Teaching and learning magazine christmas 2014

Welcome to Philips High School’S Teaching and Learning Magazine December 2014 - Sharing ideas with teachers!

1

Festive Greetings!

Congratulations!!! We’ve survived the first term! Lots of fantastic things have happened at PHS this half term. The PHS Twitter page has really started to come to life. It can be found integrated into the school website too. Don’t forget to follow me @PhilipsHighTL SMLT carried out a successful informal Learning Walk this half term too which showed how our students really engage with their learning at the highest level. It was great to see so many fantastic lessons taking place.

The Open Door classrooms are still taking place and we will continue with this next term. You have been really keen to share ideas and see each other teach.

I am also pleased to be able to show off our new art work in the main corridor. The photos look great and the pupils love them and are talking about them! Great job!

Lots of ‘Pupil Voice’ questionnaires have been carried out this half term too with Years 8, 10 and 11 discussing their progress, bullying awareness, working effectively with Learning Mentors and Year 11 Presentation Evening. Their feedback has been invaluable. I am pleased to announce that the guest speaker for Year 11 Presentation Evening 2015 is Adam Catterall from Key 103!

The workshop on ‘Group work’ was well attended with lots of good ideas shared as well as the TLC session on ‘Differentiation’. The teachers who attended were really keen to share tips with each other which was great to see. And not forgetting the half termly Teaching & Learning Magazine – a bit of light reading over the festive period!

So there you go! Lots to celebrate and lots to look forward to in 2015 at PHS! A busy and successful half term!

Thank you for all your hard work! Have a relaxing Christmas break and all the best for 2015. Thanks again!

EPl 

2

Contents Page 1) Can I be a little bit better at…understanding why feedback doesn’t stick? (A really long article but stick with it – it’s great!)

Page 4 2) New Report by the Sutton Trust - What Makes Great Teaching?

Page 18

3) The Year I Stopped Giving Marks –

Page 20

4) Progress Over Time – Page 21 5) Stepping away from observational judgements – page 26

3

Can I be that little bit better at......understanding why feedback doesn't stick?

The feedback goblin There is no doubting that feedback is one of the most important key components of teaching. We use it every day, in various forms and in response to various situations. If used well it can have such an impact on the learning of students. In fact according to Hattie, if used as effectively as possible, it can have an effect size of d=0.79 which is twice the average impact of other classroom methods. But that statement itself has one key problem: "if used as effectively as possible". Unfortunately, as Hattie (2012) states: "Feedback is among the most common features of successful teaching and learning. But there is an enigma: while feedback is among the most powerful moderators of learning, its effects are among the most variable" So why is the impact of feedback so varied? Why is it that sometimes when we provide detailed feedback about a piece of work or learning, this piece never improves? Why is it also the problem that after meticulously providing feedback for students in an effort to move learning forward, this feedback is never acted upon? Why is it that after providing high quality feedback, students still don't know what to do to make that work better? There is clearly a chink in the system and identifying it in our own teaching, and then addressing it, can ensure most of our effort is not wasted. Surely there are simple ways to tweak what we as teachers do to make feedback work better, stick more, empower students and actually make them act upon it. Well as usual there aren't any miracle cures. How we give feedback in one lesson may not not suit the next. How we provide feedback to one student in a class may not be helpful to the person sitting next to them. The art of providing feedback is a large task to master. In fact I'm not sure that I will personally ever master it and that gremlin may remain! However, if we think about what feedback is, what it includes and who is involved in the process, can we get that little bit better at using it?

4

So what is feedback?

Feedback itself doesn't have one universal definition. Of the many great attempts to define it there are a few that personally resonate with me: "the process used by teachers and students to recognise and respond to student learning in order to enhance that learning, during the learning" Cowie, Bronwen, Bell, Beverley (1999)

"feedback aims to reduce the gap between where the student 'is' and where he or she is meant to be" Sadler (1989)

The process of is simple at first glance but making as effective as possible requires a lot more thought. At its most basic is is the simple provision of information about performance, learning or understanding. At its best it can resemble a map, providing clear references of where we have been, where we are, where we are going and what the immediate landscape may be like as students continue on with their journey. Its form can come in many ways using both verbal and written methods. Any provision of feedback by a teacher or even a peer is aimed at helping that individual move the learning process forward. We use it numerous times in a lesson and it impacts many of our students. Usually (as stated by both Wiliam and Hattie) it uses a strong goal or learning intention, combined with clear success criteria, as a means to reference feedback to. This is vital as students need to use this feedback to see what the aim is and how to get there. When there is clarity in the task or learning taking place, the power of the feedback is improved. Over the years many educators and teachers across the globe have developed methods and means of providing feedback to students which they find works. The key though is making the way we use this notion of feedback to have as much impact as possible. If we can find ways to increase the potential of feedback, we increase the learning potential of our students.

The problem is though, in both my own teaching and in the teaching of others, I have had so many conversations about how feedback simply isn't sticking with students. It's not surprising when its's claimed that 70% of the feedback we give is not received by students. In some cases fellow teachers have even questioned whether it is worth the time and effort providing it if it is never read or used. But I still believe it is. I don't think that feedback should be written off. In fact I think it deserves even more attention and investigation. There has to be reasons or triggers within the process that can be tweaked or improved. But the process isn't simple itself. It involves us as educators reflecting on three things:

1.

2.

3.

Teacher - how we approach and use feedback The methods - that we choose to use Students - perceptions, views and making it work.

