1. Descriptive Feedback: Moving to the Next Level

2. Research
“Achievement gains are maximized in context where educators increase the accuracy of classroom assessments, provide students with frequent informative feedback, and involve students deeply in the classroom assessment, record keeping, and communication process. In short, these gains are maximized where teachers apply the principles of assessment for learning.”
Stiggins, 2005

3. Types of Feedback Motivational Feedback Evaluative Feedback
Descriptive Feedback
Effective Descriptive Feedback

4. Motivational Feedback
Goal is to make the learner feel good.
Feedback that is intended to encourage and support the learner.
Does not give guidance on how to improve the learner’s reasoning.
“I like how you completed the assignment.”

5. Evaluative Feedback
Goal is to measure student achievement with a score or a grade.
Feedback that is intended to summarize student achievement.
Does not give guidance on how to improve the learner’s reasoning.
73%

6. Descriptive Feedback
Goal is to improve student achievement by telling the learner what steps to take in order to move forward in the learning process.
Feedback that is intended to tell the learner what needs to be improved.
Gives specific guidance as to how to improve the learners’ reasoning.
“You accurately found the number of students in 4th grade who said ice cream was their favorite. You now need to divide this number by the total number of students to get the percent who said ice cream was their favorite.”

7. Effective Descriptive Feedback
Goal is for students to internalize the effective feedback.
Feedback that is intended to be used by the learner to independently move their reasoning to the next level.
“I agree with the pattern that you have identified in the table. I am not convinced that the rule you wrote works for all the values in the table. How could you prove this?”

8. Types of Feedback Motivational Descriptive Effective
Evaluative
Descriptive
Effective
Feedback is primarily motivational
Feedback is primarily evaluative
Descriptive feedback primarily tells the student how to correct their reasoning.
Descriptive feedback asks the student what to do to move their reasoning to the next level.
Purpose: to encourage and support the learner
Purpose: to measure student achievement with a score or a grade
Purpose: to improve learning by indicating to the student what needs to be improved
Purpose: to improve learning, by moving student reasoning to the next level
More
Summative
Formative

9. In closing…
EXAMPLES