Feedback
Approved by: Board of Governors
Date: June 2023
Responsibility within the College: Director of Studies Next Review by: June 2026
Sub-Committee Review: Education Committee
Principles of Effective Feedback
"All teachers understand the importance of providing meaningful feedback. Done well, it supports pupil progress, building learning, addressing misunderstandings, and thereby closing the gap between where a pupil is and where the teacher wants them to be."
- Professor Becky Francis, Chief Executive Education Endowment Foundation (EEF)
At Methodist College Belfast (MCB) we understand that there is no straightforward formula for providing effective feedback (Dann 2018)1. This document has been designed to guide and support teachers in delivering effective feedback and to help our pupils progress. The means by which teachers deliver feedback to pupils, whether it be verbal or written, is at teachers’ and departments’ discretion but the principles below should be at the heart of how we try to deliver effective feedback.
At MCB delivering effective feedback to our pupils should be shaped around the following three principles:
• Lay the foundations for effective feedback
• Deliver feedback that is focused on moving the learning forward
• Plan for how pupils will ultimately use the feedback with which they are provided2
Lay the foundations for effective feedback
Before providing feedback, teachers should deploy a range of formative assessment strategies through questioning and modelling (see page 4 for further examples) to provide pupils with the right idea of what a good answer looks like and to provide clear success criteria. Subsequently, feedback can address any learning gaps and focus pupils on the success criteria to move their learning forward. Pupils’ progress is accelerated when they are clear about the success criteria for the intended outcomes, can judge the quality of their work and know how to improve it. (DfE 2007, Assessment for Learning: 8 Schools Project).
Deliver feedback that is focused on moving the learning forward
1 ‘It is clear from the research that there is little agreement leading us to a straightforward model or recipe for “effective” feedback.’
2 Education Endowment Foundation’s ‘Teacher Feedback to Improve Pupil Learning’ guidance report here
When providing verbal or written feedback, teachers should provide targets that focus on specific learning gaps from a particular piece of work. The more specific these targets are, the better. Teachers should try to avoid general feedback that focuses on personal characteristics as this is less likely to have a positive impact on pupil progress. Pupils should be encouraged to consider what skill they need to improve next time, not what grade they achieved.
Plan for how pupils will ultimately use the feedback with which they are provided Pupils should spend as much, if not more, time responding to teacher feedback than the teacher has spent providing it. Ensuring that pupils have the time to respond to feedback is the most important component in the process. If teachers have taken the time to provide feedback it must be acted upon by the pupils. ‘Only when that feedback is used by the pupil is the learning gap, and therefore the feedback loop, closed’. (William 2018)
Feedback Examples
At MCB the specific type of feedback provided by teachers is at their, or their Head of Department’s, discretion. Below is a list of suggested feedback practices that teachers could deploy both verbally and in writing. This should not be viewed as an exhaustive list of feedback strategies but instead as a list to influence your own feedback strategies. Ideally, upon review of this policy, effective strategies used and shared by teachers in the College can be added to this list.
• Cold calling (having a no hands up policy and assessing any/every pupil during class time)
• Show calling (like cold calling, but the concept this time is displaying a pupil’s work to the class)
• Think-Pair-Share (best used in a cold calling classroom, where pupils have the chance to discuss answers to teacher questions)
• Probing questions ie. What is the connection between A&B? Is there evidence you can use to support your answer?
• Process questions ie. Can you explain the thought process behind this answer? Why did you choose that answer?
• Hinge questions ie. Questions which enable the teacher to instantly check for understanding, for example through mini whiteboards, if most of the class (80% is recommended) answer correctly then the teacher can progress with the next part of the lesson, if not it may be best to re-teach that topic
• Multiple choice questions offer a quick and easy way to assess pupil understanding and offer immediate feedback. It’s important to have incorrect answers which are plausible and avoid pupils answering correctly for the wrong reasons
• Feedback as actions: Re-draft - Redraft this piece of work/this paragraph/ this graph by doing X, by adding Y, by correcting Z3
• Rehearse or repeat – practice makes perfect. If the teacher notices a common misconception, ask the pupil to repeat a similar activity until they have mastered the skill
• Re-learn & re-test – if pupil work is not at an appropriate standard, it may be worth asking them to look over previous work and consolidate their learning
• Whole class feedback provided on common strengths and common misconceptions
• D.I.R.T (Directed Improvement & Reflection Time) whereby teachers give pupils time to reflect and act upon feedback
• Modelling outstanding work
• 3 read more from Tom Sherrington on this strategy here
Marking in Practice
Regularity of Written Marking
Teachers are recommended to demonstrate an in-depth piece of marking at least once a half term. At MCB marking should never be for the sake of marking, instead teachers are asked to ensure that their feedback focuses on the learning and provides pupils with specific targets upon which to improve.*
Within each Scheme of Work departments should identify key pieces of work for accurate marking and incorporate adequate time for pupils to respond to feedback. These pieces of work will focus on the assessment of progress against specific learning objectives.