5

The teacher - our approach and use of feedback I haven't met many teachers who don't value the importance of feedback. A few question its effectiveness but I am pretty confident that even they dedicate a lot of their teaching to providing it. But could it be our approach as teachers that is causing the whole process to lose its effectiveness? Are our views on its part in learning as clear as they should be? Do we set it up in a way that means it has maximum impact? Are we getting students to value the process so that they engage with it? All of these things are components that we as teachers have control over and can change. So what could be tweaked (especially in my own teaching)? Well here's a few areas we as teachers could focus on:

Feedback is not the end of the line - There are times if we are not careful that feedback itself becomes the end product of a piece of work. It becomes the final thing that we do as teachers when the learning process is over. How many times over the years have I asked students to submit a piece of work which I then write the only piece of feedback on it. How many times have student handed in homework and received a comment which then is never subsequently acted upon? Over time students believe that this is when feedback occurs - when learning is done. It becomes the end of the line, the final stop and time for students to depart this journey and begin a new one. With no action its like the students have slept most of the way. This summative method of providing feedback is the first stumbling point in the whole process. By providing feedback only at the end of learning, students do not have an opportunity to act on it. Instead we should be providing feedback that moves the learning forward (Wiliam, 2011). Feedback that provides a recipe for future action (Wiliam, 2011). Feedback should be part of the process of learning and not simply the final statement on students work. Students should receive this during learning and at times when they need it most. It should form a continued dialogue for which we can see the process of learning evolve. What this continued and responsive approach also provides is an opportunity for us to plan in deliberate practice which students can engage in to move this learning forward. All of a sudden 6

this 'end point' feedback feels very redundant and may be the first crack in the system.

When - When to provide feedback is almost as important as how we provide feedback. Hattie (2012) states that feedback should be "Just in time, just for me, just for where I am in the learning process and just what I need to help me move forward". As we have just talked about, feedback should be a clear part of the learning process and one that can be used to make subsequent improvements and progress. Little and often is a sound rule of thumb. It requires nothing more that gut instinct and knowing your students. As teachers we should be creating opportunities to feedback during the learning process and this usually occurs when students are stuck. This timing can ensure that students get back on track and progress forward. But (and there's always a but), we can get this timely terribly wrong. If we leave our intervening and provision of feedback too long, students could give up or become off task. Getting to all of those students effectively and quickly who may be stuck is difficult and one I know I need to reflect on how to manage this better. But there is an even bigger point to highlight. Hattie points out that feedback can only build on something: it is of little use when there is no initial learning or surface information. And so? Well there are times when I set students off on a task. They work and the class is silent for a minute or two. Then what sets in is the 'surely I should be doing something and helping students' default mode. If I'm not doing something then I mustn't be doing my job. And heaven knows what someone would think if they walked into my lesson and I'm not looking busy. But jumping in and giving students feedback straight away isn't the key. As Wiliam points out about the timing of feedback: "If it is given too early, before students have had a chance to work on a problem, then they will learn less".

So resisting that urge and allowing learning to take place is so vital. They need to understand what it is they might need feedback on before I actually give it. Allowing the class to work isn't being lazy, it's giving students the opportunity to learn, and work out what they don't know. But then again there are also times when we set a task and immediately have a student saying they're stuck. In this instance the principle is the same. Instead of providing feedback or giving them the answer, 7

provide further instruction. They need to learn before feedback is provided. So with that in mind, is it our timing of feedback that is a reason it doesn't stick?

Marking policy or feedback policy? - This to an extent is probably out of the control of a classroom teacher. Many schools create a policy and implements it out across the various departments. Many highlight the expected frequency of marking, the types of comments, methods of feedback provision and much more. The problem is that we should be shifting from a marking policy to a feedback policy. Why? Alex Quigley provides reasons much better than I ever can here. For many reasons a marking policy can be seen as a strict code of practice that all must follow to ensure that books are uniformed and up to date. A marking policy can also be seen as simply providing marks which are usually the indicator of an endpoint. A flick and tick exercise in the worst case. Instead a 'feedback policy' can help change the mindset of staff and recognise the continuous methods of formative assessment (written or oral) that is given numerous times within a lesson. It also forces staff to think that providing comments is not the end of the process, but should be part of the process for which students need to interact with. Tom Sherrington explains how Saffron Walden County High School have adopted something similar but takes it a step further. The school has a generic cycle which all staff must follow. The unique feature though is that each department tailor makes the cycle to fit in to their subject specific context. What you see in Maths is different from Art but is driven by the same cycle and its principles. This prompted me to create this cycle for my own purposes.

In its simplicity it all revolves around learning. The cycle allows me to plan feedback into my lessons as well as use methods/strategies that tick all of the features. The key areas to focus on in this though is the provision of feedback and feedforward, the time to allow this to be acted upon, and the opportunity to re-assess and ascertain whether the gap has actually been closed. Could a department or whole school 8

policy be formed on the basis of feedback using a similar cycle? If that's beyond our influence, can we use something similar to ensure that we create our own personal feedback policy that ensures these key principles are used all of the time? Simply using it as a basis in our lessons ensures that we as teachers pay more attention to the feedback provision we give.

What we say - Thinking about every single comment that we pass to students as a form of feedback can be quite a challenging task. There are times when we have the best intentions about providing feedback in a certain way. Occasionally though, we may say things or pass feedback that actually isn't as helpful as it could of been. These are the times when what we say probably has the biggest impact as a teacher for how the feedback is received. So what things should we think about? The next few points address this: Faulty interpretations - There are times when providing feedback to a student may not be beneficial at all. Hattie in his 2007 paper explains that feedback: "is most powerful when it addresses faulty interpretations, not a total lack of understanding. Under the latter circumstance, it may even be threatening to a student: “If the material studied is unfamiliar or abstruse, providing feedback should have little effect on criterion performance, since there is no way to relate the new information to what is already known� (Kulhavy, 1977, p. 220)."

