Assessment for Learning: Feedback Gerry Davies

Assessment for Learning:FeedbackGerry Davies

The Study • Part of a QEF project, which aimed to build junior secondary teachers’ confidence, skills and knowledge in assessing oral English particularly in relation to assessment for learning practices • This seminar reports on the provision of high quality, constructive feedback to junior secondary students to improve their oral language skills following interactive tasks • The feedback group consisted of 20, S1 – 3 teachers in 7 schools • The information reported in this seminar is based on action research implemented by the teachers in the feedback group

The Study • The seminar focuses on the following areas: • Assessment for learning and feedback. What does the literature say? • How teachers interpret feedback • Contextual factors which inhibit the provision of quality feedback • Practical ideas for enhancing formative feedback

1. Assessment for learning and feedback. What does the literature say?

1.1 Characteristics of AfL that promote learning • It is embedded in a view of teaching and learning in which formative assessment is a central part • It involves sharing learning goals with students • It helps students know and recognise the standards they are aiming for • It involves students in peer and self assessment • It provides effective feedback which leads to pupils identifying their next steps and how to take them

1. Characteristics of assessment that promote learning • It is underpinned by confidence that every child can improve • It involves teachers and students in reviewing and reflecting on assessment data and making adjustments to learning and teaching accordingly. • An assessment is only formative if it leads to enhanced pupillearning (Black et al., 2003) Qualifications and Curriculum Authority: http://www.qca.org.uk/qca_4354.aspx

1.1 Five deceptively simple factors to improve learning through assessment • Provide effective feedback which: • helps students to understand their strengths in relation to understood learning criteria • helps students to identifyareas in which they need toimprove • helps students to identifywhat they need to do to improve and to take the next steps

1.1 Five deceptively simple factors to improve learning through assessment • Actively involve students in their own learning • Adjust teaching and learning to take into account the results of assessment • Recognise the profound influence assessment has on the motivation and self-esteem of students both of which are crucial influences on learning • Guide students to learning how to reflect on their own and other’s work and how to assess their peers and themselves and to understandsteps they need to taketo improve Qualifications and Curriculum Authority: http://www.qca.org.uk/qca_4354.aspx

1.2 What is effective formative feedback? • Research into assessment for learning practices by Clarke (1998) and Sutton (1998) support findings by Black and Wiliam (1998 and 2003). Their findings indicate that in order to be effective formative feedback needs to: • be based on explicitly articulated learning goals which are fully understood by students and teachers prior to doing planned assessment tasks • encourage and take account of student reflection and self and peer evaluation to maximise the potential for feedback being understood and implemented

1.2 What is effective formative feedback? • focus on evidence of success and on areas where improvement needs to take place • help students to see the gap between the learningcriteria and their current performance • be delivered in a way that students can understand • be specific and task focused • be descriptive and questioning rather than evaluative • elicit or offeralternative ways of doing things for improvement

1.2 What is effective formative feedback? • be future orientated, looking forward to the specific next steps to improve performance rather than looking backwards and dwelling on past mistakes and failures • provide concrete improvement strategies • be offered during and / or as soon as possible after the task • be put into practice as soon as possible • be about the particular qualities of the student’s work, with advice on what s/he can do to improve, and should avoid comparisons with other pupils which can lead to a failure avoidance pattern of motivation

1.3 Factors which inhibit assessment for learning and the provision of quality formative feedback • The dominance of summative practice and giving greater attention to marking and grading much of which tends to lower the self-esteem of students rather than providing them with useful information on what and how to improve

1.3 Factors which inhibit assessment for learning and the provision of quality formative feedback • Ruth Butler’s research demonstrated the effect of giving grades and giving feedback comments in her research as far back as 1988 • She assigned several classes a written task. She collected their work and divided the work into three sets, Set A, Set B and Set C • She gave grades only to Set A • She gave comments only to Set B • She gave comments and grades to Set C

1.3 Factors which inhibit assessment for learning and the provision of quality formative feedback • Students given only grades (Set A) made no gain from the first to the second task • Students given only comments (Set B) scored on average 30% higher in the second task • Students given marks and grades (Set C) made very little gain

