Most teachers can benefit from reassessing the way they give feedback to pupils

Giving marks or grades tends to have a negative effect, even when accompanied by helpful comments

Good feedback improves pupil motivation

Prompt and positive feedback, reinforcing pupils’ efforts, has been shown to raise serotonin levels (high levels of serotonin are associated with improved learning potential).

Written comments:

• should emphasise what is positive in the work

• should identify no more than two or three main areas for improvement

• should make suggestions as to how the improvement can be effected

• must be clearly legible and understood by pupils (This may seem obvious, but….)

Marks and/or grades:

• tend to make high achievers complacent and distract from any written advice

• tend to reinforce low achievers’ sense of failure

• are probably best kept for teachers’ mark sheets and for formal reports, rather than being written on pupils’ work

• must be clearly understood by pupils (and parents) when they are used

Feedback from fellow pupils (with some training) has been found to be very effective

Feedback can relate to short-term targets, but pupils should be aware of progress in relation to long-term goals

The nature of the feedback depends on its purpose and its intended audience

An important element of the process is the feedback the teacher gets from pupils

Feedback in real situations is particularly effective (eg using a Modern Language with a native speaker, planning and carrying out a science experiment or using oral skills in a functional phone call).
 

It should be related to clearly understood and agreed targets/criteria (which will be appropriate to the individual pupil)

It should be genuine and relate to specifics (instead of being vague/general)

It should promote dialogue and reflective self-assessment, with pupils invited to comment on the feedback

Feedback given whilst the pupil is still engaged on the task is particularly effective

Modelling/scaffolding before and after the task is helpful in establishing the criteria on which feedback is based

There must be clear opportunity for the pupil to act upon advice given in feedback (and time is required for this process)

It should focus on what the pupil has done well and then give a limited number of suggestions for improvement (no more than 3 - and possibly just one)

Try “two stars and a wish” - two positive comments on what has been achieved and one target for improvement

 Next steps in the learning process should clearly connect with and be influenced by feedback on a task

Appropriate feedback for all pupils is an important element of the inclusion process

Verbalising ideas (by both teacher and pupil) during the feedback process is very valuable

Comparisons between pupils should be avoided since this can be demotivating
 

Feedback should be part of a culture of achievement in the classroom

The emphasis should be on valuing what the pupil has achieved and providing encouragement

Feedback is unlikely to be effective unless the purpose and value of the task are clearly understood and accepted by the pupil

Paperwork should be kept to a minimum

Planning at whole-school, department and classroom level should build in systematic assessments appropriately timed so that the value of feedback can be maximised
 

More assessment is not necessarily better; more feedback is not necessarily better

Time spent on marking should be proportionate and should not dominate the teacher’s week

Coordinated planning and timing of assessments can ease workload

More time spent on the preparatory stages of a task can reduce the need for remedial work

Pupils should understand that they will eventually be judged on work completed without teacher assistance

When it is possible to work with a pupil in class and give verbal feedback this can ease workload as well as being particularly effective

It is not necessary to mark all errors - this can be demotivating

Marking of selected errors (perhaps in just part of a piece of work) should be used in encouragement of a culture of self-correction

Marking of errors should be limited to what is relevant/necessary to the purpose

Pupils should not come to see formally marked work as the overwhelming priority in coursework

Whole school policies on marking should be understood by pupils and parents (who can be involved in their establishment and monitoring)

Marking codes should be used to ease workload - but these should be clearly understood by pupils (and parents

Pupils often don’t like teachers writing on their work, but are happy to take advice in other ways - post-it notes have been used to effect (can be collected by pupil or teacher)

General criteria can be established for all work (need to be established and reinforced early in the year), with specific ones for individual tasks