Hattie explains that students who are really struggling with understanding will not benefit at all when we try to intervene with feedback. He advises that at a stage like this it is probably more beneficial to provide further instruction, additional explanations or clarity through an example. Now this shift is easier to do when we are working face to face with students and providing oral feedback. But on pieces of classwork or even home learning, the comments that we give can have a limited effect. It also becomes quite a large task to provide clear enough instruction for students in written format. It's simply easier to tell them face to face. So when students are really struggling in this setting, instruction and not feedback is vital. Knowing this, can we tweak the comments we give on these pieces of work, or even arrange time set aside to act on this in person?

Whole class feedback - Now I have been guilty of this a lot. There are times when after observing the class or speaking to a few individuals we make an address to all students. Our intentions are honorable as we seek to share a common misconception or error with everyone. The problem is that most of this feedback misses our students as they are unsure or unaware of who this feedback is actually being directed to. If nobody knows who it is for then who is actually receiving it? As time efficient and as well intended as this is, simply providing feedback on such a large scale loses its overall effectiveness and becomes a method that has low impact. Targeting specific individuals or working with small groups is a more beneficial strategy. Can we as teachers be more mindful of this in the future?

9

Giving and receiving - David Carless in 2006 wrote a paper titled 'Differing perceptions in the feedback process'. I will refer to this a lot more later on but a startling number of facts from his research emerged. Again it centers around the efficiency of the feedback that we provide. In his study, he found that 70% of teachers claimed that the feedback that they gave was detailed enough for students to use. Unfortunately only 45% of students agreed that feedback was of this standard. This is quite startling and if it is similar across all classrooms, that is a lot of wasted feedback which is simply not hitting home. So as an educator is there a way that we can make these percentages align? Well using advice from Carless, Hattie and Wiliam, there are a few things that we can do to improve the impact. One is to address the complexity of our feedback. Carless noticed that on a number of occasions, students found the comments of the teacher too confusing, too detailed or too specific to that task. Dylan Wiliam also confirms this and states that sometimes less is more in terms of what we say/give. The feedback we are providing should be helpful to the learner in making future improvements. Unfortunately we sometimes provide feedback that is very accurate and specific, but this simply makes students unsure of what they need to do to progress or work on.

Carless also makes the point that sometimes this feedback is too task specific and is not seen as transferable to future learning. Instead of addressing specifics that may not be revisited in the future, look at generic skills such as 'how effective students are referencing evidence' as a basis instead. This is something that can be used repeatedly and more frequently in future tasks.

Finally, interpretation of grading or assessment criteria can also be too specific. These can sometimes be extremely detailed and long winded. Students can find the terminology and differences between boundaries confusing. As teachers are we able to break this down into more manageable chunks which students can access and reference more easily?

Praise or no praise? - I feel that this may cause the most debate. This is also an area that I had the most discussion with colleagues at school about. Praise is a tough thing to isolate when giving feedback. We sometimes do it automatically. I know that I use "Well done....." or similar praise comments when talking about students work. But the giving of praise can actually be detrimental when trying to provide feedback. Praise on its own has very little impact as it provides no 10

constructive instruction to the learning or task. Mixing praise with other comments can also reduce the impact of feedback. As Butler (1988) found out, 'feedback through comments alone led to learning gains, whereas marks alone or comments accompanied by marks or giving praise did not.' It seems that the giving of praise redirects the attention of the student and actually distracts them from the comments that they are receiving. So what are some of the pitfalls that research suggests we fall into? Well it is suggested most praise is normally directed towards the student themselves. It comes in the form of comments like "Good girl" or "Great piece of work from a great student". This is difficult for the student to reference or take control of. It also fails to tell them what to do with the work or even acknowledge gaps in learning? Hattie (2011) identifies that student orientated praise also affects their self perceptions. Some will want to be seen as a good student, others will want to avoid being a good student because praise is present in the classroom. Another issue is we usually praise underachieving or struggling students more. This can ultimately lead to praise being given out when it isn't really deserved, or even worse, that praise being seen as false so future praise has even less impact.

But wait a moment, are you saying we shouldn't give praise? Not at all, instead we need to turn to the work of Dweck. As Wiliam (2011) states: "It is also essential that praise is related to factors within an individual's control, so praising a gifted student for simply being gifted is likely to lead to negative consequences in the long term (Dweck, 2006)" Hattie (2011) also agrees with this by saying that: "praise directed to the effort, self-regulation, engagement, or processes relating to the task and its performance (e.g., “You’re really great because you have diligently completed this task by applying this concept�). This latter type of praise can assist in enhancing self-efficacy and thus can be converted by students back into impact on the task, and hence the effects are much greater."

So what does this mean? In a nutshell, most research says that if we give praise we should be directing it to variables that students have control over. These are things such as effort or process. By issuing praise and attributing to how hard a student has worked ("It's really great to see how much effort you have put in") or the way in which they have done it ("A really fantastic way in which you have structured your....") means that the student can do something about it. They have control over the amount of effort they put into future tasks. They also have control over the strategy, method or way in which they complete a task. So can we as teachers change the way we use praise?

11

Grades or no grades - Again this is a very difficult discussion to have. Our education system is built up on the notion of grades, however as a form of feedback they have no effect and in some cases make the learning worse. Giving grades to students has shown to cause no improvements in subsequent work. To many, as soon as students get a grade, the learning stops (Kohn, 1994). It is seen as the end of that particular learning process. We therefore need to think very hard about how we use them. Dylan Wiliam dedicates a whole section to the use of grades in feedback. In numerous research studies around the use of feedback with students, grades on their own or combined with comments have no impact on learning. Even when you combine them with comments I hear you say? As Wiliam points out: "Most teachers, therefore, are surprised to learn that the effect of giving both scores and comments was the same as the effect of giving scores alone. Far from producing the best effects of both kinds of feedback, giving scores alongside the comments completely washed out the beneficial effects of the comments" Wiliam points out in this situation the teacher might as well just give the grades on their own as the students won't learn anything and it will save teachers a lot of time. There are three obvious reasons why grades aren't helpful. First of all they provide no constructive feedback. Giving a student a grade doesn't indicate what was achieved and what gaps still need closing. Secondly, a grade focuses students attention away from any comments. Some students seem hooked on them and ultimately want to know how well they achieved, sacrificing the urge to improve. Thirdly, grades feed fixed mindset students. How many times do we give out grades only for the following thing to happen - students compare with their peers. All of a sudden the opportunity for moving forward is restricted as students look for social status. As is the suggestion from numerous pieces of research, constructive comments are much more beneficial to learning than grades.

