INSTRUCTIONAL LEADER INSTRUCTIONAL LEADER INSTRUCTIONAL LEADER

Feedback andFeed ForwardGiving specific,constructive feedbackto individualstudents yields deeperunderstanding, andusing student datato look for patternsacross students allowsteachers to make goodinstructional decisions.

By Nancy Frey and Douglas Fisher

Nancy Frey (nfrey@mail sdsu.edu) is aprofessor of teacher education at San DiegoState University and a teacher leader at HealthSciences High and Middle College in San Diego,CA.

Douglas Fisher (dfisher@mail.sdsu.edu) is aprofessor of teacher education at San DiegoState University and a teacher leader at HealthSciences High and Middle College.

They are the authors of Guided Instruction: Howto Develop Confident and Successful Learners(2010, ASCD).

Watch the Video!Watch math teacherBill Teichman teach and discusshis assessment strategy atwww.nassp.org/p1051 1 frey.

90 1 Principal Leadership i my 2oi i

I nternet searches often yield surpris-ing results. In preparation for writ-ing this column, we searched one of

our favorite sayings: "You can't fattensheep by weighing them." One of theresults was an article from the April1908 issue of the Farm Journal onearly spring lambs. Among the adviceto sheep farmers was to take care inapportioning their rations so as notto overfeed, to provide healthy livingconditions so they can grow, and totake careful measure of their prog-ress-and this piece of wisdom: "Studyyour sheep and know them not onlyas a flock but separately, and remem-ber that they have an individuality assurely as your horse or cow" (Brick,1908, p. 154).

Students are not sheep, of course,but our role as cultivators of youngpeople has much in common withthat of livestock farmers. As educa-tors, we recognize the importance ofa healthy learning climate and seekto create one each day. In addition,we apportion information so thatstudents can act upon their growingknowledge. And we measure theirprogress regularly to see whether theyare making expected gains. As part ofeffective practice, teachers routinelycheck for understanding through thelearning process. This is most com-monly accomplished by asking ques-tions, analyzing tasks, and administer-ing low-stakes quizzes to measure theextent to which students are acquiringnew information and skills. But it'sone thing to gather information (we'regood at that); it's another thing torespond in meaningful ways and thenplan for subsequent instruction.

Without processes to provide stu-dents with solid feedback that yieldsdeeper understanding, checking forunderstanding devolves into a game of

"guess what's in the teacher's brain."And without ways to look for patternsacross students, formative assessmentsbecome a frustrating academic exer-cise. Knowing both the flock and theindividuals in it are essential practicesfor cultivating learning.

Knowing the Individual:Effective FeedbackMost of us have received poorfeedback: The teacher who scrawled"rewrite this" in the margin of an essaywe wrote. The coach who said, "No,you're doing it wrong; keep practic-ing." The coworker who took over atask and did it for us when our prog-ress stalled. The frustration onthe learner's part matches that feltby the teacher, the coach, or thecoworker: why can't he or she getthis? That shared vexation producesa mutual sense of defeat. On the partof the learner, the internal dialoguebecomes, "I can't do this." The teacherthinks, "1 can't teach this." Over time,blame sets in, and the student andthe teacher begin to find fault witheach other.

Hattie and Timperley (2007)wrote about feedback across fourdimensions: "Feedback about the task(FT), about the processing of the task(FP), about self-regulation (FR), andabout the self as a person (FS)" (p.90). For example, "You need to put asemicolon in this sentence" (FT) haslimited usefulness and is not usu-ally generalized to other tasks. Onthe other hand, "Make sure that yoursentences have noun-verb agreementsbecause it's going make it easier forthe reader to understand your argu-ment" (FP) gives feedback informationabout a writing convention necessaryin all essays. The researchers go on tonote that feedback that moves from

information about the process to in-formation about self-regulation is thebest of all: "Try reading some of yoursentences aloud so you can hear whenyou have and don't have noun-verbagreement." The researchers go on tosay that FS ("You're a good writer") isthe least useful, even when it is posi-tive in nature, because it doesn't addanything to one's learning.

