Written Feedback in the Middle School Mathematics Classroom

• In Event: Examining Feedback Practices in Multiple Settings With Multiple Perspectives

Abstract

Objective
The affordance of feedback is central to the practice of formative assessment in the mathematics classroom. Feedback can take a number of forms and differentially serves both teachers and students (Wiliam, Lee, Harrison, & Black, 2003). Much of the feedback experienced by students is mediated through oral discourse either addressed to a single or a few students or broadcast to the entire class (DeLuca & Klinger, 2010; Suurtaam, Koch, & Arden, 2010). Less frequently, feedback is provided to individual or small groups of students during individual or small group work on problems. This presentation focuses on the written feedback provided to individual students based on their performances on complex mathematical tasks. The question we are addressing is “What is the nature and quality of teacher written feedback to students?”

Theoretical Perspective
Our research design is grounded in design experiments in educational research (Cobb, Confrey, diSessa, Lehrer, & Schauble, 2003). We iteratively worked with teachers engaging in analysis of student work and design and implementation of instructional moves based on student responses over the course of a professional development year. We take the perspective of Sadler (1989) to define feedback in the teaching and learning environments.

Methods
A feedback typology was developed for the study that builds on the work of Tunstall and Gipps (1994). The typology focused on the extent to which the feedback was aligned with the teachers mathematical learning goal, directly addressed the student’s response, focused on the mathematics of the task, and provided the students with information they could use to move forward toward the learning goal. We also examined the extent to which the teacher provided opportunities for students to use their written feedback, in reflecting on the feedback and in opportunities to resolve and resubmit.

Data
Teacher instructional documentation, including planning, implementation, and reflection, were collected on three problems that were used by all teachers together with copies of marked student work. Teachers were requested to provide written feedback to students on at least two of the tasks. Seventeen examples of tasks with written feedback to individual students were collected in the final two years of the project. Additional documentation of how the teachers used the written feedback in subsequent instruction was included

Results
The alignment of the teacher written feedback to mathematics learning objectives varied across the tasks. On average, 40% of the teacher comments were not well aligned with their stated learning goals. On average, teachers had 5% of their feedback comments unaligned with the student responses and 40% of their comments well aligned. Approximately a third of the time, the teacher written feedback at least superficially addressed the mathematics content.

Significance
Characterizing what counts as high quality feedback by teachers is an integral first step in the design and implementation of professional learning experiences that can help them improve their practices. The methodology and the resulting descriptive analyses in this study benefit the research community by providing tools and findings that can inform our current understanding of formative assessment practices.

Authors

• Edith Gummer, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation

• Traci Fantz, Education Northwest

• Karen A. Marrongelle, Portland State University