But hang on, we need to give grades so can we make their use better? Well yes we can. I will explain methods of using grades as a form of feedback in my next post. In a sneak preview, if we break down what a grade means and use it as a criteria for success, a grade can be tweaked to be quite a beneficial method fo feedback to share with students. It just takes some thought. So can we step away from grades if possible, or even use them more constructively to improve the impact of feedback?

12

The students - perceptions, views and making it work for them In both my #TLT13 and ResearchEd presentation, I saved my focus of students to the end. Simply because what we do and the methods we use are under our control. How our students react or engage with feedback is not. We can set up the best systems and use the best methods, but if a student does not do anything with the feedback, the system fails. In fact during my session a number of people discussed exactly this point. One delegate explained what on paper was a fantastic method of providing feedback. Unfortunately the student response was rarely as high as they expected.

As well as consulting the books and research papers, I conducted an in house survey of 100 students from Year 7 through to Year 11. I will refer to this at certain times although my findings were almost exactly the same as what researchers were already saying. What is listed on the image below are the numerous reasons that students said feedback didn't work for them.

So why doesn't feedback stick with students? As I stated earlier, it is claimed that 70% of feedback is not received by students. This is a pretty low return rate for something we know has so much impact if used well. So what is going on in our feedback process? Why is it that sometimes students just don't engage or do anything with the feedback we give them?

Oral feedback - In my school survey this issue came up a lot. Students commented quite a lot on how they preferred oral feedback as it was given specifically to them in a face to face situation. Students were able to ask questions and seek clarity if needed. However, many students said although they liked this, there were frequent times when the teachers moved on to speak to another student and they instantly forgot what was said to them. There are other considerations with oral feedback as well. Carless (2006) indicated that "whilst tutors may view oral comments as feedback, students may not recognise this form of feedback as much as written comments". Maybe what we tell students doesn't sink in because if it isn't on paper students aren't sure if it is simply a conversation or a suggestion. They may miss that it was actually feedback designed to help them improve. So can we design a process where we can use oral feedback to explain, whilst reinforcing it in written form?

Too much feedback on work = work must be bad - This is a common theme with 13

students. "If there's a lot of writing on my work it must be bad and I therefore don't read it". Now this is a common mistake. Sometimes students need to have detailed feedback but it seems that some students ignore feedback if they see a lot of it on a page. It seems that they buy into a culture that only poor work receives mass feedback where as good work receives minimal (sometimes only a grade). In Dylan Wiliam's book Embedded Formative Assessment, he talks about a student conversation in which a girl says "When you get a lot of feedback on your work, it means it wasn't very good". As the explanation went on, the girl indicated that good work receives a high grade and a little comment like "Good job", whereas less successful work is returned to the students with lots of annotations from the teacher. As Wiliam states, "To this girl, the more "feedback" you got, the worse your work must have been". As he points out, used in this way "feedback really is punishment". So is our helpfulness and good intentions the reason why students ignore our comments?

Peer feedback - In Nuthall's book 'The Hidden Lives of Learners', it is claimed that 85% of the feedback that students receive is from their peers, yet most of this is incorrect (also referenced in Visible Learning, Hattie 2009). At first I didn't believe this and thought the numbers were out, but actually observing this in the classroom, you see that students ask each other for help or direction far more than they ask you. How many times do you see individuals checking with each other, or asking each other questions or using a partner when they get stuck? The problem as Nuthall points out though is this information is usually wrong. In my survey I found some students gave an answer to their peers just to shut them up. In Nuthall's book he points out how some students have the best intentions but again give wrong information. The question here then is, if we know this is going on, surely we need to dedicate time to teach students how to give effective feedback in the first place. Is this a reason that learning doesn't improve? Feedback outside our control is given, but it's usually wrong?

How good teachers feedback actually is - I've talked about this before but it seems that students perceive the quality of feedback differently than we do. With our best intentions, in our eyes, the feedback we provide we believe is helpful. In a study by Carless (2006), he found that tutors perceived their feedback more positively than students did. There was a huge gap though with students perceptions though. For example, Carless found that 38.4% of the teachers in his study thought they gave detailed feedback to students, where as only 10.6% thought they did. Now it is important to note that his study was in FE but do we think the feedback we give is helpful? As Hattie and Wiliam point out, sometimes our feedback is too detailed, too specific, to confusing and doesn't move the learning forward. We need to ensure that we use little and often, focusing on key steps to move the learning forward, referencing it as much as possible to the aims and criteria of the learning. What we give should act like a map or even scaffold the process further. Do we do this enough though?

14

Ability and the fear of error - It seems from the study by Carless (2006) that students of a higher ability were more receptive to feedback. This was because of their greater confidence and better understanding of both the learning, and what good performance entails. However, with less able students, feedback carries the risk of being discouraging and misunderstood. As Carless states "An ability to provide pertinent feedback that does not impact negatively on student egos seems to be a useful skill for tutors to develop". Now this all works on the self belief of a student and ties in very closely with my next point about the work of Carole Dweck. Whilst more able have the ability to act upon feedback, do the less able have the capability to work with it as effectively? Do we differentiate what we say to different students in our class or is it a one size fits all model ? I know I need to think hard about this.

