Commentary Resources and references used to develop this presentation were collected from a Georgia Department of Education’s Curriculum Director’s presentation as well as the Georgia Class Keys.

How can teacher commentary be used effectively? Essential Question How can teacher commentary be used effectively?

Like it or not, this is our new reality Like it or not, this is our new reality. As teachers, we must find ways to improve student achievement to meet the “mark”. However, this is not our sole purpose. We must strive to make students better learners. One tool for improving student learning is Teacher Commentary.

The Research John Hattie reviewed thousands of studies on learning and instruction and concluded that “The most powerful single moderator that enhances achievement is feedback.” “The simplest prescription for improving education must be ‘dollops of feedback’—providing information on how and why the child understands and misunderstands, and what directions the student must take to improve.” Hattie, J. (1999, 2 Aug.). “Influences on Student Learning,” Inaugural Lecture: Professor of Education, University of Auckland.

“The implication is NOT that we should The Research “The implication is NOT that we should automatically use many tests and provide over-prescriptive directions. Rather, it means providing information on how and why the child understands and misunderstands, and what directions the student must take to improve.” Hattie, J. (1999, 2 Aug.). “Influences on Student Learning,” Inaugural Lecture: Professor of Education, University of Auckland.

The Research Providing students with specific information about their standing in terms of particular learning goals increased their achievement by 37 percentile points. “Achievement is enhanced to the degree that students develop self-strategies: to seek and receive feedback to verify rather than to enhance their sense of achievement efficacy.” Hattie, J. (1999, 2 Aug.). “Influences on Student Learning,” Inaugural Lecture: Professor of Education, University of Auckland.

The Research Several studies show firm evidence that innovations designed to strengthen the frequent feedback that students receive about their learning yield substantial learning gains. The perceptions of students and their role in self-assessment are considered alongside analysis of the strategies used by teachers and the formative strategies incorporated in such systematic approaches as mastery learning (Black, P., & William, D., 1998) Feedback is shown to be one of 6 method categories that has a significant effect on student achievement, according to an analysis of 35 independent studies of teaching methods (Haas, M., 2005).

The Research Instructional feedback promoted stimulates the correction of erroneous responses (Bangert-Drowns, R. L., Kulik, C. C., Kulik, J. A., & Morgan, M., 1991). Feedback has the biggest impact on student achievement when the teacher routinely uses feedback in conjunction with goals. Synthesis of research results on feedback to students from 9 different studies, each showing a positive impact on student achievement with percentile gains ranging from a high of 43 (Bloom, 1976) to a low of 10 (Bangert-Drowns, R. L., Kulik, C. C., Kulik, J. A., & Morgan, M., 1991).

The Research Feedback that requires the learner to try multiple times on error in order to correct mistakes is best for the kind of relational encoding associated with higher-order thinking (Clariana, R. B., & Koul, R., 2006) “Feedback can promote learning if it is received mindfully. However, it also can inhibit learning if it encourages mindlessness…” (Mory, E. H., 1992).

Grant Wiggins states that any task designed to allow students to demonstrate understanding, any task worth doing, “cannot be done properly the first time.” He asserts that learning cannot take place without lots of tries and lots of errors. Furthermore, he believes that students “can’t learn to be successful without feedback.”

Beware Making Students Think that Obeying the Rules is What Matters. Feedback isn’t effective if the student does not focus on the purpose of the performance Did the piece work? Was the audience fully engaged? Was the speech convincing? Was the approach credible? Was the story intriguing? “Less Teaching, More Assessing: Learning via Feedback,” ASCD Conference on Teaching & Learning, San Francisco, October 2005. Used with permission of Grant Wiggins.

As Wiggins reminds us, “feedback isn’t effective if the student does not focus on the purpose of the performance.” In other words, if the purpose of a writing assignment is to demonstrate, clearly, understanding of the characteristics of British Romanticism, that purpose should be the primary focus of the feedback. Feedback related to organization and/or conventions should directly relate to this primary purpose of “clearly” demonstrating understanding. We should not, in this case, become so focused on grammatical and mechanical issues that we subordinate the primary purpose.

