1-3-5 Reads on Creating 'Feedback Classrooms'

This is the second of two blogs I have written based on the talk I gave at the 2022 ResearchEd National Conference and ResearchED Nottingham titled 'Creating 'Feedback Classooms': systems and CPD to put feedback at the heart of every classroom'. I hope you find it useful! 

Jon Gilbert (@JGProfDev)

1 minute read on creating 'Feedback Classrooms' 

• The EEF Teaching and Learning Toolkit (found here) highlights that providing effective feedback can have a significant positive impact on student outcomes.
• Schools often have systems in place to create consistent practice around summative assessment
• However, if assessment and feedback can have such an impact then we should put in place precise and rigorous systems to ensure consistent, effective assessment and feedback is a feature of every lesson, every day
• 'Feedback Classrooms' are supported by precise and rigorous systems which allow lessons within them to be characterised by the very deliberate and constant collection of data (formative feedback) which leads to responsive teaching which moves learning forward.
• Creating ‘feedback classrooms’ is about identifying what systems and CPD we can put in place to enable to conditions for this kind of classroom to become the norm in a school
• We can create ‘feedback classrooms’ by answering what systems and CPD do we need to put in place to 1) support teachers to most effectively identify what data to collect? 2) support teachers to most effectively collect that data? 3) support teachers to most effectively act on the data they collect?
• Precise and rigorous systems for supporting effective planning can help all teachers identify the data to collect.
• I argue this can be done by providing CPD on the creation of Content and Assessment Plans (CAPs) to support teachers and department to plan what to hunt for in lessons – knowing what excellence looks like and hunting for the extent to which students have achieved this
• Next, precise and rigorous systems should be established which a) make the data as visible as possible and b) make the actual collection of the data as robust as possible. This can be done through embedding classrooms routines for data collection e.g. cold call. To support the collection itself, systems such as Messy Marking (as discussed in this article in TES) can be put in place
• Finally, systems and CPD can be put in place in schools to support teachers to act on the data and provide feedback to students which will move learning forward. For example, by practising the use of visualisers for live feedback. Similarly systems can be put in place to support teachers to hold students to account for acting on the feedback they give in lessons. For example, the use of a different coloured pen to act on feedback

3 minute read on creating 'Feedback Classrooms'

The EEF Teaching and Learning Toolkit (found here) highlights that providing effective feedback can have a significant positive impact on student outcomes. As a result, feedback is something that we should be investing time and effort into getting right. To support us to do this, the EEF has also produced a guidance report on Teacher Feedback To Improve Pupil Learning (found here) which provides six recommendations to improve the quality of feedback students are provided with.

Creating 'Feedback Classrooms' is all about how we operationalise those recommendations (particularly the first three) in every classroom in a school, all the time. It’s about how we create the right systems and CPD to enable staff to maximise the use of effective feedback in every lesson. If we are able to do this then we have the potential to maximise its impact on student outcomes.

 Creating 'Feedback Classrooms' is a process. As such, like with any other process, the creation of these classrooms is done through precision and rigour, communicating with clarity and creating consistency. Please see this blog, where I explain thoughts on how we can effectively implement any process in a school.

What is a 'Feedback Classroom' and why should we create them?

'Feedback Classrooms' are supported by precise and rigorous systems which allow lessons within them to be characterised by the very deliberate and constant collection of data (formative feedback) which leads to responsive teaching which moves learning forward.

Often schools have quite precise and rigorous systems and processes for summative assessment. However, if effective feedback can have such a significant impact on student outcomes, then surely we should be investing time and effort into creating similarly, if not more so, precise and rigorous systems and processes for formative assessment and feedback taking place throughout every lesson.  The focus and emphasis on the collection and use of 'Data' (with a capital D) from summative assessment, undermines the much greater amount and use of 'data' (with a lower case d) which teachers can collect every minute of every lesson from what they see. That is why, I would argue, we need to readdress this imbalance and focus on the creation of 'Feedback Classrooms'.

How do we create 'Feedback Classrooms'?

If ‘feedback classrooms’ are characterised by the deliberate collection of data which is then acted upon to move learning forwards, to create them, we essentially need to ask three questions. 1) what systems and CPD do we need to put in place in order to support teachers to most effectively identify what data to collect? 2) what systems and CPD do we need in order to support teachers to most effectively collect that data? 3) what systems and CPD do we need in order to support teachers to most effectively act on the data they collect?

What data do we want to collect?

If a teacher is going to be able to effectively assess student progress throughout a lesson and provide feedback that moves the learning forward, then they need to have a very clear idea of what excellence looks like – what does great progress actually look like?. If teachers are clear on this, they can hunt for it to assess the extent to which students in their class have achieved it. This will then inform their subsequent action. (I write more about hunting in my previous blog found here). And the most precise and rigorous way to do this, is through meaningful planning.