Dweck's work also links to this issue. Of her research, Dweck found that students could roughly be split into two types: fixed learners or growth learners. Growth learners thrive on challenge and see mistakes as a process to learn from. However, fixed mindset learners worry about errors as an attack on their intelligence and ability therefore are less receptive to it. These fixed learners aren't just the less able students in the class who attribute poor work for not being very bright. It can also be the highest achievers whose status in the classroom is equally under threat from feedback, failures, errors and mistakes. As a teacher, do we work to shift these students to become more growth orientated? We do this through helping them see that "by working, you are getting smarter" (Wiliam, 2011). With these students we need to give feedback on things under their control and not attributed to intelligence. These are things such as effort and the process of which students have worked. But as teachers do we do this? Do we get these fixed learners to embrace feedback and learn from mistakes? If not then it's no surprise that these students don't engage with it.

15

Teachers give too much feedback - As simple as it sounds (and I have mentioned this in various forms throughout) "In giving feedback, less is often more" (Wiliam, 2011). Again, sometimes our best intentions, the amount of feedback that we give can be too detailed, too confusing and of moderate quality. If we refine what we say and focus on a few points, the impact of feedback with students improves.

We don't do anything with the feedback - As I stated in the teacher section, a number of students, especially in my own survey, found that feedback was given but there were no opportunities to follow it up. This completely devalues the effectiveness of it and over time, students become desensitised to it. Why would they ever read feedback if there was never an opportunity to act on it? It becomes a redundant task. Feedback should be part of the learning process and embedded in a culture of the classroom. If we don't value it then students won't either.

The feedback I get focuses on what I've done wrong, not what I need to do to improve - It's really easy, especially with a marking policy, to purely focus on what students have got wrong rather than what they need to do to make work/learning better. Wiliam (2011) talks about how this type of feedback is "rather like the scene in the rearview mirror rather than through the windshield". If we purely address "what was deficient about the work submitted" then we don't provide students with the chance to improve or move the learning forward. Do the methods we use address both what needs to improve as well as how to improve?

Involve me in the process - At times, feedback to students can be seen as "You've done this work, now here is my judgement". As teachers we need to use our experience and expertise to rightly help students move forward. We have the biggest understanding of gaps in knowledge so should be providing guidance. But a common theme from students was how it sometimes feels a one way process. Some students in my in house survey indicated that they knew the particular weaknesses in their work. The spoke about how they would have loved the opportunity to have been asked if there was anything in particular they would like the teacher to focus on when they check it. Involving them in the process makes them more receptive to it.

16

Robotic feedback - For simple efficiency we as teachers usually give out generic feedback statements or comments to groups of learners. If we didn't we'd be marking and providing feedback for days on end. But students check with each other and find that if other students have the same worded comments, all of a sudden it becomes impersonal and loses its impact. They worry that if we haven't put in the effort, why should they. Now we know that is not the case but students see this as robotic feedback. They see it as cold and not specifically targeted for them. Now this is a tricky one, unless we increase our work load (which I don't recommend) is there a way we can tweak this so students do feel it is there to help them?

So now what?

Having an understanding of what we do as teachers, and how students perceive feedback, is a really important point. The aim is not to completely reinvent how we give feedback, but assess why things might not stick and look to tweak/get that little bit better. In my next post I will look at methods that aim to tackle many of the above points and make the feedback we give actually have an impact. @Daviddidau

17

@davidfawcett27 New

report by the Sutton Trust: What Makes Great Teaching

October 31, 2014

Today the Sutton Trust and the University of Durham have published a fascinating new report called What Makes Great Teaching? It sets out to answer that title question, as well as looking at ways we can measure great teaching, and how that could be used to promote better learning. Here is my short summary of some key points from the report.

1. What is effective teaching? This report is very honest about the fact that we don’t have as clear an idea of what good teaching is as we think we do. I think this is an important point to make. Too often, reports like this one start from the point of assuming that everyone knows what good teaching is, and that the challenge is finding the time/money/will/methodology to implement changes. This report is saying that actually, there are a lot of misconceptions about what good teaching is, and as such, reform efforts could end up doing more harm than good. We need to think more clearly and critically about what good teaching is – and this report does that. As well as listing what effective teaching practices are, it also lists what ineffective practices are. This list has already received some media attention (including a Guardian article with a bit from me), as it says that some popular practices such as learning styles and discovery learning are not backed up by evidence. The report draws its evidence from a wide range of sources, including knowledge from cognitive psychology. It cites Dan Willingham quite a lot, and quotes his wonderful line thatmemory is the residue of thought. As regular readers will know, I think cognitive psychology has a lot to offer education, so it is great to see it getting so much publicity in this report.

2. How can we measure good teaching? According to this report, the focus should always be on student outcomes (not necessarily just academic ones). This can also be a bit of a hard truth. If a group of teachers work really hard at mastering a particular technique or teaching approach, and they do master it and use it in all their lessons, it can be tempting to define this as success. But this report says – no. The focus has to be on student outcomes. Although we can devise proxy measures which can stand in for student outcomes, we always need to be regularly checking back to the student outcomes to see if those assumptions are still holding true. The report is also honest about the fact that a lot of the current ways we measure teaching are flawed. That’s why we need to use more than one measure, to always be checking them against each other, and to be very careful about the purposes we put these measurements to. The report suggests that our current measures are probably only suitable for low-stakes purposes, and that they certainly can’t be used for both formative and summative measures at the same time (or ‘fixing’ and ‘firing’ as they call it).