Give less advice and more feedback Wiggins’ Mantra Give less advice and more feedback We tend to give advice without helping the student really grasp the feedback on which the advice is based Giving better feedback enables the student to take greater control of giving themselves (or seeking) advice, sooner

Results of an Effective Feedback/Self-Assessment System Students seek feedback on their own and know that it is in their interest—even if the news is bad Performance improves at all levels Improved performance occurs more rapidly than is typical or expected Quarrels about the results are few What was once considered extraordinary performance becomes much more common “Less Teaching, More Assessing: Learning via Feedback,” ASCD Conference on Teaching & Learning, San Francisco, October 2005. Used with permission of Grant Wiggins.

Criteria for Excellent Feedback Timely User-friendly—in approach and amount Descriptive & specific in regard to performance Consistent Expert Accurate Honest, yet constructive Derived from concrete standards On-going “Less Teaching, More Assessing: Learning via Feedback,” ASCD Conference on Teaching & Learning, San Francisco, October 2005. Used with permission of Grant Wiggins.

Types of Feedback Descriptive feedback tells students about their learning Evaluative feedback tells the students how they performed in comparison to others (benchmarks) Descriptive feedback is the hallmark of standards-based education and leads to revision and improved student learning.

Distributed Summarizing 5 – List 5 important points about feedback 3 – List 3 challenges of feedback 1 – List 1 question that you still have about feedback

Commentary Oral or written feedback that identifies the features of a work sample that illustrate the relevant parts of a standard(s). Commentary draws attention to the qualities of student work with direct reference to the performance descriptions for the relevant standards. (Definition from Class Keys, page 78).

Student Commentary Oral or written self-reflective, metacognitive comments made by the student that self-assess his or her progress toward the specified standard(s) and that provide feedback to the teacher in terms of student understanding; as a result of effective self-assessment, students develop the skills necessary to self-adjust and become more independent learners.

Student Commentary When appropriate, allow students to use peer to peer commentary Two Stars One Wish strategy – Students comment on other students’ work by making two good comments followed by one “wish” comment

Teacher Commentary Oral or written comments made by the teacher that provide feedback to the student regarding his/her progress toward the specified standard(s); comments may include praise in addition to feedback and should include guidance in addition to the feedback.

Teacher Commentary Public commentary is posted and specifies the evidence in student work that effectively illustrates relevant parts of the standard(s).(Meets and/or Exceeds to show exemplary work to understand what is expected in order to meet standards) Private commentary identifies the features of a work sample that illustrate the relevant parts of a standard(s) as well as feedback and guidance for next steps. Private commentary is meant for the student, teacher and parent, not the public. (You can have private teacher commentary that is not posted)

Examples of Private Teacher Commentary Folders and/or notebooks that contain student work with teacher commentary (should be noted in documents so that administrators and visitors can easily locate the information) In an elementary classroom, a teacher had a chart with student names and empty squares. For specific tasks, the teacher would write the student’s commentary on a post-it note and then fold the post-it note to put on the chart. Students knew to get their post-it note when directed.

Performance Goals for Teacher Commentary Use the language of the standards Provide descriptive and specific comments related to the learning goals (standards) and the student – Does Not Meet, Meets, Exceeds Include honest and constructive guidance about steps to take or strategies to try next Celebrate success and/or progress toward the learning goals (standards)

Complete the Frayer Model Graphic Organizer on Teacher Commentary

The following three slides provide statements that you should identify as “Yes” for teacher commentary or “No” for not teacher commentary. These statements and answers were developed by the Georgia Department of Education. Some of the answers are questionable, but provide good areas for discussion.

