to the students. .75 is a huge effect size! Also, remember that the “stories” are interrelated. Teacher clarity adds to better feedback which adds to assessment-competent learners. Remember, these innovations are all interconnected

“The most powerful single influence enhancing achievement is feedback” Quality feedback is needed, not more feedback Much of the feedback provided by the teacher to the student is not valued and not acted on Students with a GROWTH MINDSET welcome feedback and are more likely to use it to improve their performance Oral feedback is much more effective than written The most powerful feedback is provided from the student to the teacher “The most powerful single influence enhancing achievement is feedback”

“You can’t give what you don’t have.” Are all of our teachers and administrators assessment- capable learners? It is important to take a step back and determine whether the staff of your school is receptive to giving and getting feedback, do they understand the growth model of feedback, etc? Only when you can honestly say you are willing to embrace this model for evaluation, can you effectively utilize it with your students. Feedback isn’t negative; it is used for growth. From this point forward, working from a strength, how can this learner grow? Assess your building’s culture regarding feedback before you expect classrooms to utilize feedback effectively.

Specific Measureable * Ambitious (not just attainable) Relevant Time-bound Evaluate Re-Evaluate Research tells us that the human brain seeks challenge. That is why “good enough” isn’t good enough! Your goals must be ambitious to be effective. Hattie also reminds us to evaluate and re-evaluate our goals constantly. Just as we suggest your School Improvement Plan should be a “living document”, so should the goals you set for students. SMART goals

How could we obtain more feedback from students How could we obtain more feedback from students? How can we ensure we act on this feedback to raise achievement? Discuss in pairs