3. How can we improve measurement? Although the report is very cautious about the current state of measurement tools, it offers some useful thoughts about how we could improve this state of affairs. First, school leaders need to be able to understand the strengths and limitations of all these various data sources. According to the report, there is ‘the need for a high level of assessment and data skills among school leaders. The ability to identify and source ‘high-quality’ assessments, to integrate multiple sources of information, applying appropriate weight and caution to 18

each, and to interpret the various measures validly, is a non-trivial demand.’ Also, student assessment needs to be improved. If we always want to be checking the effect of our practices on student outcomes, we need a better way of measuring those outcomes. The report gives this tantalising suggestion: that the profession could create ‘a system of crowd-sourced assessments, peer-reviewed by teachers, calibrated and quality assured using psychometric models, and using a range of item formats’. It would be great to hear more details about this proposal, and perhaps about how CEM or the Sutton Trust could provide the infrastructure and/or training to get such a system off the ground.

One of the authors of the paper is Rob Coe, and I think this report builds on his 2013 Durham Lecture, Improving Education: A Triumph of Hope over Experience.

This lecture was also sceptical about a lot of recent attempts to measure and define good teaching, as can be seen in the following two slides from the lecture.

I recommended this lecture to a friend who said something along the lines of ‘yes, this is great – but it’s so depressing! All it says is that we have got everything wrong for the last 20 years and that education research is really hard. Where are the solutions?’ I think this paper offers some of those solutions, and I would recommend it to anyone interested in improving their practice or their school.

19

The Year I Stopped Giving Marks

BY DUCHENPA NOVEMBER 17, 2014

For a lot of my years of teaching, I believed that marks were the great motivator. I believed that the ultimate prize, whether it was an “A”, “100%”, or later a “Level 4″ was what made students do their best. Obviously, some parents thought so too. Some parents went so far as to pay their children cash for high marks!

The problem with seeing marks as the motivator is simple. A high mark may inspire a student to keep working, but a low mark rarely inspires a student to try harder. I’ve drained the green ink out of many marking pens through the years writing notes similar to this: “Level 2 — If you see me tomorrow for a review lesson on ___ You can re-write this quiz/test/assignment and earn a higher mark!”

Sounds great right? Another kick at the can. The problem is, too few students ever took me up on the offer. My theory is that most students see the low number and never read on. They’re too busy balling up the paper, getting angry with me or with themselves, or thinking “I just don’t get it, so why even bother trying?”

So this year, I decided to try an experiment. I don’t give my students marks. By this I mean I don’t write marks on their work. I give written and verbal feedback, and lots of it, but no numbers. I still record their marks for later reference, but all they see is the written feedback.

As I began this “experiment” I was curious. How long would it be till someone asked me for a mark? I honestly figured it would be within the first few weeks. September passed, and no one asked. Eventually, partway through October, one student did ask about one particular quiz. I gave her the number. She was happy, since she had done well. Then I asked her if the number had told her anything that the feedback hadn’t. She paused, thought carefully about it, then said no. She continues to be a highly motivated student, but now she and her classmates get the 20

information and affirmation they need from written feedback and conversations during class about the work. No one else has ever asked for a mark!

The real surprise came from my not-quite-so-high-achieving students. When they get feedback such as, “You can add and subtract integers, but please come see me for a review of multiplying integers” some of them now want the help! They choose to learn, even when the test is behind them! Instead of seeing a low number which tells them “you can’t”, they get feedback that tells them “with a little more work you can”. * * * * * * * *

Progress over time #POTteaching: by @TeacherToolkit Baffled?

What is it? Why does it matter? How can you evidence it? How can you observe it?

Our aim, is for all our teachers to be equipped and agree with two key aspects: 1. What is ‘progress over time’ a) across the school and b) in a lesson?

2. What information is sourced in lessons day-to-day?

Immersion: The immersed view, is that teachers can be judged on a one-off (appraisal) lesson, which has typically been lodged in all our school policies and procedures, and therefore, in all our minds I believe it is time for us all to make a huge shift in proceedings.

Former-feedback model: At best, we may use this simple diagram to describe this former judgement-method shown below.

21

Judgements over time (old school process).

In this method above, how have

you

have

been

judged in (former) one-off lessons? Does this sum up those one-off lessons?

You know, the ones where you pull-out-all-the-stops, to

show-and-tell

your

appraiser, ‘this is me!’ Yet, only to find, that you have not ‘ticked all the boxes’ and then receive a judgement you didn’t half-expect?!

How can this be a robust model? Why have we not questioned this enough over the past decade?!

The alternatives: There are various models we can use with the new-era of judgements on teaching and learning. This may be through a typical appraisal process; or a coaching and mentoring programme. A CPD programme which looks to support teachers ‘over time’; or a paired and triad-method of peer-to-peer observation – which takes time – that works very well when carefully planned and revisited.

How are your lesson observations judged?

One-off appriasal lesson (no data; no seating plan; no lesson plan; no book looks) One-off appriasal lesson (using data; a seating plan; an optional lesson plan; and book looks )

Mainly through book scrutiny and student conversations In peer-to-peer observations (one member of staff could be my appraiser) Through regular lesson observations throughout the year

.

None of the above

Other: 22

The problems: 1. Are we interested in our students getting the best deal (and therefore learning the most) day in day out?

2. As a teacher, is it far more valuable for you, to get feedback on a typical lesson that you teach, than compared to a show-case lesson that you ‘put on a show’ for an observation/appraiser? (Consider that, at the moment, our lesson judgements and therefore feedback conversations are focused on the one show-case lesson.

3. In the observer role, we cannot be in every lesson, every day, or even every week to judge; so what can we use to frame feedback conversations, so that they are informed by day-to-day teaching and impact on day-to-day teaching? (Note, the Ofsted criteria was not meant to be applied to a single lesson observation but, like many other schools, that is how we have used it in the past.)

4. Ofsted want to make a judgement on teaching over time which leads to progress over time. To do this they will look at books, not just to see if they are marked, but to see patterns of improvement and sequence of learning. They will also need to see data.

5. Is the data reliable? If an RI teacher produced data showing good progress, could we trust it?

Further complications: It’s complicated and muddy!

