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What is assessment and feedback?
Assessment and feedback are major elements of teaching and learning. Here we explore the various forms that feedback can take and how to deliver it effectively
Teacher feedback can take many forms. It can be as small and simple as a smile, a nod or a “well done”, or it can be more detailed, like extended written feedback explaining a grade or mark.
What forms can feedback take?
The type of feedback offered is often dependent on the method of assessment that has been used, and can generally be divided into two broad categories: formative and summative.
Formative assessment
Often referred to as “assessment for learning”, formative assessment deals in the day-to-day, ongoing methods of assessment a teacher might use to gauge what has been learned.
Formative feedback is often quick and continuous and may be made up of non-verbal cues, short phrases of praise or questions and prompts that tease out or guide students in their learning. Planning can instantly be adjusted as a result, and interventions can be put in place where necessary.
Summative assessment
Summative assessment provides a final assessment of what has been learned over a period of time and usually involves feeding back a mark or grade to students.
In order to help students to make sense of their grades or marks, summative feedback tends to come with written comments outlining what was successful in relation to success criteria or goals, and what they can do to make further progress.
What does effective feedback look like?
It is feedback, rather than the assessment “task”, that is the key to unlocking new learning. Good feedback explores what pupils have done well and what they can do to improve. Unfocused criticism, meanwhile, is not useful feedback, as it will most likely lead to a negative reaction and a decline in motivation.
Feedback needs to be supportive and specific and should, where possible, be linked to particular goals or criteria. The most impactful comments are those related to how students’ work or understanding measures up to expected outcomes (phrases such as “good work” or “well done”, while encouraging, do not offer valuable feedback).
Targets for development need to be clear and actionable; vague instructions such as “write more” or “develop further” do not indicate a skill or specific area that students can work on, and may create frustration for students and staff alike.
Understanding students is vital for providing personalised and effective feedback, as it means teachers can tailor their approach to individual students’ ways of working and areas for development.
How often should feedback be given?
Feedback should come as soon as possible after an assessment has taken place. This can be simple when feedback is in response to a quick formative classroom assessment, but may be more difficult for larger summative assessments.
Written feedback undoubtedly takes more time to deliver, and making a judgement regarding a mark or grade can take even more time still.
There is no set amount of feedback (written or verbal) that all teachers are expected to deliver, but individual schools and departments will likely have requirements.
The construction of meaningful feedback is key, but ensuring that it is used and understood is equally important. Students need time to digest comments and reflect upon what they are being advised to amend or add. Utimately, they need to be given the chance to make such developments and improvements.
Feedback should be an ongoing and continuous process, filtering into every lesson and informing teacher planning and intervention, and also students’ approaches to learning. Regardless of how it is delivered, teacher feedback has the potential to facilitate important educational dialogue between students and teachers, helping to build relationships and ensuring that learning takes place.
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