Feedback: the root of it all

 We begin by discussing feedback, the practice in which both assessment and grading have their roots.

While organizing some of my books, I rediscovered Formative Assessment & Standards-Based Grading by Robert J. Marzano, which is the second of his Classroom Strategies that Work series.  (The first Marzano book I read was Classroom Instruction that Works, and I have been blessed to have read several more over the years.)   Though most of this book deals with assessment and grading, the opening deals specifically with feedback.  

Feedback can be given formally or informally in group or one-on-one settings.  It can take a variety of forms. [...] Its most important and dominant characteristic is that it informs the student, the teacher, and all other interested parties about how to best enhance student learning.

The emphasis clearly is on student learning, which, if you read the rest of the book, is the emphasis of grading as well.  Through Marzano's analysis, he found that while feedback provided a positive growth, most of the time, it did not produce positive growth all of the time. 

This, of course, raises the critically important questions, What are the characteristics of feedback that produce positive effects on student achievement, and what are the characteristics that produce negative effects? 

An apt pair of questions indeed.  The conclusion: "negative feedback is that which does not let students know how they can get better" (5).  This conclusion seems to mirror much of the other research that I have found that outlines the need for feedback to be specific and helpful.  Referencing a study by Hattie and Timperley, Marzano continues to explain that

feedback to students regarding how well a task is going (task), the process they are using to complete the task (process), or how well they are managing their own behavior (self-regulation) is often effective, but feedback that simply involves statements like "You're doing a good job" has little influence on student achievement. 

My conclusion:  I need to deliberately work on providing more meaningful feedback.
Credit: Free photos from acobox.com