COR Literacy Framework Pt2 - Feedback

Feedback is any information provided by a teacher, parent, book, experience, or peer that gives the recipient knowledge about their performance on a particular learning activity. It is given before, during or after instruction so that learners can be encouraged and informed about ways to improve performance and to develop further the ability to perform to higher levels.

Feedback is often given in classrooms, however, some forms of feedback are ineffective and often quite counter-productive. Feedback considered as praise, for example, carries very little feedback information about student performance and will have very little impact upon learning. Praise is often directed at the self and is far too general and uninformative to be of any use for meaningful learning. Expressions such as, "Good boy!" or "Great effort!" often seeks to convey a positive message but can sometimes give a very negative impression. For example, if the teacher says, "Good girl!" at a time when the performance does not meet what the learner expects then the impression the student perceives is that the teacher does not expect any better from her. As a consequence, the student may begin to have doubts about her own future performance. Consequently, over a period of time, the student may develop poor self-efficacy with the expectation that it is not worth trying in the future if a lower level of performance is the expected outcome.

I have recently read Hattie and Timperley's (2007) seminal article on feedback and have noted that teachers (or others) can effectively direct feedback to three different levels of cognitive functioning that will enable students to engage, comprehend, or to become more self-supporting in the learning process. Hattie's three levels: task, process, and self-regulation closely correspond to the three levels in the COR literacy framework. In other words, feedback should be aimed at moving learners from the task level to the process level and then to the regulation level. The task level (perceptual) is more often addressed and seeks to provide students with information about how well a task is being accomplished, for example, how well the surface information is being gained, distinguishing correct from incorrect answers, and acquiring new or different information. At the performance level (cognitive) the student receives feedback on the learning process itself, such as the efficacy of certain strategies or learning processes that the student employs to perform a learning task. This feedback tends to be more effective than task level feedback because the information can be applied to future learning tasks. This process is often referred to as deep learning because it is more endurable. The third level is self-regulation (metacognitive) feedback. However, it is seldom addressed in classrooms but is the most enduring because it is directed toward developing self-regulated learning.

Hattie and Timperley proposed that effective feedback should be directed to all three levels and that it should answer three strategic questions. The three questions are: "Where am I going?", "How am I going?", and " Where to next?". Once again this is consistent with the COR Literacy Framework in that these questions can be modelled by the teacher and directed at both the task and process levels. When the students generate questions concerning the task (or product) and process they are automatically operating at the self-regulation level. For this process to be effective there needs to be clear task(product) and clear process goals set at the beginning of the activity.  The goals need to be authentic and attainable for each student and so "Where am I going?" should address these goals. "How am I going?" is a self-monitoring question that seeks information about comprehension at processing level. It also monitors and regulates the learning strategies employed during the learning task. "Where to next?" is a reflective question that promotes self-efficacy and focuses on future challenges.

Hattie, J., & Timperley, H. (2007). The power of feedback. Review of Educational Research, 77(1), 81-112.

10 Principles for Assisting Reading. 6a Scaffolding

In the last blog we discussed a typical example - when a reader makes a miscue and the meaning is lost. Another situation is when the reader stops at a word and is unable to continue.

In this situation the first thing the reading guide should do is to assist by pausing for 3 seconds to allow the reader time to process the available information from the text. This will convey the message that you are giving the reading responsibility to the reader. If the reader does not respond then give a prompt by placing your finger on the first letter of the unknown word and then run your finger along to the end of the sentence and then pause. This process models taking note of the initial letter, the overall shape of the word, and also the context of the rest of the sentence.

If the child still does not respond then give a prompt by talking about the context or any picture that may accompany the text. Once again pause for about 3 seconds. If the child still does not respond then give the reader the word and continue. There is no need to labour the process just to be exact. There will be plenty of opportunities to practice these strategies together.

10 Principles for Assisting Reading. 6. Scaffolding appropriately

In the last blog we looked at the 'pause, prompt, and praise' (positive feedback) method of assisting during a guided reading session. The question is, what sort of prompts should we provide during the supported reading?

Before we can answer this very important question we need to understand that readers sample from three cueing systems while reading. Readers look for; graphophonic cues ( look and sound of words), the syntax (word order), and the semantic content (meaning context). Information sampled from these three systems gives the reader clues to decode words and build meaning while reading. The more the reader knows about the topic the less they need to sample. In contrast, the less the reader knows about the topic the more the reader has to sample from the surface features of the text. In other words, reading is a two way process that involves the consideration of the surface features of print and the knowledge that the reader brings to the task.

If the reader makes an error and the meaning is lost the reading guide should prompt at the end of the sentence after a three second pause with a question or two. The first question might be, "Does that sound right?" This question is quite strategic as it focuses on the syntax or word order. In other words, "Does that sound like English?" the reading guide should pause again to give the novice or young reader time to process the information and to transfer the responsibility to the reader. If the child cannot correct the miscue then give another hint by saying, "Does that make sense?" This hint directs the reader to consider other clues provided by the context. This could come from the context of the sentence or from the picture, if one is provided. Then pause again. If the reader still cannot correct the error then tell him or her the word, there is no point in labouring the process, there will be plenty more opportunities to practise on other errors when they arise.

In the next blog we will look at another type of error that can be made and how to respond.

10 Principles for Assisting Reading. 5. Pause, Prompt, Positive Feeding-back

The next stage of the guided reading session is supported reading. Supported reading implies that the reading is scaffolded, in other words, the supports are meant to be temporary and gradually faded out. The main idea is that the reading guide should gradually release responsibility to the reader as the reader gains in confidence and competence.

The most effective method to promote this self-supported reading is the pause, promp, and praise method. This provides a scaffolding that transfers responsibility to the young or novice reader and overcomes the tendency to rely too much on the reading guide for help. It also overcomes the frustration, and even anger, that can develop when using other methods that focus on accuracy rather than on meaning and enjoyment.

The pause aspect relates to the notion that the reader needs time to process the language and meaning of the text so that they can use compensatory strategies when meaning breaks down. Thus, when the reader makes an error the reading guide should pause and wait until the reader finishes the sentence (a sentence is a complete thought). At the end of the sentence the guide should give a prompt and wait for about three seconds to give the impression that it is the reader's responsibility to self-correct.

The second aspect is the prompt scaffold. This implies that the guide will assist the reader without undermining the reader's responsibility during the reading. However, it must be emphasised that some prompts are better than others. In the next blog I will show which prompts are most effective and why.

The third aspect is a variation of the praise principle.  Readers should be given praise as much as possible for their efforts, particularly since reading is an enormously complex process. Praise should be in the form of positive but accurate feedback. For readers to become strategic, they should be made aware of their reading progress. The main idea is that after some modeling by the reading guide the reader should be encouraged to use self-praise rather than merely looking for external rewards.