How Feedback Works: A Playbook

by John T. Almarode, Douglas Fisher, Nancy Frey

Overview

Feedback keeps learning moving forward.

You have the power to improve everything about teaching and learning—through excellent feedback. Make it precise. Timely. Actionable. Feedback is absolutely necessary for learning, and is the one ingredient that, if missing, will hinder the learning process. In this Playbook, you will not only learn how to give effective feedback—but have abundant opportunities to practice this skill (and get feedback) as you learn.

Bestselling authors John Almarode, Douglas Fisher, and Nancy Frey brilliantly organize this resource into 16 modules on the 4 C’s of Feedback:

Care — create a culture in which teachers, students and leaders embrace feedback as a continuous loop of giving, receiving, and integrating suggestions

Credibility — know how to stoke relatability, dynamism, and trust—and avoid the three most common barriers to students’ acting on feedback

Clarity — align your learning goals, success criteria, and strategies so you gain the most useful evidence during learning from which to generate feedback.

Communication — give feedback with intention, by speaking to the task; or to the learner’s process, or to the learner’s ability to monitor their own progress.

Feedback is futile unless it motivates students to change their approach the next time, and still love learning. With the How Feedback Works: A Playbook you have the essential guide to ensuring students go-get their highest potential.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781071897409
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Publication date:	08/22/2022
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	240
File size:	15 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Dr. John Almarode is a bestselling author and an Associate Professor of Education at James Madison University. He was awarded the inaugural Sarah Miller Luck Endowed Professorship in 2015 and received an Outstanding Faculty Award from the State Council for Higher Education in Virginia in 2021. Before his academic career, John started as a mathematics and science teacher in Augusta County, Virginia. As an author, John has written multiple educational books focusing on science and mathematics, and he has co-created a new framework for developing, implementing, and sustaining professional learning communities called PLC+. Dr. Almarode′s work has been presented to the US Congress, the Virginia Senate, and the US Department of Education. One of his recent projects includes developing the Distance Learning Playbook for College and University Instruction in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Continuing his collaborative work with colleagues on what works best in teaching and learning, How Tutoring Works, Visible Learning in Early Childhood, and How Learning Works, all with Corwin Press, were released in 2021.

Douglas Fisher is professor and chair of educational leadership at San Diego State University and a leader at Health Sciences High and Middle College. Previously, Doug was an early intervention teacher and elementary school educator.  He is a credentialed teacher and leader in California.  In 2022, he was inducted into the Reading Hall of Fame by the Literacy Research Association. He has published widely on literacy, quality instruction, and assessment, as well as books such as Welcome to Teaching, PLC+, Teaching Students to Drive their Learning, and Student Assessment: Better Evidence, Better Decisions, Better Learning.

Nancy Frey is professor of educational leadership at San Diego State University and a leader at Health Sciences High and Middle College. Previously, Nancy was a teacher, academic coach, and central office resource coordinator in Florida.  She is a credentialed special educator, reading specialist, and administrator in California.  She is a member of the International Literacy Association’s Literacy Research Panel. She has published widely on literacy, quality instruction, and assessment, as well as books such as The Artificial Intelligences Playbook, How Scaffolding Works, How Teams Work, and The Vocabulary Playbook.

Table of Contents

Part I: Setting the Foundations for How Feedback Works
Module 1: What is Feedback?
Module 2: What Does the Latest Research Say about Feedback?
Module 3: What Does the Feedback Process Look Like in Action?
Module 4: What are the Four Foundational Elements of Feedback?
Module 5: What are the Barriers to Giving, Receiving, and Integrating Feedback?
Part II: The 4 C’s: Care, Credibility, Clarity, and Communication
Module 6: What is the Role of Care in How Feedback Works?
Module 7: What is the Role of Credibility in How Feedback Works?
Module 8: How Important is Clarity in How Feedback Works?
Module 9: What is the Role of Evidence in How Feedback Works?
Module 10: What Role do Teacher and Student Noticing Play in How Feedback Works?
Module 11: What are the Similarities and Differences between the Four Types of Feedback?
Module 12: How Should Feedback be Communicated?
Module 13: How do Cues and Reinforcements Communicate Feedback?
Module 14: How Can Technology Communicate Feedback?
Module 15: How do Practice Tests Communicate Feedback?
Module 16: How can we Engage our Learners in Communicating Feedback?
Conclusion

Editorial Reviews

Feedback is complicated, complex, and layered. How Feedback Works made it feel possible and easy! As someone who is familiar with formative assessment practices, which include feedback and peer feedback, I saw the through line immediately. Each module addresses a different type of feedback but also adds a deeper understanding of feedback as new ideas are discussed in various ways. This book added to my own knowledge and pushed me to think a little differently.

Director of Data-Driven Instruction, Tulsa Public Schools - Jeni Mcintyre

The contents of this book are accurate, coherent, consistent in theme, and backed up with references and plausible examples. This playbook provides appropriate and relevant guidance for teachers, including learning outcomes and information on misconceptions. It is relevant for all levels of learners in this field—from the lead to the highly accomplished to the proficient and provisional educators.

Quality Teaching Coach, Literacy, Instructional Leader, Department of Education, Tasmania, Kingston Primary School - Leanne Hebden

Feedback is the missing link. As educators, we know the important role that feedback plays not just for our students, but for our teaching as well. And yet if we do not understand what that feedback looks like and sounds like, we can never truly know the depth of our impact. How Feedback Works gives the teacher the tools they need to know exactly when to use feedback and the kind of feedback that should be given.

San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools“ - Barbara Lane

Feedback is one of education’s most powerful assets in moving learning forward, yet it’s often the most misunderstood. How Feedback Works ties in pedagogical principles with cognitive science and educational psychology to explain not only how to give effective feedback, but also how to create the structures and conditions necessary for feedback to maximize its potential on student learning. Through explanation, models, and guided practice, this playbook capitalizes on the research to help educators better understand and implement feedback that moves students to and through their next levels of learning. As an educator who coaches teachers, prekindergarten through twelfth grade, I’m excited to have this gem in my back pocket as a relevant reference to share with my colleagues and for developing my own knowledge and skill set around all things feedback.

Director of Assessment for Learning - Kierstan Barbee