Feedback for Learning Assessment for Learning Workshop Portage la Prairie School Division Facilitators: Brigitte Heppner, Faye Maly, and Donna Mueller “ "The most powerful single modification that enhances achievement is feedback. The simplest prescription for improving education must be ‘dollops of feedback’.” Hattie, 1992 Today’s presentation is meant to be a lead up to our next session on grading and reporting.

Clear Targets for Today’s Session: Look at the current research findings on feedback as it relates to assessment for learning Make connections between clear targets, setting criteria and descriptive feedback Explore four different categories of feedback Look at practical strategies that promote descriptive feedback in the classroom Have time with our colleagues to reflect on today’s learning. Balanced into two parts – First half of presentation WHAT AND WHY about descriptive feedback– looking at current research and hearing from the experts Second half will focus on HOW practical classroom applications.

Education is a journey……. Teaching is dynamic and ever changing – that’s what we signed up for! As teachers we are always learning and we will never be finished learning, nor will we ever know everything there is to know. It’s a journey

Seven Strategies of Assessment FOR Learning Where am I going? 1.  Provide a clear statement of the learning target 2.  Use examples and models of strong and weak work (exemplars) Where am I now? 3.  Offer regular descriptive feedback 4.  Teach students to self-assess and set goals How can I close the gap?        5. Design focused lessons          6. Teach students focused revision          7. Engage students in self-reflection: let them keep track of and share their learning   Assessment for Learning - Each an area of study in their own – not a checklist. Today we are going to focus on strategy 3.Offer Regular Descriptive Feedback.  Over the course of our learning on assessment we will be looking at each area in more detail. When preparing this was really surprised to find out how much research and information there is on this topic. We can’t talk about descriptive feedback without talking about clear targets and criteria – so today we will hopfully tie all three together   This is not a checklist, each area is an area of study on it's own and will take some time to understand in it's entirety. This is also not an initiative or bandwagon,. Assessment for Learning strategies are these are highly researched ways of teaching that promote and immensely improve learning through student engagement.  It is simply put -  best teaching  practices. 

Anchor activity Find your elbow partner for the day. Introduce yourself. Task: Build a structure using the materials provided. Use as much of the material as possible. You will have 5 minutes And go! cooltimer Start morning off with a group activity we will refer back to throughout the day. This might be a sample of a typical classroom challenge that’s engaging and fun for students.

Table Group Discussion Did the feedback given help or hinder you? Could you do better next time? Were you engaged in the activity? What did you learn? What information were you missing? 1 person from your table group please be ready to share. cooltimer Students can be very engaged but not have a clue about what we want them to learn…or …they may have learned something, but it’ s not what we wanted or it’s different for everyone.. Need to connect the learning target to the activity. Takes a minute – We are continuing our work on structures. Today we are going to look at ways of building stability into free standing structures Without purpose target set out first – loss of direction, difficult to give feedback that is meaningful to students – we will refer back and work with this sample throughout the session. Reminds me of my teaching – often do FUN activities – they didn’t know why, I din’t always know why…they were Jr. High we were having fun….sometimes I knew why but I didn’t tell them – the mark was a surprise….I didn’t know about feedback and targets….. guilt

Set the Stage – Assessment for Learning Rick Stiggins Intro First of two videos we will look at. Summary of what feedback for learning involves

Key Point Work done in the pre-planning phase sets the stage for the learner. Setting criteria and connecting the activity to the outcome gives the learner focus and reason. Once this is accomplished, students and teachers can use the criteria for launching into effective feedback that is focused on the learning target(s). We will go into setting criteria later in the presentation – first we will look at some research on feedback

Excerpts from “Feed Back…Feed Forward: Using Assessment to Boost Literacy Learning” by Anne Davies. The brain research tells us that our brains require feedback to learn (Pinker, 1997; Sylwester, 1995; Jensen, 1998). Classroom assessment research tells us that when we involve students in the assessment process, increase the amount of descriptive feedback students receive, and decrease the amount of evaluative feedback they receive, students learn significantly more (Black and Wiliam, 1998). Results rival that of small class size studies if used as a matter of routine!

Think of it this way…… Feedback for our brain is a bit like fats in our body. Some kinds of fats clog up our arteries and increase our cholesterol to dangerous levels while other kinds of fats lower our cholesterol.

nourishes the learning brain. Evaluative Feedback Descriptive Feedback performance standards with numbers to indicate ratings, 8/10, checks on a checklist, letter grades are like the fats that clog our arteries but instead of shutting down the blood flow, they shut down the learning brain. feedback that is specific about what is working and points out next steps in the learning – nourishes the learning brain.

