What if everything you

knew about feedback was

wrong?

David Didau

What works?

Homework (Secondary)

How do you improve a school?

Cost per pupil

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Meta-cognition

Peer tutoring

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Digital technology

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Performance pay

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Average Effects

Approaches

Effec

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What the evidence tells us

It ain’t what you do

it’s the way that you

do it…

What didn’t work…

5

Risks for best betsAverage for best bets

Months progress0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Risks for good betsAverage for good bets

Months progress0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Risks for longer oddsAverage for longer odds

Months progress0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Risks for rank outsidersAverage for rank outsiders

Months progress0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

What Hattie actually saysFeedback is one of the most powerful influences on learning and achievement, but this impact can be either positive or negative.

Simply providing more feedback is not the answer, because it is necessary to consider the nature of the feedback, the timing, and how the student ‘receives’ this feedback (or, better, actively seeks the feedback)The Power of Feedback (2007)

Distribution of feedback effects

Kluger & DeNisi (1996)

Bjork on feedback

• Empirical evidence suggests that delaying, reducing, and summarizing feedback can be better for long-term learning than providing immediate, trial-by-trial feedback.

• Numerous studies—some of them dating

back decades—have shown that frequent and immediate feedback can, contrary to intuition, degrade learning.

Learning vs Performance (2013)

Performance

Learning

Warsaw is the capital

city of Poland.

Getting feedback right is hard

Response typeFeedback indicates performance…

exceeds goal falls short of goal

Change behaviour

Exert less effort Increase effort

Change goal Increase aspiration Reduce aspiration

Abandon goal Decide goal is too easy

Decide goal is too hard

Reject feedback Feedback is ignored Feedback is ignored

A-Z or Satnav?

Marking is not the same as feedback

Why do we mark?– To grade and summatively assess students’ performance– To correct students’ mistakes– To help students to improve their current level of

performance– For teachers to receive feedback from students about

how well they appear to be understanding the content being taught

– To motivate students to work harder– Because parents like it and students have come to

expect it– To prevent students from having to struggle or think– For accountability purposes (as a proxy for convincing

managers that you are a good teacher)

Proofreading

• Don’t write, draft

• Use a simple code (CSP Code)

• Don’t mark work that’s not proofread

• If it’s not excellent, it’s not finished

The Proofreading Code

“If it’s not excellent, it’s not finished!”

Capital lettersSpelling

Punctuation// - Paragraphs

? – doesn’t make sense

Demystifying spelling

Be-lie-veSep-a-rat-e

Govern+mentFebruary

Environment

AccommodationPractice/Practise

NecessaryRhythm

Onomatopoeia

No More Marking

• The problem with markschemes• What if you could give feedback

without marking books?• “There is no absolute judgment.

All judgments are comparisons of one thing with another.” Donald Laming

• nomoremarking.com Dr Chris Wheadon: nomoremarking.com

YES

YES

Have pupil annotated work, identifying errors and highlighting areas where feedback is required?

NO

Return work to pupil unmarked and insist that it

is annotated.

Are there any errors they have failed to spot?

NO

Return work to pupil and give them time to

correct errors & improve work.

Decide whether it is more appropriate to tell pupil what

mistakes they have made or probe their understanding with a

question.@LearningSpy

2014

Provide feedback on identified errors and highlighted work.

Feedback for clarification

Feedback must address ‘learned helplessness’ and provide evidence that goal can be

achieved by showing pupils that success is “up to me” and that “I can do something about it”.

Feedback must focus on task not on pupil so that

it addresses how they feel at having to work

harder.

YES

YES

YES NO

NO

NO

Return work to pupil unmarked and insist that it is

completed to a higher standard.

Do they need further clarification to correct misunderstandings?

Does pupil believe the goal

is too hard?

See clarification flowchart.

@LearningSpy 2014

Even though goal has not been achieved, has pupil worked hard to achieve it?

Feedback to increase

effort

Can pupils’ performance of understanding be increased?Consider whether task can be done in less time, with certain

conditions needing to be met, or marked against a more

challenging rubric in order to force pupils to make mistakes.

NO

Are they correct? How can the goal be presented as

more challenging?

YES

Does the pupil

believe the goal is too

easy?

YES

@LearningSpy 2014

Does pupil believe they can expend less effort?

Feedback to increase aspiration

Feedback of success is useless. Task must be redesigned so that

meaningful feedback can be given.

NO

NO

Is pupil willing to adopt a new, more challenging goal?

YES

Even though pupil has achieved the goal, is there capacity for them to improve further?

Key points

• Everything works, but what’s the ‘cost’?

• What’s stopping you investing in the ‘best bets’?

• Always remember, you might be wrong

There’s nothing good or bad but thinking makes it so.

@LearningSpylearningspy.co.uk

ddidau@gmail.com