1.3 Factors which inhibit assessment for learning and the provision of quality formative feedback • SO…research suggests that assigning grades or marks: • cancels the beneficial effects of the comments • is not conducive to learning • tends to undermine the motivation of weaker students • encourages students to become more concerned with model answers or finding the right answers or trying to guess what the teacher wants rather than focusing on the learning process, their own ideas and how they can progress towards learning goals

1.3 Factors which inhibit assessment for learning and the provision of quality formative feedback • A strong emphasis on comparing students with each other demoralises weaker students • According to Black et al (2003) there are dangers for low and high achievers in feedback systems which encourage students to compare themselves with others • “Some do well and others do not, and since it is generally the same students who do well time after time, such feedback systems rapidly establish ‘winners’ who are confirmed in their success and ‘losers’ who are confirmed in their failure”. (p76)

1.3 Factors which inhibit assessment for learning and the provision of quality formative feedback • Lower achievers begin to disengage from tasks and learning. They lose interest, lose self esteem, lose heart, lose confidence and give up • Higher achievers develop a ‘performance orientation’, focusing more on getting good marks and being top of the class as an end in itself rather than focusing on the learning process. This prevents even high achievers from achieving their true potential

2. How teachers interpret feedback

2. How teachers interpret feedback • Teachers in the feedback group reported that until relatively recently most assessments had been summative in nature: • “Before (the introduction of SBA) assessments were all summative, teachers didn’t give comments, they just gave a grade. Students didn’t know how to improve” • Summative practices still dominate, with each year typically being formally tested and given grades twice a year with several ‘mini’ summative tests in between

2. How teachers interpret feedback • Teachers are keen to move beyond summative practices and traditional forms of feedback: • “For assessment we have a summative approach, just giving grades. We want to break down the summative approach” • Where verbal feedback was given it typically took the form of a rather evaluative monologue delivered by the teacher to the students with little or no input from the students themselves. • “Students didn’t assess themselves. Teachers did the feedback usually”

2. How teachers interpret feedback • Teachers reported that formative practices are being implemented with varying degrees of success, particularly in relation to writing tasks, but also with performances in drama and that they are designing criteria sheets to encourage self and peer reflection. • “My students treasure the chance to give feedback to their peers and students really look at the evaluation form after the discussion”. • “Students didn’t really give feedback to their peers. Students don’t know how to write feedback. Students don’t have the ability to judge”

2. How teachers interpret feedback • Teachers typically expressed a desire to move towards assessment for learning practices and a focus on providing formative feedback: • “It’s very important for teachers to give useful feedback because students can learn from feedback. In the past we tried to give limited feedback, giving students a few comments on strengths. But something was ignored, for example students’ reflection on their own performance” • “Students learn much from feedback. Teachers and students interact with each other everyday. I want to see how I can improve in giving feedback”

2. How teachers interpret feedback • Analysis of questionnaires showed that the teachers in the feedback group view effectiveformative feedback as being a collaborative endeavour between students and teachers and that formative feedback should involve reflective questioning and descriptive prompting strategies as well as the elicitation of advice for improvement strategies from the students themselves as well as the offering of advice from teachers

2. How teachers interpret feedback • Teachers in the feedback group also suggested that encouraging students to reflect on their own work and encouraging them to identify strengths, areas to improve and improvement steps to take during teacher led feedback events provides an ‘apprenticeship’ (Black et al 2003) to induct students into developing self and peer assessment skills: • “Students copy teachers’ feedback. Junior form students find giving descriptive feedback more challenging. Form 5 are more expressive. They know how to give more concrete feedback”.

3. Contextual factors which inhibit the provision of quality feedback

3. Contextual factors which inhibit the provision of quality feedback Teachers in the feedback group identified 5 main issues: • Time • The dominance of summative assessment practices and students’ attitudes towards formative feedback • The need for more training • Technical difficulties • Language, particularly with weaker students

3. Contextual factors which inhibit the provision of quality feedback Time • When asked what the main challenge was, the overwhelming response from teachers in the feedback group involved the time factor: • “Giving feedback takes a lot of time. It’s really difficult for us because time is limited. One teacher is in charge of 40 students. What can we do?” • “Recording students’ progress is very time consuming” • “We have a heavier workload now. Lots of administration – paper work. Teachers have become less creative. They are fully occupied”