Success criteria should be shared with students so that they can be involved meaningfully in the process of marking and feedback, knowing what constitutes good learning and how learning can be improved.
Students must be given the opportunity to respond to the marking and feedback to show understanding of how they can improve their learning through redrafting, corrections, extension work or applying ideas to new situations or problems.
Teachers are not discouraged from ‘tick and flick’ marking or providing generic praise. However, to ensure that time is used efficiently teachers are encouraged to primarily focus their feedback on key pieces of work and to ensure that time is provided for pupils to use this feedback. The focus should be on target driven feedback rather than simply acknowledging pupil work.
Grading
The aim of teacher feedback is to ensure that it addresses any issues and helps pupils to improve. There is no requirement for teachers to provide a grade or mark on every piece of pupil work (except for formal assessments). The emphasis is on feedback that facilitates pupil progress.
Marking of Literacy
Teachers may choose, on occasion, to mark selectively, with a focus on a particular type of error, or mark more thoroughly, with a focus on all errors and mistakes including spelling, punctuation and grammar (SPAG). When marking, attention needs to be given to literacy. Departments should focus on agreed subject specific key vocabulary, as well as common grammatical errors. The following is a standard code for the marking of literacy that can be deployed when marking:
• P: Punctuation,
• SP: Spelling,
• CP: Capital letter,
• NP//: New paragraph,
• ?: Confused meaning,
• ^: Missing word,
• WT: Wrong tense,
• WW: Wrong word.
SEN
Effective feedback and marking must be accessible to all pupils and will reflect their individual needs and abilities. This may mean writing comments for specific pupils in an accessible colour, it may mean supporting pupils to read comments, it may mean recording verbal feedback and response. Such requirements should be identified in a pupil's Personal Learning Plan.
*Those subjects with a controlled assessment component should follow examination board regulations.
Written and Verbal Feedback
‘The most powerful single moderator that enhances achievement is feedback. The simplest prescription for improving education must be feedback that is “focussed, specific and clear”’ (J Hattie and H Timperley 2007)
Written Feedback
At MCB we understand that written comments are a common method of providing pupil feedback, however we also understand the time-consuming nature of written comments and the impact this can have on teacher workload. Teachers are encouraged to follow the aforementioned principles of effective feedback and ensure that their written comments are focused on driving pupil progress and are not lengthy narrations of pupil performance. Ultimately, it is how pupils respond to, and use, teacher comments that is more important to progress than the comments themselves.
Written comments should be provided with the aim of facilitating pupil progress and teachers should not feel the requirement to leave comments if they do not consider them necessary. Teachers should carefully plan follow up time that allows pupils to read, reflect and act upon written comments.4
Verbal Feedback
Verbal feedback should happen in every lesson at MCB, whether it be through asking questions or guiding pupils to improve. Verbal feedback can be pre-planned such as providing whole class feedback on a piece of work or structured individual conversations, or it can be spontaneous as teachers respond to what is happening in a particular lesson. It is important that verbal feedback is easy to understand and should focus on the learning intentions and next steps to progress.
‘Visual-verbal’ feedback is a strategy worth considering for staff, particularly with ease of access to Surface Pros and ActivPanels. This form of feedback enables teachers to provide verbal feedback whilst displaying an example of work and assists pupils in processing feedback against the learning intentions. As with written feedback, what is essential is that pupils have the opportunity to consider and act upon teacher feedback. It is at the teacher’s discretion as to whether feedback is provided in classwork books or via Google Classroom. In both instances pupils must be allocated time to reflect and act upon the feedback provided.
4 Further reading on different types of written feedback and the research around the efficacy and inefficacy of written comments can be found in the ‘A Marked Improvement’ report published by the Education Endowment Foundation in 2016 here
Peer and Self-Assessment
‘Engaging in peer and self-assessment is much more than just checking for errors or weakness’ Black & Wiliam: Working Inside the Black Box, 2002.