Feedback on Commentary I was lost in the paragraph because I could not tell who was speaking to whom in the story. Your results are interesting and your data is sound, but you have not isolated and controlled for all the specified variables. Good job on this project. YES YES NO

Feedback on Commentary I lost interest as a reader at the end of the 2nd paragraph. I really liked your paper. The sources you cite are not the most appropriate for this topic, nor do they support the claim you made in the opening paragraph. YES NO YES

Feedback on Commentary I could not hear your summary; you need to speak louder and directly at your audience. I know you are capable of better work. You need to make your lab report longer. YES NO NO

Examine student work and teacher commentary from the state Examine student work and teacher commentary from the state. Once again, some of these are questionable, but provide good discussion. (See next slide for specific examples to print.)

Sample Task and Commentary K-3 ELA 4-8 ELA 6th grade Math 6th grade Science 7th grade ELA 9-12 Science 12th grade British Literature

Using Rubrics For performance tasks or more complex assignments develop rubrics Use the rubric as a checklist to provide teacher commentary; however still provide student specific feedback other than just the rubric checklist http://www.teach-nology.com/web_tools/rubrics http://www.rubristar.com http://school.discoveryeducation.com/schrockguide/assess.html http://www.rubrics4teachers.com

Using Student Work and Teacher Commentary Post “Exemplary” student work with teacher commentary to allow other students the opportunity to examine the expectations Post “Making Progress”, “Almost There”, or “Meeting the Standard” work for students to examine differences Posting Teacher Commentary is not intended for “Below Meeting” samples. It is not intended to “point out” the “bad” “Whose Comment Is It Anyway” strategy where students match teacher commentary with student work “Wall of Fame” to post student work

Templates Post-it Blank Post-it with boxes Standard Commentary Blank Two Stars & and Wish Template The “Post-it” templates are designed to place “post-it” notes on the template boxes and then run the template with the post-it notes attached through your printer.

FAQ’s How often should teacher commentary be used on student’s work? Teacher feedback/commentary can certainly be used as frequently as possible; however, the formal, more explicit commentary that has been discussed in this presentation does not have to occur everyday. Teachers should determine key tasks which address a certain standard(s) or element(s) for each unit in which to provide formal teacher commentary.

FAQ’s Does the posted teacher commentary have to be on the current unit being taught? Not necessarily. Remember, the formal, explicit teacher commentary in which we are referring is used on major tasks which address specific standards. Therefore, you may be teaching a concept in a current unit, but the students will not work on the major task until later in the unit.

FAQ’s Do I have to include student names on papers that are posted? Remember, there are different forms of teacher commentary. If you are posting public commentary that illustrates meets/exceeds expectations, then you may or may not include names. However, private commentary should certainly include a name because the purpose is for the student to know how he/she can improve. Once again, you can provide private commentary in a way that does not “call out” students

FAQ’s What should be included in teacher commentary? The standard(s) and the task should be included The rubric used to assess the task Does Not Meet/Meets/Exceeds Comments in the language of the standards that addresses the student’s quality of work including steps for further improvement

FAQ’s Are students allowed to re-do work based on teacher commentary? The ideal answer is YES. The purpose of teacher commentary is to provide feedback on how students can improve. If they are never given a chance to improve, the feedback is less effective. Remember though these are not tasks that occur daily. However, you always have the right to allow students to re-do any assignment in your classroom.

FAQ’s Does a rubric count as teacher commentary? A rubric is only one part of teacher commentary. If a rubric is used, there should still be a section for teacher comments that includes how the student can improve. Use statements such as: Have you ever thought about? I wish you had included… Just checking off a rubric is NOT teacher commentary

Our ultimate goal should be our own planned obsolescence—to help our students become proficient enough in assessing and adjusting their own learning that they no longer need us!

Please complete a “Recipe for Teacher Commentary” card Summarizing Strategy Please complete a “Recipe for Teacher Commentary” card

Resources and Templates for Teacher Commentary can be found at: You can access the page from the Troup 6-12 Teacher Resources site (from the home page under the Teacher Resources Tab, click Instructional Strategies & Resources page)