Done carefully, FT can have amodest amount of usefulness, as whenediting a paper. Yet feedback aboutthe task is by far the most commonkind we offer. The problem is that thetask offers only end-game analysis andleaves the learner with little directionon what to do, particularly when thereisn't any recourse to make changes.Most writing teachers will tell youthat it is not uncommon for studentsto engage in limited revision, confinedto the specific items listed in theteacher feedback-more recopyingthan revising. But feedback about theprocesses used in the task and furtheradvice about one's self-regulatorystrategies to make revisions can leavethe learner with a plan for next steps.

Consider the dialogue betweenEnglish teacher John Goodwin andAlicia, a student in his class. Aliciahas drafted an essay on bullying, andGoodwin is providing feedback abouther work. Careful to frame his feed-back so that it can result in a plan forrevision, he draws her attention to herthesis statement and says, "It's help-ful for writers to go back to the mainpoint of the essay and read to see ifthe evidence is there. I highlight inyellow so I can see if I've done that."The two of them reread her first threeparagraphs and highlight where shehas provided national statistics and di-rect quotes from teachers she knows.

Goodwin goes on to say, "Now

what I want you to do is look for waysyou've provided supporting evidence,like citing sources. Let's highlightthose in green." Alicia quickly noticesthat while she has made claims, shehasn't capitalized on any authoritativesources. And by confining her directquotes to teachers at her school, shehas limited the impact of her essay byfailing to quote more widely knownsources. The little bit of green on heressay illustrates what she needs to donext: strengthen her sources. Goodwinends the conversation by saying, "Itsounds like you have a plan for revis-ing the content. Let's meet again onWednesday and you can update me onyour progress.

Feedback of this kind takes onlya few minutes, yet it can add up in acrowded classroom. For this reason,many teachers rely on written formsof feedback instead of direct con-versations. Even in written form, theguidelines about feedback remain thesame: focus on the processes neededfor the task, move to informationabout behaviors within the student'sinfluence to make changes, and steerclear of comments that are either tooglobal or too minute to be of muchuse. Wiggins (1998) advises construct-ing written feedback so that it meetsfour important criteria: first, it mustbe timely so that it is paired as closelyas possible with the attempt; second,it should be specific in nature; third,it should be written in a manner thatit understandable to the student; andfourth, it should be actionable so thatthe learner can make revisions.

Knowing the Flock:Feed ForwardAlthough feedback is primarily at theindividual level, feed forward describesthe process of making instructional

Even in written form,the guidelines aboutfeedback remain the same:focus on the processesneeded for the task, moveto information aboutbehaviors within thestudent's influence to makechanges, and steer clear ofcomments that are eithertoo global or too minute tobe of much use.

MAY 2011 I Principal Leadership 1 91

I

INSTRUCTIONAL LEADER INSTRUCTIONAL LEADER INSTRUCTIONAL LEADER

decisions about what should happennext (Frey & Fisher, in press). Dataabout student progress is commonlygathered using com-mon formative assess- Withments, either com- feedbmercially produced ormade by the teacher. In to stu.addition, many school natuteams engage in con-sensus scoring with col- OneS Sleagues to calibrate prac- recordtices, especially withtasks that have a signifi- doiNcant qualitative com- analjponent, such as writing(Fisher, Frey, Farnan, Fearn, &Petersen, 2004). Lack of timeto work with other colleagues can

limit these practices, however. Thegood news is that a teacher's ownclassroom can serve as the unit of

all the solidack providedrdents, it seemsral to take ittep further by1ding results andsome pattern

Isis.

analysis as well.With all the solid

feedback provided tostudents, it seems natu-ral to take it one stepfurther by recordingresults and doing somepattern analysis. Forexample, mathematicsteacher Ben Teichmankeeps track of studentprogress across severaldimensions of instruc-

tion. As he provides written or verbalfeedback to his students, he noteswhich skills they have mastered and

which ones are still proving difficultfor them. His error analysis recordsheet enables him to make decisionsabout who needs reteaching and whenit needs to occur. (See figure 1.) "Allthe feedback in the world isn't goingto do much good if what they reallyneed is more instruction," said Teich-man, an insight Hattie and Timperley(2007) share.

