KARCHER STAFF BLOG

Karcher 2017-2018 School Calendar

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Feed Up, Back, Forward

Douglas Fisher and Nancy Frey

Teacher response is only one part of an effective feedback system. We must also set clear learning goals and let data influence instruction.

Like the sailors in Samuel Coleridge's poem "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" who see "water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink," teachers often feel awash in a resource that is of little help. Teachers have more assessment data about individual students at their fingertips than we could have imagined a decade ago. Unlike saltwater to a thirsty mariner, the data are of course highly usable resources for teachers. Yet many feel unable to "drink" the data around them because they don't have a system for processing it.

We recently saw a teacher collect literacy assessment data on her iPhone and then upload the scores instantly into the school's computer. It was impressive. When we asked how she planned to use this information, however, the teacher replied, "It's just a benchmark test I'm required to give; I don't really use the data." Therein lies the problem: A resource that could significantly enhance teaching and learning is left unused.

The solution is twofold. First, educators have to understand the three components of any powerful feedback system. Second, we have to align the multiple measures we use to create a coherent system of data collection, analysis, and instruction that responds to data in a way that lifts student achievement.

What Makes a Strong Feedback System?

Feedback is a powerful way to affect student achievement (Hattie & Timperley, 2007). Research consistently ranks feedback as among the strongest interventions at teachers' disposal (Kluger & DeNisi, 1996). But feedback is a complex construct with at least three distinct components, which we call feed up, feed back, and feed forward. To fully implement a feedback system, teachers must use all three.

Feed Up: Clarify the Goal

The first component of an effective feedback system involves establishing a clear purpose. When students understand the ultimate goal, they are more likely to focus on the learning tasks at hand. Establishing a purpose is also crucial to a feedback system because when teachers have a clear overall purpose, they can align their various assessments. For example, when it's clear that the purpose of a unit is to compare insects and arthropods, students know what to expect and the teacher can plan readings, collaborative projects, investigations, and assessments to ensure that students focus on content related to this goal.

Feed Back: Respond to Student Work

The individual responses teachers give students about their work are the second component of a good feedback system, and the one that is most commonly recognized. These responses should directly relate to the learning goal. The best feedback provides students with information about their progress—or lack of it—toward that goal and suggests actions they can take to come closer to the expected standard (Brookhart, 2008). Ideally, teachers give feedback as students complete discrete tasks that are part of a larger project so that students can use teachers' suggestions to better master content and improve their performance on the larger project.

For example, in a unit on writing high-quality introductions, a teacher gave students multiple opportunities to introduce topics using such techniques as beginning with a question or startling statistic, leading off with an anecdote, and so on. The teacher provided students feedback on each introduction they wrote so students could revise that introduction and use the suggestions to improve their next attempt. Rather than simply noting mechanical errors, the teacher acknowledged areas of success and highlighted things students might focus on sharpening.

Feed Forward: Modify Instruction

This formative aspect of a feedback system is often left out. In an effective feedback system, teachers use assessment data to plan future instruction; hence the term feed forward. As teachers look at student work, whether from a checking-for-understanding task or a common formative assessment, they use what they learn to modify their teaching. This demands greater flexibility in lesson planning because it means that teachers can't simply implement a set series of lessons.

For example, student groups in one 3rd grade class we observed each completed a collaborative poster in response to a word problem. Students had to answer the questions in each problem using words, numbers, and pictures. A typical problem read, "Six students are sitting at each table in the lunchroom. There are 23 tables. How many students are in the lunchroom?" Nearly every group got the wrong answer to its problem. Given this information, the teacher knew she needed to provide more modeling to the entire class on how to solve word problems.

Another teacher noted that six of his students regularly capitalized random words in sentences. Mauricio, for example, incorrectly capitalized fun, very, and challenge. Considering that the other students were not making this error, the teacher knew that a whole-class intervention was unnecessary. Instead, he provided additional instruction for the six students who consistently capitalized at random.

Moving Toward Alignment

For a feedback system to be informative, all measures must align with one another to present a rich portrait of how students are progressing toward a common goal. For example, daily checking-for-understanding practices should contribute to a teacher's understanding of how students will perform with similar material in a unit, in a course, and on state assessments.

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Kudos

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Kudos to Marian Hancock, Becky Hoesly, Steve Berezowitz, Barb Berezowitz, Andrea Hancock, and Ryan Heft for your assistance and help with scheduling last week at Dyer, Karcher, and for the HS.
Kudos to Jack Schmidt, Eric Sulik, Wendy Zeman, Ryan Heft, and the rest of our staff for a great character education Integrity day this past Friday morning with the HS DRIVEN students! It was a great morning and great topic for our students to engage in.

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Information/Reminders...

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Math... it is your week to have students email their parents/guardians.
Thursday, March 1 and Tuesday, March 6 - Student Led Conferences from 4:00 - 8:00pm.

This LINK will be send to parents via Skyward on Tuesday, February 20. There are 35 "seats" available for each time slot within the form.
Would the following four people also send this link to parents via email as well to ensure all families are seeing the link:

Kurt Rummler
Stephanie Rummler
Barb Berezowitz
Andrea Hancock

Your expectation as the advisory teacher is to check the responses to see if your advisory students are signing up for their conferences. Please email families individually or call home to assist with setting up their student led conference. Again, you are just responsible for students in your advisory in order to assist with our turn out!
The student led conferences will be held in the library. Everyone will need to bring their chromebook cart up to the library prior to 4:00 on both days for students to access their chromebooks.
Staff will then be in your rooms for conferences throughout the 4:00 - 8:00 time frame. (Same format as last year)
Student Plans/Template

Tuesday, February 20 - Mid-Year SLOs are due in MLP.
Wednesday, February 21 - Essential Skill PLC work in your rooms with your content area. Ryan and I will be available in the library for any teams wanting support.

Looking ahead:

Monday, February 26 - Secondary Committee Meeting - Rescheduled date from 3:30 - 5:00 in our Karcher library.
Tuesday, February 27 - Start of the next iTime rotation!
Thursday, March 1 - Student Led Conferences from 4:00 - 8:00.

Pictures from this past week!
Students on Friday collaborating and participating with the HS DRIVEN students with activities focused around Integrity!

Some students in 8th grade are participating in literature circles during iTime!

Student Council/Leadership selling Valentines!

STEM projects where the goal is to utilize at least two simple machines to make a compound machine.

Student choice in Art class with their new ceramic project. Students can use any of the following techniques for their ceramic sculptures: coil, pinch, slab, or free style.