Teachers (typically) seeking to demonstrate progress over a lesson, would: 1. Sometimes, teachers actually slow down the rate of learning (with excessive use of mini-plenaries or less time spent on the real practical part e.g. in PE/ Music) 2. Others feel less confident going off on fertile tangents, or adapting the lesson to suit the students, as they fear losing control over the learning and being unable to demonstrate the precise progress they have planned.

What does this mean for teaching, observing and feeding back?

When we observe we should: 1. Require proper data (showing evidence of regular assessment and showing that the teacher has responded / acted / adapted on the basis of the data) 2. Look through many books and folders (marking, evidence of acting on targets, evidence of sequence of lessons that have gone before).

3. Talk to (the same) students …

4. Look out for links to prior learning. e.g. knowledge, skills, understanding and so forth …

If we do not do ALL of these things, we cannot make an accurate judgement.

When we feedback: We must ask questions. The assumption is, is that the teacher ‘knows the class’ and has planned the lesson acting on this knowledge. If you do not mark, you cannot and do not know your class. If you do not know your class, you cannot teach them 23

effectively. The same goes for tracking data progress over time. Or ‘monitoring’ as it specifically says in the Ofsted handbook (September 2013).

But here lies the danger.

If we move to a model of ‘progress over time’, designed to make judgements of monitoring progress across the school, are we not recreating the entire process again? And for individual teachers and lessons – based on the same judgemental format – we have been accustomed to love or hate!

That is, we create a model to judge individual teachers, based on progress over time for individual lessons and dare I say it, this is automatically reincarnated for one-off lessons too and used inappropriately …

Are you a Mr. Know-It-All? You know your students better than anyone else. Could you talk about specific students; based on data; books; conversations with them and their performance in your lesson?

Are you equipped as an observer, to ask these questions of students and teachers in or out of lessons?

What do you think?

How would you go about using this opportunity to overhaul, how whole-school judgements are made and how this can be (and if it should be) translated into individual lessons?

Future-feedback model:

24

Judgements over time…

Whatever process you use to make judgements on individual or whole-school teaching and learning; whether this be through a coaching-model, or a typical appraisal process; it is vital that all sources of evidence are consider and that the observer(s) is equipped and trained to be able to do so.

I’d like to think, I could take the above pie-chart and still be able to form a judgement over time, in a single, one-off lesson. But for me, this would be entirely WRONG and is more about my observational experience, rather than an informed and justified opinion. This would support our former-feedback model. Our immersed practice.

It is up for all observers to consider more than just the proposed model above. I have called this, The Ugly Truth and discussed this here in my last post.

To be able to observe a teacher accurately, needs a desired level of knowledge, skill and understanding. Not everyone is equipped, nor has the level of experience and confidence to do this under the former model and the proposed future model.

So, what are the solutions?

Progress – how would you measure this over time?

Are we as a school and as a profession, ready to have the ability to shape our own procedures? We may think that we are very close, but it would be incredibly easy to fall back into the same trap, just under the guise of another new name / fad / model.

My parting question to you is this. Forget this jargon of ‘progress over time’.

Instead, consider how would you approach this future-feedback model as a wholeschool approach, and avoid this methodology becoming embedded into our one-off lesson judgements?

What would you do?

Why? And most of all how?

25

Stepping away from observational judgements POSTED BY @TEACHERTOOLKIT ⋅

Conundrum: If we are to truly move away from (one-off) lesson observation judgements – particularly, on teachers of individual lessons – then we must make a start and stop making judgements on teachers in those lessons; and also when providing verbal feedback.

In the article I pose two questions: 1. Is the removal of judgements (or a framework) helpful?

2. As a profession, can we do it?

Context: The background to this article can be found most recently in ‘There is no such thing as an Outstanding (one-off) lesson!‘; using the latest guidance published by Ofsted, which has quashed all the typical stereotypes and myths that we have become so accustomed to. Plus, this discussion is further supported in ‘the role of lesson observations’, where I discuss academic research and thought, from a variety of practitioners; bloggers and consultants.

With Ofsted clearly stipulating, that they no longer want a preferred method of teaching, it is therefore even more crucial than ever, for observers to impart less of their own preferred preferences on other teachers and thus, support colleagues with more pinpointed (unbiased) feedback on student progress. This is not an easy challenge.

Two-fold: There are two sides (possibly three) to this proposal. Those on the receiving end of lesson-observational feedback and specifically, judgements; and those who are responsible for raising standards of teaching and learning. For example, heads of faculty; senior teachers; those with whole-school responsibility for teaching and learning; and finally, Ofsted and The Department for Education.

In short, accountability and/or the nature of the individual’s personal motivation for self-development.

26

Allow me to remind you of who and what determines our fate. The School Inspection Handbook. I have copied this statement three times, just in case you have not read the information correctly; or do not quite understand the implications.

“The grade descriptors refer to the quality of teaching overall, and need not be applied in their entirety to a single lesson.“ And just in case you misread any of that information, here it is again: “The grade descriptors refer to the quality of teaching overall, and need not be applied in their entirety to a single lesson.“ And finally, to make sure it sinks into your subconsciousness; or just in case you are an observer who is still intent on proceeding in the wrong fashion …

“The grade descriptors refer to the quality of teaching overall, and need not be applied in their entirety to a single lesson.“ Taken from paragraph 118 onwards, in the Ofsted: School Inspection Handbook.

Reminders: Previously, I posed this question in ‘the role of observations’; how can one observational-framework be suitable for 4 to 18-year olds?

Observations currently take the following into account: (regardless of who is observing)  Context of the students.  A framework for good teaching.  Student conversations.  Information in students’ books.  Routines.  Data – progress over time/key-stage.