Schemes of work should not be a narration of tasks and teacher instruction, but rather it should be a narration of indicative content and assessment. In fact, I would be so bold as to suggest we jettison the term SOW altogether and replace it with something like Content and Assessment Plans (CAPs). CAPs detail everything that is not in lesson resources. They are written by expert authors, who use its pages not to simply restate what is in the resources, but instead to detail what success looks like at key hinge points throughout a lesson, how to hunt for that success, and what to do if hunting reveals a class has either been successful or not. Through clear models of excellence and practice, creating these CAPs can be done to a consistent high level throughout a school. Below is an extract which could appear in a CAP in RE:

So the expert author (or indeed authors if this CAP is a collaborative project) of this CAP narrates critical indicative content and modes of assessment at key hinge points throughout a lesson. Having become versed in the topic, the expert author(s) is best placed to be able to articulate what success looks like at different key points through a sequence of learning. They are then able to provide explicit guidance on what specifically to hunt for, how to hunt for it and what to do based on the data collected, to all those teaching that topic.

How do we collect the data?

Now we are clear on what data we want to collect, we want to create the conditions whereby data collection is most effective. This can be done by creating precise and rigorous systems to a) make the data as visible as possible and b) make the actual collection of the data as robust as possible. So what precise and rigorous systems can we put in place to support teachers to most effectively collect the data?

The first is to embed routines in classrooms which support the visibility and collection of data. There are a number of different routines to choose from including the use of cold call, whiteboard routines, the use of prisms or RAG cards and so on. Whatever routines are selected, they need to be communicated with clarity and practised with staff and students for them to be most effective. If routines for making data as visible as possible are embedded with consistency, then this makes the regular collection of that data much simpler and much more effective.

The second thing I would like to focus on is embedding systems which support teachers to robustly collect data as they monitor student work in a classroom. I was fortunate enough, whilst working at Dixons Trinity Chapeltown in Leeds, to be exposed to and to support the development of a form of marking called 'Messy Marking' whereby teachers circulate their classrooms recording data they have been hunting for on a common proforma. Colleagues and I wrote an article on this in the TES which can be found here. The main aim of Messy Marking is collecting data to inform future teaching either there and then in the lesson or in a future lesson. Examples of completed Messy Marking sheets can be found on my Twitter page (@JGProfDev).

 What action leads from the data?

We now come to the final, and most important part of the process in a 'Feedback Classroom' - acting on the data we have collected. Again, precise and rigorous systems can be used to support staff to act on data and also to hold students to account for acting on the feedback the teacher gives to move their learning forward.

Visualisers are becoming an increasingly common sight in schools. Visualisers can be a really effective tool to use to support responsive teaching and provide students with real-time feedback. However, they are only as effective as the support given to teachers to use them. In Teach Like A Champion, Lemov writes a chapter on the technique of Show Call which can be done using a visualiser. Practising these techniques will support consistent best practice to respond to the data collected.

There are a number of systems and processes school leaders may choose to put in place so students are held to account for acting on feedback.  Consistent language may be used across a school to provide clear messaging around this.  For example using mantras like 'feedback is a gift' or 'let's feedback to feed forward'. Similarly, the consistent use of a different coloured pen can help raise the profile of acting on feedback.

5 minute read on creating 'Feedback Classrooms'

The EEF Teaching and Learning Toolkit (found here) highlights that providing effective feedback can have a significant positive impact on student outcomes. In fact, of all the strands in the toolkit, feedback has some of the greatest potential as a 'best bet' to improve outcomes. As a result, feedback is something that we should be investing time and effort into getting right. To support us to do this, the EEF has also produced a guidance report on Teacher Feedback To Improve Pupil Learning (found here). This report is a rich, evidence-laden resource providing six recommendations to improve the quality of feedback students are provided with.

 The first three recommendations provide some 'principles' of effective feedback. Recommendation 1 stresses the need for teachers to provide effective instruction. Recommendation 2 highlights the need to ensure that feedback is used to move student learning forwards. Recommendation 3 states that the use of feedback to move learning forwards should be well thought through and planned out. So overall, the first three recommendations suggest that we need to teach students well, making sure to assess the impact of that instruction on their learning and then use that information to move their learning forwards through deliberately planned opportunities.

Creating 'Feedback Classrooms' is all about how we operationalise those recommendations in every classroom in a school, all the time. It’s about how we create the right systems and CPD to enable staff to maximise the use of effective feedback in every lesson. If we are able to do this then we have the potential to maximise its impact on student outcomes.

 Creating 'Feedback Classrooms' is a process. As such, like with any other process, the creation of these classrooms is done through precision and rigour, communicating with clarity and creating consistency. Please see this blog, where I explain thoughts on how we can effectively implement any process in a school. 