3. Contextual factors which inhibit the provision of quality feedback Time • A lack of student time was also seen as an inhibiting factor • “Students have a very tight schedule, 9 – 10 lessons per day. I sometimes doubt whether students will remember feedback”

3. Contextual factors which inhibit the provision of quality feedback The dominance of summative practices • Teachers reported that, given the summative assessment culture of many schools, students resist the efforts of teachers to involve them in formative feedback discussions in which they are expected to reflect on their own and other’s work and provide improvement comments. • “They just want their marks, but not the feedback” • “Students are not used to this kind of assessment yet. Students’ attitude is thus not very active. Students only focus on summative assessments” • “Students only care about marks or how teachers grade”

3. Contextual factors which inhibit the provision of quality feedback The need for more training • Teachers in the feedback group view the provision of effective feedback as a complex skill in which they need more training. • “giving immediate feedback to students is difficult. I need to respond very quickly to what students are good at and where they need to improve” • “Training is not sufficient for teachers. They do not know how they can train their students to reflect and to self and peer assess. Students are not ready for these kinds of assessments”

3. Contextual factors which inhibit the provision of quality feedback Technical difficulties • Technical difficulties were also highlighted as a concern. The need to video students and make DVD’s or videos available to students to watch prior to giving feedback was a problem, particularly for schools that don’t have the facilities or technical support to make this an easy process

3. Contextual factors which inhibit the provision of quality feedback Language • The language through which formative feedback is constructed was also seen as an inhibiting factor. Teachers and students in the project expressed a strong expectation that feedback would be delivered in English even though some teachers suggest that this is a problem, especially for weaker junior form students • “I need to translate my comments into Chinese” • “Sometimes I’m not sure whether I should translate comments into Chinese for my students. We are expected to speak in English all the time in order to give students chances to be exposed to English”.

4. Practical ideas for enhancing formative feedback • The following practical ideas for enhancing formative feedback are based on the findings of the feedback group and are presented under the following headings: • General • The Language of Feedback • Having a shared understanding of the learning criteria • Using video reflection prior to feedback events

4. Practical ideas for enhancing formative feedback General • Provide opportunities for students to co-construct concrete formative feedback with you as often as possible. This can be done through unplanned assessment events during normal classroom practice when questioning students or while monitoring or observing students while on task. Formativequestioning and feedback should be an integral part of student / teacher discussions in every lesson • Encourage students to participate in teacher-led feedback discussions so that teachers can ‘model’ reflective practice which in turn helps students to begin to develop reflective skills in relation to others’ work and their own

4. Practical ideas for enhancing formative feedback • Ensure that students are as relaxed and as confident as possible when doing planned assessment tasks. Take the formality out of assessment tasks and feedback discussions to encourage students to be confident and to do their best in assessment tasks and to be open and honest in feedback discussions

4. Practical ideas for enhancing formative feedback • Begin feedback by finding out what each student felt overall about their work, in this case their performance in interactive tasks and then match feedback to their own perceptions to increase the liklihood of student understanding and implementation of improvement strategies • Begin feedback by focusing students on the positives • Provide feedback in groups of 3 or 4 to encourage ‘collatoral’feedback so that students learn from feedback given to their peers • Provide feedback to each individual in the group, going through the criteria as appropriate with each individual while still drawing on group opinions and support

4. Practical ideas for enhancing formative feedback • Ensure that learning targets and next steps are discussed so that students have a clear idea of how to improve. Go beyond identifying ‘what’ needs to be improved to helping students to actually identify ‘how’ they can go about improving • At the end of the feedback event, encourage students to verbally summarise the main improvement targets they need to address

4. Practical ideas for enhancing formative feedback • Give students time to make a written note of their own strengths, areas to improve and next steps to take etc in a learning journal so that both students and teachers can track and acknowledge improvements. This also helps everyone to see assessment tasks as part of a continuum of development rather than just a series of isolated, disconnected events. • Ensure that students have plenty of opportunities to put learning targets into practice. In this study, which was based on improving oral skills, this would mean integrating oral skills tasks into every lesson • Build in opportunities for peer feedback, in this case, to oral tasks by encouraging students to work in groups of 4. Two students who do an oral task and two observers with criteria sheets (Then swap roles)