Unlike a checklist to track mastery,Teichman's error analysis sheet is usedto identify the students who are strug-gling. He logs the initials of studentsin each period who are still havingdifficulty with major concepts afterinitial instruction, then makes deci-sions about follow up and reteaching.For example, the error analysis sheet

Figure 1

Error Analysis Sheet In Algebra I1: Introduction to Complex Numbers

Peio 1Prid erod3Peio

Can explain what an imaginarynumber is, and can contrast it withreal numbers

SS, LH YV HG, FR, SL,VG, CC, KY,SD, KJ, NJ,FE, HU, YS

Can reduce imaginary numbers to RA, EO, LH OJ, IH, SR, RC, NS, SA, KL, DR, SD,their simplest radical form MM, JC, SZ CG, OG, QE,

WN, RT, JK,FT, PD, NM,ER

Can cite at least two applications for OS, SM, VR, 1H, SR, RD, NS, JC, SZ BB, QEimaginary numbers EO, LH MM

Understands the relationship JV, EO, KL, PL, GT, DM, NS, NH, CC, HG, FD, LK,between Cartesian, polar, and KD, NO, TO, SS, WB, CJ, GT, JO, DD, VL, NK, DZ,exponential forms (Euler's formula) MA, LH, VZ, LI, NH, RR, PF, SZ, WK, FL, SW, RY, HU,of representation for imaginary UC, AZ DE, WR BB, TR, FD, QEnumbers BH

92 1 Principal Leadership I MAY 2011

Teachers can use an error analysis sheet to record the initials of students who have not mastered instructional goals.

shows that all of his classes are stillhaving difficulty with understandingthe relationship between differentforms of representing imaginary num-bers. That tells him that reteaching tothe whole group is in order. On theother hand, smaller groups of studentsare having trouble with other con-cepts. "I need to pull those studentsinto small groups, because the major-ity of the class is doing fine otherwise,"he said. Fourth period is another story."I've got lots of students all across theboard who are struggling with thiswhole unit," he said. "Time for meto take a few steps back and revisitwhat they know already about radicalsbefore we dive back into imaginarynumbers." You can watch Teichman

teach and discuss his assessment prac-tices at www.nassp.org/p1051 Ifisher.

Conclusion"To be successful, [the sheep farmer]must also be gentle, with a watchfuleye for little things... and a hundredminor details upon which successdepends," wrote Brick (1908, p. 154)more than a century ago. Feedback andfeed-forward processes in the class-room should be used to cultivate learn-ing, and not just simply measure it. Byproviding students with feedback theycan use to revise and by tracking stu-dent progress to determine who needssubsequent instruction and when itshould occur, educators can ensure thatthey feed and not merely weigh. PL

REFERENCESE Brick, H. (1908). Early spring lambs.The Farm Journal, 32(4), 153-154.a Frey, N., & Fisher, D. (in press). Theformative assessment action plan: Practicalsteps to more successful teaching and learn-ing. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.E Fisher, D., Frey, N., Farnan, N., Feam, L.,& Petersen, F. (2004). Increasing writingachievement in an urban middle school.Middle School Journal, 36(2), 21-26.E Hattie, J., & Timperley, H. (2007). Thepower of feedback. Review of EducationalResearch, 77, 81-112.0 Wiggins, G. (1998). Educative assess-ment: Designing assessments to inform andimprove student performance. San Francisco,CA: Jossey-Bass.

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