What is a 'Feedback Classroom' and why should we create them?

'Feedback Classrooms' are supported by precise and rigorous systems which allow lessons within them to be characterised by the very deliberate and constant collection of data (formative feedback) which leads to responsive teaching which moves learning forward. In a 'Feedback Classroom' the conditions for the key principles of effective feedback identified in the EEF guidance report are at the very heart of the planning and delivery of lessons. If the process for implementation discussed in my previous blog are applied, then 'Feedback Classrooms' can become the norm in a school. 

 Often schools have quite precise and rigorous systems and processes for summative assessment. It is not unusual that schools have consistent practices with regards to end of term assessment for example, where there are consistent conditions for assessments to take place, consistent ways in which marks are recorded, moderation and standardisation opportunities and consistent ways in which the data is used. However, if effective feedback can have such a significant impact on student outcomes, then surely we should be investing time and effort into creating similarly, if not more so, precise and rigorous systems and processes for formative assessment and feedback taking place throughout every lesson.  Moreover, the focus and emphasis on the collection and use of 'Data' (with a capital D) from summative assessment, undermines the much greater amount and use of 'data' (with a lower case d) which teachers can collect every minute of every lesson from what they see. That is why, I would argue, we need to readdress this imbalance and focus on the creation of 'Feedback Classrooms'.

How do we create 'Feedback Classrooms'?

In order to operationalise the three 'principles' recommendations of the EEF guidance report, and therefore create 'Feedback Classrooms' we may ask ourselves three questions. Firstly, what systems and CPD do we need to put in place in order to support teachers to most effectively identify what data to collect? The second question is what systems and CPD do we need in order to support teachers to most effectively collect that data? And finally, what systems and CPD do we need in order to support teachers to most effectively act on the data they collect. Whether you are a classroom teacher looking to make your own classroom a 'Feedback Classroom' or middle or senior leader looking to establish 'Feedback Classrooms' in your department or across your school, then answering these three questions in a precise and rigorous way will be key. In what follows, I will take each question in turn and provide some examples of possible precise and rigorous systems and processes that could be used in order to answer it.

What data do we want to collect?

The ultimate goal of a 'Feedback Classroom' is to move learning forwards through assessment and feedback throughout a lesson. To do this, the teacher must be very clear about what data they are hunting for at different points throughout a lesson so that they can most effectively act on that data to move the learning forward. Hunting within a classroom can be defined as having a very clear conception of success/likely error, to enable us to very intentionally monitor the extent to which success is achieved and respond when it has not. (I write more about hunting in my previous blog found here). So if a teacher is going to be able to effectively assess student progress throughout a lesson and provide feedback that moves the learning forward, then they need to have a very clear idea of what excellence looks like – what does great progress actually look like. If teachers are clear on this, they can hunt for it to assess the extent to which students in their class have achieved it. This will then inform their subsequent action.

 So what precise and rigorous systems can we put in place to create clarity and consistency to support teachers with this? There are a number of things we could do, including focusing our CPD on how to give clear instructions and how to structure lessons to illicit data. However, the system I would like to focus on (which does in fact incorporate those two things) is supporting teachers with planning.

 The phrase 'Schemes of Work' (SOWs) is often met with a great deal of negativity. I think unfairly. Precise and rigorous planning is essential in a 'Feedback Classroom'. However, I think one reason that SOWs have a poor reputation and may be seen by some as a paper exercise, is because they are not always written in a way that is fit for purpose. Some would say that all SOWs do is rehash on paper what is already in lesson resources. They may be a list of tasks that are done throughout a lesson. For example, the SOW may tell the reader that students complete the table on the PowerPoint. The reader already knows this because they have seen the PowerPoint! This form of SOW is not really helping the teacher deliver a great lesson, and it could be argued, offers very little in addition to the lesson resources.

 I would argue that a SOW should not be a narration of tasks and teacher instruction, but rather it should be a narration of indicative content and assessment. In fact, I would be so bold as to suggest we jettison the term SOW altogether and replace it with something like Content and Assessment Plans (CAPs). Despite the rather unfortunate acronym, I believe the name expresses the spirit and purpose of the document much more accurately. CAPs detail everything that is not in lesson resources. They are written by expert authors, who use its pages not to simply restate what is in the resources, but instead to detail what success looks like at key hinge points throughout a lesson, how to hunt for that success, and what to do if hunting reveals a class has either been successful or not. Through clear models of excellence and practice, creating these CAPs can be done to a consistent high level throughout a school. NB planning does not start and end there. Each classroom teacher needs to see the CAP as a baseline to tailor for their class.  Below is an extract which could appear in a CAP in RE:

 

So the expert author (or indeed authors if this CAP is a collaborative project) of this CAP narrates critical indicative content and modes of assessment at key hinge points throughout a lesson. Having become versed in the topic, the expert author(s) is best placed to be able to articulate what success looks like at different key points through a sequence of learning. They are then able to provide explicit guidance on what specifically to hunt for, how to hunt for it and what to do based on the data collected, to all those teaching that topic. In the RE example above, the expert author(s) of this CAP has identified that it is crucial that students understand the concept of atonement and that this understanding is to be hunted for in a specific activity. The expert author(s) also suggests how best to hunt for that specific understanding and then what to do if what is being hunted for is not seen. 