4. Practical ideas for enhancing formative feedback • Provide time in class for students to read their learning journals before planned assessment tasks so that they remember and consciously work on areas that need improvement • Check students’ learning journals and sign off on areas in which the students have demonstrated evidence of learning

4. Practical ideas for enhancing formative feedback The language of Feedback • Research by Stimpson et al (2000) has shown that the language of feedback falls into four broad categories: • Questioning • Describing • Advising • Evaluating

4. Practical ideas for enhancing formative feedback • Questioning:asking students open ended questions about their learning, their understanding of learning goals, their strengths, areas they need to work on and steps for working on these areas etc. Example • How could you start the conversation? • What can you do to help other people continue the conversation?

4. Practical ideas for enhancing formative feedback • Describing: describing what happens in a non-judgmental way Example • You start the conversation by asking for other people’s opinions • I noticed that when Paul was speaking to the rest of the group, everyone listened but no-one encouraged him to continue, so he stopped talking

4. Practical ideas for enhancing formative feedback • Advising:giving advice or making suggestions Example • When someone is talking perhaps you could try nodding or smiling or saying things like – ‘Oh really’ or ‘Oh that sounds interesting’ or by asking a question. This helps to keep the conversation going

4. Practical ideas for enhancing formative feedback • Evaluating: assessing strengths and weaknesses Example • I felt the way you asked questions during the conversation was really good. • I thought that you didn’t really help to keep the conversation going very well

4. Practical ideas for enhancing formative feedback • Focus on ‘questioning’ and ‘describing’ strategies in relation to mutually understood learning criteria • Repeat or paraphrase what students say to allow them to hear their own ideas and to prompt further elaboration • Delay offering advice too early by turning ‘advice’ into ‘descriptive prompts’ or ‘reflective questions’ to see if students can provide their own advice first to make feedback events more collaborative and to increase the liklihood of students understanding and implementing improvement strategies

4. Practical ideas for enhancing formative feedback • When giving advice, provide a rationale to explain the improved effect that implementing the advice will have • Reduce the number of evaluative comments to avoid comparison with other students • Turn evaluative comments into ‘questions’ or ‘descriptive prompts’ • These strategies help students to come to their own conclusions about the effectiveness of their work, encouraging them to be explicit about why what they did was ‘good’ or ‘not good’, thus ensuring that students articulate and consciously register what ‘quality’ work really means. • Use this typology of feedback as a basis for professional development, by analysing video data of feedback language and feedback strategies used

4. Practical ideas for enhancing formative feedback • Consider conducting formative feedback discussions in Cantonese with weakerjunior secondary students. This strategy helps students to learn to be more reflective and to participate more fully and more confidently in feedback discussions in their mother tongue first. Later, when they feel ready, they can transfer what they have learned about co-constructing feedback events to participating more and more in these events in English.

4. Practical ideas for enhancing formative feedback A Shared Understanding of the Criteria • Select criteria carefully and reduce the number of criteria used so that feedback discussions are focused and purposeful. Too many criteria and too much feedback can overwhelm students and therefore reduce the potential for implementing improvement strategies • Discuss tasks and encourage students to formulate the criteria themselves • Simplify the criteria or translate them into Cantonese • Provide training through which students can apply criteria to video clips of interactive tasks

4. Practical ideas for enhancing formative feedback • Use the criteria to systematise feedback discussions • Initially encourage students to focus on concrete success criteria. In this study which is based on interactive oral skills, this would mean focusing on issues such as eye contact, use of communicative strategies such as asking and responding to opinions, agreeing and disagreeing, elaborating on a previous point etc • Teacher feedback to oral tasks could additionally focus on grammar, lexis and pronunciation

4. Practical ideas for enhancing formative feedback Using video reflection prior to feedback • Encourage students to use video reflection as often as possible. Teachers and students in the project reported that the opportunity to view the performance enhances students’ ability to reflect and participate in feedback discussions more fully • Use the video to help students to notice grammatical, lexical and phonological areas to work on. Once students are aware of the areas to look out for they can watch the video in their own time to see if they can suggest improvements and note them down in their learning journal

Assessment for Learning: Feedback Gerry Davies