Feedback on learning - Dylan Wiliam The focus of this video is feedback on learning. Dylan Wiliam reviews the importance of giving learners effective feedback as an integral component of formative assessment. (3-4 minutes) Click on the link below. VIEW VIDEO Check our volume ahead of time – the presenter starts immediately.

Turn and Talk What was one key point that caused you to reflect on your classroom practice with regards to assessment? cooltimer

Key Terms In Willams video he talks about two types of feedback, ego involving and task involving. These terms are synonymous with the terms: evaluative feedback or motivational (ego related ) descriptive feedback (task related) -1996 Pat Tunstall and Caroline Gipps

Evaluative vs. Descriptive Descriptive Feedback Evaluative Feedback Describes features of work or performance Relates directly to learning targets and/or standards of quality using exemplars, rubrics and/or samples Points out strengths and gives specific information on how to improve Provides strategies for moving forward Promotes learning by increasing motivation Formative assessment Typically uses a single measurement May compare students to each other Does not give students information about specific elements (knowledge, skills) they perform well May encourage competition Sometimes linked to rewards vs. punishments Stifles learning Generally summative type of assessment

Feedback can be further broken down further into 4 types… Motivational Feedback Evaluative Feedback Descriptive Feedback Effective Descriptive Feedback

Motivational Feedback Goal is to make the learner feel good. Feedback that is intended to encourage and support the learner. Does not give guidance on how to improve the learner’s reasoning. “I like how you completed the assignment.”

Evaluative Feedback Goal is to measure student achievement with a score or a grade. Feedback that is intended to summarize student achievement. Does not give guidance on how to improve the learner’s reasoning. 73%

Descriptive Feedback Goal is to improve student achievement by telling the learner what steps to take in order to move forward in the learning process. Feedback that is intended to tell the learner what needs to be improved. Gives specific guidance as to how to improve the learners’ reasoning. “You accurately found the number of students in 4th grade who said ice cream was their favorite. You now need to divide this number by the total number of students to get the percent who said ice cream was their favorite.”

Effective Descriptive Feedback Goal is for students to internalize the effective feedback. Feedback that is intended to be used by the learner to independently move their reasoning to the next level. “I agree with the pattern that you have identified in the table. I am not convinced that the rule you wrote works for all the shapes in the table. How could you prove this?”

Types of Feedback - Summary Motivational Evaluative Descriptive Effective Feedback is primarily motivational Feedback is primarily evaluative Descriptive feedback primarily tells the student how to correct their reasoning. Descriptive feedback asks the student what to do to move their reasoning to the next level. Purpose: to encourage and support the learner Purpose: to measure student achievement with a score or a grade Purpose: to improve learning by indicating to the student what needs to be improved Purpose: to improve learning, by moving student reasoning to the next level More Summative Formative Activity 2 slide

Activity 2 Types of feedback Types of Feedback - Activity 2 Complete the activity in small groups or partners. Do a quick self reflection as to what types of feedback you most often use. Cooltimer Regroup and share

Key Research Findings

Hawk and Hill (2001) The feedback teachers give needs to be of a high quality. When feedback is given in writing, some students: have difficulty understanding the points the teacher is trying to make are unable read the teacher’s writing can’t process the feedback and understand what to do next. Asking a student to tell you what they think you are trying to say to them is the best way to check this out.

Wiliam (1999) Findings from Ruth Butler’s research on 132 year 7 students: Students given only marks made no gain from the first to the second lesson. Students given only comments scored on average 30% higher. Giving marks alongside comments cancelled the beneficial effects of the comments. Research conclusion: If you are going to grade or mark a piece of work, you are wasting your time writing careful diagnostic comments.

Clarke (2001) Findings from Clarke's research: Teachers give: their students too many criteria making it very difficult for specific feedback to be given too much information in their marking which students find overwhelming and difficult to take in. Clarke suggests: When giving written feedback that teachers highlight three successes in the student’s work and one area where some improvement is necessary.

Feedback… in summary focuses on the learning intention of the task – clear target occurs as the students are doing the learning provides information on how and why the student understands or misunderstands provides strategies to help the student to improve assists the student to understand the goals of the learning. Related article “Feedback That Fits” - Susan Bookhart Article – Feedback that Fits – Susan Bookhart

PART 2- APPLICATIONS It is not reasonable to think that lengthy written descriptive comments on every piece of students work is the only way or even possible. In the next slides we will guide you through several ways to set criteria and assess students’ work without putting a mark on the paper.