Peer Assessment
Peer assessment enables pupils’ work to become a subject of genuine discussion amongst themselves, where learners take on responsibility for aspects of teaching and for evaluating their success. Teachers should aim to embed peer assessment into their classroom, however for this to be successful, pupils need to be taught the skills and shown how to peer assess successfully. Feedback from peers should be about the work, not about the person, and it should be focused on specific and helpful comments which enable learning to progress. An effective way of demonstrating sound peer assessment is to use examples of work from unknown pupils, modelling the type of constructive feedback that might be given or providing a list of questions that pupils might ask. This allows pupils to become accustomed to the process before they are asked to evaluate and comment on the work of their peers. Pupils need to be supported in giving effective feedback, helping them to understand the different types of feedback that can be given and how each type can help others to improve their work.
Self-Assessment
Ultimately, we want our pupils to be able to check, critique and improve their own work. In examination conditions the only person upon whom they can rely to provide feedback on their response is themselves. Therefore, the feedback we provide over several years should be delivered with the aim of improving their own self-regulation capacity. Like peer assessment, self-assessment requires teachers to train pupils in what to look for and how to review their work against success criteria. Having assessed the work of others, pupils often find it easier to identify weaknesses in their own work and to see how they can make improvements. They should be encouraged to reflect on their own development and progress, comparing their current work with that produced previously and with their own personal targets.
Subject Specific Feedback Scenarios
Below are examples of different feedback ideas deployed in a range of subjects. These scenarios are provided by the EEF’S ‘Teacher Feedback to Improve Pupil Learning’ guidance report. This is not an exhaustive list, as is the case with the examples on page 4 of this document, but rather they are suggested methods of effective feedback that teachers can replicate, adapt or improve in their own practice.
KS3:
1. In Computing, pupils have been asked to complete a series of sums where they add together two binary numbers. The teacher reviews the work and informs each pupil how many they have got correct. She asks them to revisit the questions, work out which are incorrect, and correct them.
2. A Mathematics teacher notes that many pupils are not ordering their operations correctly, which they need to do across the subject. She selects an example problem to complete as a whole class before asking pupils: ‘Find the problems from the last lesson where you incorrectly ordered your operations and correct them.’
3. Pupils in Physical Education are trying a shot put. One throws a personal best but her following effort only reaches half the distance. The teacher asks her: ‘Why do you think that attempt was less successful? What should you do differently next time?’ The pupil identifies that she was holding the shot put in the base of her middle fingers for her better attempt, rather than her palm. She is asked to try again and monitor the difference.
KS4:
4. In English Literature, a teacher has read pupil essays on An Inspector Calls and reflected that many pupils are not including enough evidence to support their points. She shows pupils an example of a former pupil’s work featuring a paragraph lacking in evidence, and another paragraph with sufficient evidence. She feeds back: ‘Review these paragraphs. Can you notice the difference? Now, revisit your work, and add in evidence where you think it is necessary.’
5. A German teacher is reflecting on the oral mock exam that pupils have just undertaken. Some pupils failed to use the correct grammatical gender when speaking, which is required across the subject. He feeds back to some pupils: ‘You need to use der, die, or das in the correct places. For the first ten minutes of this lesson, practise speaking about your part time job with your partner and correct each other when you use the incorrect der, die or das.’
6. A Geography class are approaching their exams. They created individual revision plans at the start of term but, having just marked pupil mock papers, the teacher suspects that some pupils may only be revising the topics they are already strong in. She feeds back to one pupil who is struggling: ‘Review which questions you struggled on in the mock exam. Amend your revision plan to give more priority to your areas of weakness.’
KS5:
7. A Food & Nutrition class are discussing the factors that impact food sustainability. The teacher notes that only genetic factors are being identified and feeds back: ‘The discussion is showing a rich understanding of the genetic factors, but what about ethical and environmental factors? Can you include these?’
8. A Politics teacher is giving feedback on pupil essays on the strength of select committees in UK politics. Pupils were asked to include ‘well-substantiated conclusions’, a key skill in politics, but one pupil’s essay featured a conclusion that did not match the argument in the rest of their essay. The teacher feeds back: ‘Your conclusion is unsubstantiated and does not match the rest of your essay. Re-examine your argument and redraft your conclusion.’
9. A Psychology student has submitted an essay which is of a much poorer quality than their previous attempt. The teacher asks them to consider: ‘Thinking about your preparation, and with reference to the
assessment objectives, what three things did you do differently this time which has resulted in a poorer outcome?’ Once these are identified, the pupil will be asked to remedy these shortcomings in a redrafted essay.