I have also said, that even if judgements – regardless of validity – are removed; we will always be forming ‘a judgement of sorts’, on other teachers. I know this because: support staff; colleagues; parents; sixth form students; traineeteachers, all of whom walk into my classroom at some time or another … even if they do not have the awareness, are making some type of judgements on my classroom environment and my teaching ability. The subconscious mind. An opinion of sorts.

I know this, because whether or not it is right or wrong, I do it myself. This [the subconscious] will not disappear – even if formal judgements do.

Courage?

Are you and your school, brave enough to step away from observational judgements?

27

I believe it will take a generation of teachers before the formal framework of judging each other, and judging of individual lessons is banished from our discussions!

Therefore, if we are to truly move each other on, without a framework – or without a wrongly interpreted framework – we need to start sooner rather than later.

Formal judgements and their validity and reliability are being called into question.

There are far too many variables and this is unfortunately, the nature of the beast we have misinterpreted. I am at least pleased, that Ofsted continue to clarify this myth.

Questions?

It is time to question our own practice.        

Should we be judged, and if yes/no? What would this look like?

Do we need a change of vocabulary?

An alternative (watchdog) framework?

A CPD developmental framework, focused on specific feedback?

Will removing judgements improve the teacher?

Will this, then eliminate poor teaching?

As an appraiser, if I do not observe you, who will?

How will you know ‘how well you are doing’?

I will reiterate. I do believe observers can spot good teaching! We all can. But, this develops and is refined with experience. This however, can be tarnished with a framework or a particular school-fad (priority). A particular set of beliefs and certainly, subject-specialisms expertise and approaches can also influence judgements. This can also be further developed with experience and in essence, can be deemed experimental. But is this wrong? The very nature of our profession is to support students and try to do better.

Nothing will ever be perfect.

A solution?

I have not yet read a solution to the current debate. If you have one, please send it my way. So, here I am offering a suggestion for the reader, to disfigure and blemish if you feel that it is unworthy …

What?

Under the framework of ‘progress over time’, a reliable source of information comes from (at least) three sources during any observation. I argue, that these sources can be ‘observed’ outside of a formal observational setting; thus leaving the teacher to teach; and to engage with observations for developmental purposes alone. No judgement.

So, what are the sources?

1. Student conversations; routines and typicality – via questioning.

28

2. Student books. (Progress over time; feedback; acting on feedback etc.)

3. Data. (Progress over time.)

All of the above can be sourced outside of a classroom and formal setting.

Therefore, I believe, that this is already a good starting point, without having to go into any classroom and into any one-off-judgemental setting.

I’m convinced many schools may already do this – but yet, they may still be offering one-off judgements based on the evidence/source.

Why? In doing so, an observer would be able to gather information on ‘what is typical’ over time.

How? I believe a potential model for removal of one-off lesson judgements in observations can use student feedback used for teacher feedback. As a suggestion, using the sources listed above as a format, I would advocate using some of these questions in your conversations with students (out of the classroom): During the lesson, the observer will ask a range of students the following questions; This information can be used to provide the basis of feedback and is recommended as evidence.

It is recommended that these questions form part of teacher-planning, and for establishing evidence of routines in the classroom. Theses questions should be posed to an entire data-landscape. To include: top, middle and bottom; gifted and talented; EAL (English Additional Needs); and SEN (Special Educational Needs).

The following are suggestions                

What are you doing in class today? What are your lesson objectives?

Why are you doing this?

What does success look like?

How do you know?

What is your teacher looking for?

Does your teacher set challenging work for you at a suitable level to learn?

What is your current level/grade?

How do you know? How are you told?

How do you progress onto the next level?

How often is your own book marked?

Do you receive feedback? Give me an example…

Are you allowed time to improve (re-draft) your work?

Do you enjoy the lesson? Why? Describe a typical lesson to me…

Is your class, a respectful place where it is safe to learn?

Is it okay to make mistakes?

29

     

Does your teacher encourage you to understand the value (beyond exams) of what we are learning Does your teacher links what you are learning in class, to what you have learned before?

Does your teacher give time to discuss my ideas (in pairs, group, whole class)?

To develop and practice skills?

Is your teacher well organised?

Is there anything this teacher does which really helps you learn, that you want to highlight here (think of feedback, style, activities, ways of motivating) Is there anything you teacher could do, to help you overcome difficulties?

When looking in student books, consider the following as evidence: 1. Are books marked within the last 2-4 weeks?

2. Have books been marked from the start of the academic year?

3. Are old/new books accessible to students?

4. is classwork given a formative/summative grade? with comments on how to improve?

5. Is there clear evidence of students responding to feedback (redrafting/ corrections etc.)?

6. Do teachers pick up on literacy/numeracy errors? Poor presentation?

7. Is there evidence of peer and self-assessment?

8. If applicable to school/subject policy, is homework clearly identifiable and marked? Add value to progress?

9. Is progress and development clear?

10. Does the student take pride in their book?

Teacher feedback: As a solution for providing feedback to the teacher, I really like the #PQS format.

1. Praise!

2. Question?

3. Suggestion …

The protocol helps students (and the teacher?) see the strengths of their work and consider questions and suggestions that will lead to revision and improvement.

Conclusion: At the start of this post, I posed two questions: 1. Is the removal of judgements (or a standards framework) helpful?

Yes, but only if senior teachers use the modified framework “to develop the teacher”, or not use any framework incorrectly and interpret this in a way, that is detrimental.

Tail wagging the dog, or dog wagging the tail? And that the readers of this blog, 30

continue to spread the word far and wide, that observations are based on what is typical and not that of a one-off performance. Perhaps, that no judgements are offered – ever!

To do this, I have offered a suggestion to moving away from observational judgements and how best to do this in the post. In a nutshell; meeting with students outside of the class; gathering evidence on what is typical. And that teacher feedback is based on student conversations, and not of a framework designed to capture whole-school teaching.

2. As a profession, can we do it?

31

32