Ten Ways To Assess Without Putting A Mark On Paper Ideas taken from: Setting and Using Criteria By: Kathleen Gregory, Caren Cameron, Anne Davies 1997

Strategies Proposed: Met, Not Yet Met Met, Not Yet Met, I Noticed Sample Match Performance Grid More of, Less Of N.B. (Pay Attention) Specific Remarks Using Acronyms The Next Step Key Questions

EXAMPLE Using scenario 1 – Restaurant Owner Met, Not Met, I Noticed

YOUR TURN - GROUP ACTIVITY 1. Each group selects from the remaining scenarios As a group select a strategy (one of the sheets provided in the booklet) Set criteria together for your scenario 4. Read the method for the strategy and try applying it to the scenario you’ve selected Share a way you might be able to use this strategy in the classroom. Select one person from your group who will be prepared to comment on: your strategy, the process of selecting criteria, and giving descriptive feedback and/or other ways to use the method. Activity BLM cooltimer Click on link above to show group what the activity sheet looks like. – Read through it together – guidelines for setting criteria are attached on the back for your reference. Have them get back into groups from earlier activity - 5 or 6 in a group Note – there might be one or two that aren’t applicable to the situation you chose – that’s OK chose a different one.

It is not practical or necessary to set criteria for every single activity. Spend time working on the performances, procedures or products you evaluate often to start with. (i.e. classroom procedures, fire drills, title pages, presentations, performances, group work, problem solving, projects, writing, reading aloud, conversations, etc…)

Peer Feedback “Get students working harder Peer Feedback “Get students working harder. School is not a place to watch old people get tired. The person working the hardest is growing the most dendrites! It’s about the learning” Anne Davies Play video

Teaching students how to give descriptive feedback to one another is a powerful learning tool for the classroom. The following video could be used as a tool in early years classrooms to assist with teaching students how to give descriptive feedback http://www.edu.gov.mb.ca/k12/tech/lict/let_me_try/v_clips/level2_feedback.mov

Use for students self-reflection on giving descriptive feedback. (i. e                                                   Use for students self-reflection on giving descriptive feedback. (i.e. student presentation peer assessment) Criteria For Descriptive Feedback 1. I read the goal(s) or learning target 2. I compared the work with the learning target or goal 3. I gave at least one piece of advice as to how to improve the work to get closer to the goal. 4. I pointed out something I thought was good and why.

REFLECT Effective feedback in your classroom Reflect on what you have just learned regarding the importance of effective descriptive feedback with a colleague. What was one key point that caused you to reflect on your classroom practice with regards to assessment? What will you take away from today’s session?

Other Related Articles Feedback Feedforward - Using Assessment to Boost Literacy Learning - Anne Davies -An online journal article that summarizes key components of effective feedback. Feed Up, Back, Forward – Douglas Fisher and Nancy Frey ASCD November 2009

Donna, Brigitte and Faye In closing…. On behalf of the Assessment Committee and your school administrator(s), thank you for learning and sharing with us today! Donna, Brigitte and Faye

Assessment references Cameron, C., Gregory K., Davies, A., (1997) Knowing What Counts – Setting and Using Criteria. Building Connections Publishing. Clarke, S. (2001). Unlocking formative assessment: Practical strategies for enhancing pupils’ learning in the primary classroom. London: Hodder and Stoughton. Clarke, S. (2003). Enriching Feedback in the primary classroom. London: Hodder and Stoughton. Hawk, K. & Hill, J. (2001) The Challenge of Formative Assessment in Secondary Classrooms SPANZ Journal, September 2001. Tunstall, P., & Gipps, C. (1996). Teacher feedback to young children in formative assessment: A typology. British Educational Research Journal, 22 (4). Sutton, R. (1998). School-wide Assessment. Improving Teaching and Learning. New Zealand Council for educational Research. Wellington NZ. Wiliam, D. (1999). Formative Assessment in Mathematics. The Mathematical Association. Equals. Summer Volume 5, Number 2.

Feedback That Fits Task 1: Read article “Feedback That Fits” by Susan M. Brookhart on effective feedback. Go for a break – coffee When we return from break we will do a related activity Go to next page for activity explaination

Perspective Lens Activity BLM -LINK White Lens – pure white facts (information, details, truths) Purple Lens – judgment (the downside, why it won’t work, what’s wrong with it) Red Lens – just feel it (emotions, how do you feel, opinions, hunches) Green lens – green and growing (possibilities, new ideas, where can this go?) Yellow – sunshine and brightness (positive, the upside, constructive, what’s the potential) Blue Lens – cool and controlled (pulls things together, summarizes, thinks about the thinking) 1.Get into teams of 6. 2.Each person selects a color and reads the article using that perspective. 3.Fill in the section of your chart as you read. 4.Stick to the perspective you agreed to. 5.Everyone in turn shares the perspective 6.Blue lens will report back to the larger group.