David Didau

What works?

Homework (Secondary) How do you improve a school? Cost per pupil Effect Size (potential months gain) £ £1000 Meta-cognition Peer tutoring EY intervention Digital technology Parental involvement Summer schools After school Individualised learning Performance pay Teaching assistants Smaller classes Ability grouping Promising Could be worth it Needs careful thought Feedback Phonics 1-1 tutoring

What the evidence tells us It ain’t what you do it’s the way that you do it…

What didn’t work… 5

Risks for best bets Average for best bets Months progress

Risks for good bets Average for good bets Months progress

Risks for longer odds Average for longer odds Months progress

Risks for rank outsiders Average for rank outsiders Months progress

Feedback is one of the most powerful influences on learning and achievement, but this impact can be either positive or negative. Simply providing more feedback is not the answer, because it is necessary to consider the nature of the feedback, the timing, and how the student ‘receives’ this feedback (or, better, actively seeks the feedback) The Power of Feedback (2007)

Distribution of feedback effects Kluger & DeNisi (1996)

Empirical evidence suggests that delaying, reducing, and summarizing feedback can be better for long-term learning than providing immediate, trial-by-trial feedback. Numerous studies—some of them dating back decades—have shown that frequent and immediate feedback can, contrary to intuition, degrade learning. Learning vs Performance (2013)

Performance Learning

Warsaw is the capital city of Poland.

Getting feedback right is hard Response type Feedback indicates performance… exceeds goalfalls short of goal Change behaviour Exert less effort Increase effort Change goal Increase aspiration Reduce aspiration Abandon goalDecide goal is too easy Decide goal is too hard Reject feedbackFeedback is ignored

A-Z or Satnav?

Marking is not the same as feedback Why do we mark? – To grade and summatively assess students’ performance – To correct students’ mistakes – To help students to improve their current level of performance – For teachers to receive feedback from students about how well they appear to be understanding the content being taught – To motivate students to work harder – Because parents like it and students have come to expect it – To prevent students from having to struggle or think – For accountability purposes (as a proxy for convincing managers that you are a good teacher)

Proofreading Don’t write, draft Use a simple code (CSP Code) Don’t mark work that’s not proofread If it’s not excellent, it’s not finished

The Proofreading Code “If it’s not excellent, it’s not finished!” Capital letters Spelling Punctuation // - Paragraphs ? – doesn’t make sense

Demystifying spelling

Be- lie -ve Sep- a-rat -e

Govern + ment Feb ru ary Envi ron ment

A ccomm odation Practi c e/Practi s e Necessary Rhythm

Onomatopoeia

No More Marking The problem with markschemes What if you could give feedback without marking books? “There is no absolute judgment. All judgments are comparisons of one thing with another.” Donald Laming nomoremarking.com Dr Chris Wheadon: nomoremarking.com

YES Have pupil annotated work, identifying errors and highlighting areas where feedback is required? NO Return work to pupil unmarked and insist that it is annotated. Are there any errors they have failed to spot? NO Return work to pupil and give them time to correct errors & improve work. Decide whether it is more appropriate to tell pupil what mistakes they have made or probe their understanding with a 2014 Provide feedback on identified errors and highlighted work. Feedback for clarification

Feedback must address ‘learned helplessness’ and provide evidence that goal can be achieved by showing pupils that success is “up to me” and that “I can do something about it”. Feedback must focus on task not on pupil so that it addresses how they feel at having to work harder. YES NO Return work to pupil unmarked and insist that it is completed to a higher standard. Do they need further clarification to correct misunderstandings? Does pupil believe the goal is too hard? See clarification 2014 Even though goal has not been achieved, has pupil worked hard to achieve it? Feedback to increase effort

Can pupils’ performance of understanding be increased? Consider whether task can be done in less time, with certain conditions needing to be met, or marked against a more challenging rubric in order to force pupils to make mistakes. Can pupils’ performance of understanding be increased? Consider whether task can be done in less time, with certain conditions needing to be met, or marked against a more challenging rubric in order to force pupils to make mistakes. NO Are they correct? How can the goal be presented as more challenging? YES Does the pupil believe the goal is too easy? 2014 Does pupil believe they can expend less effort? Feedback to increase aspiration Feedback of success is useless. Task must be redesigned so that meaningful feedback can be given. NO Is pupil willing to adopt a new, more challenging goal? YES Even though pupil has achieved the goal, is there capacity for them to improve further?

Key points Everything works, but what’s the ‘cost’? What’s stopping you investing in the ‘best bets’? Always remember, you might be wrong

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