How do we collect the data?

Now we are clear on what data we want to collect, we want to create the conditions whereby data collection is most effective. This can be done by creating precise and rigorous systems to a) make the data as visible as possible and b) make the actual collection of the data as robust as possible. So what precise and rigorous systems can we put in place to support teachers to most effectively collect the data? Again, there are a number of different ways we could do this including working with teachers on 'Standardising the Format' (see Lemov’s Teach Like a Champion) and giving really clear instructions so that data is as visible as possible. However, I would like to focus on two other things we can do.

 The first is to embed routines in classrooms which support the visibility and collection of data. There are a number of different routines to choose from including the use of cold call, whiteboard routines, the use of prisms or RAG cards and so on. Whatever routines are selected, they need to be communicated with clarity and practised with staff and students for them to be most effective. Of course, routines like this can be embedded by a teacher in their own classroom. However, the real power of these routines comes through their use consistently across a school. Thankfully there are a whole host of supportive materials out there which already provide both written and visual models of excellence (please see my previous blog for more information on this) for us for what these routines can look like and how they can be used (including Doug Lemov's Teach Like A Champion, Dixons Academies Trust OpenSource and StepLab). If routines for making data as visible as possible are embedded with consistency, then this makes the regular collection of that data much simpler and much more effective.

 However, it is vitally important that the routine is not done for its own sake. The routine is not the end goal. The use of the routine is to support the collection of data to ultimately inform teaching and move learning forward. That is where the CAP comes in. Through practice, we support teachers to develop the habitual mechanics of key data collection routines. However, it is teacher expertise, supported through the CAP, that moves the use of a routine from mechanistic to justified to achieve a particular learning goal.

 The second thing I would like to focus on is embedding systems which support teachers to robustly collect data as they monitor student work in a classroom. Possible options include the teacher carrying around a seating plan and annotating as they go, or doing the same using pre-generated model answers. However, I was fortunate enough, whilst working at Dixons Trinity Chapeltown in Leeds, to be exposed to and to support the development of a form of marking called 'Messy Marking' whereby teachers circulate their classrooms recording data they have been hunting for on a common proforma. Colleagues and I wrote an article on this in the TES which can be found here. The main aim of Messy Marking is collecting data to inform future teaching either there and then in the lesson or in a future lesson. The collection of the data on a proforma makes for a more robust system and provides options to use the 'marking' to inform responsive teaching there and then in the lesson, but also to discuss classes in department meetings, to plan future interventions, to inform comments at Parents' and Carers' Evenings and so on. Examples of completed Messy Marking sheets can be found on my Twitter page (@JGProfDev).

What action leads from the data?

We now come to the final, and most important part of the process in a 'Feedback Classroom' - acting on the data we have collected. Again, precise and rigorous systems can be used to support staff to act on data. CPD can help create consistency of best practice around the use of whole class feedback, methods to use to reteach students something that has not been understood and so on. We can also create precise and rigorous systems to hold students accountable for the improvements they make to their understanding based on the feedback the teacher gives.

Visualisers are becoming an increasingly common sight in schools. Visualisers can be a really effective tool to use to support responsive teaching and provide students with real-time feedback. However, they are only as effective as the support given to teachers to use them. In Teach Like A Champion, Lemov writes a chapter on the technique of Show Call which can be done using a visualiser. It is clear guidance, like this, on the different ways visualisers could be used which should form the basis of teacher CPD to enable their effective use. We cannot simply provide teachers with a visualiser and expect that they innately know how best to use it to support the learning in their classroom. Teachers should be given guidance on their use and time to practice using them. They should be given time to discuss with colleagues how to use visualisers to expose students to the excellence they were hunting for.

 Finally, routines and systems should be communicated with clarity and created with consistency to hold students accountable for acting on the feedback they are given in a 'Feedback Classroom'. There are a number of different things school leaders may choose to do, but raising the profile of feedback amongst students and encouraging them to see error as part of the process of learning will support the creation of 'Feedback Classrooms'. Consistent language may be used across a school to provide clear messaging around this.  For example using mantras like 'feedback is a gift' or 'let's feedback to feed forward'. Similarly, the consistent use of a different coloured pen can help raise the profile of acting on feedback.