A long collated list of quotes from a range of educational researchers, Hattie and Timperley, key edu gurus, key ideas, key definitions and ideas. Teaching Learning, Professional Learning. Useful for PD / PL. “The dialogue between pupils and teacher should be thoughtful, reflective, focused to evoke and explore understanding, and conducted so that all pupils have an opportunity to think and to express their ideas.” (p 12) 'pupils should be trained in self- assessment so that they can understand the main purposes of their learning and thereby grasp what they need to do to achieve.' (Black & Wiliam, 2010)

1. Quotes on Feedback from Educational Gurus
“For assessment to function formatively, the results have to be used to
adjust teaching and learning.” (Black and Wiliam 1998: pp. 5-16)
“Feedback to any pupil should be about the particular qualities of his or her
work, with advice on what he or she can do to improve, and should avoid
comparisons with other pupils.” (p 9)
“Opportunities for pupils to express their understanding should be designed
into any piece of teaching, for this will initiate the interaction whereby
formative assessment aids learning.” (p 11)
“The dialogue between pupils and teacher should be thoughtful, reflective,
focused to evoke and explore understanding, and conducted so that all pupils
have an opportunity to think and to express their ideas.” (p 12)
'pupils should be trained in self- assessment so that they can understand the main purposes
of their learning and thereby grasp what they need to do to achieve.' (Black & Wiliam,
2010)
(Black & Wiliam, 2010)
“A combination of goal setting plus feedback is most effective feedback and challenging goals
are mutually supportive. The greater the challenge, the higher the probability of the student
seeking,receiving and assimilating feedback information.” (Hattie, p 11)
“The feedback needs to be of two kinds: in addition to better feedback after the performance,
feedback must also be provided during (concurrent with) the assessment activities.” (Wiggins
1998)
“We may need to teach lessin order for the students to learn more. Teach less more carefully,
and discuss it with our students. We need to clarify the purpose and expected outcomes of the
tasks we design for students, and give them specific, clear and constructive feedback, and the
chance to use that feedback to improve their own work.” (Sutton 2000)
Feedback is one of the most powerful influences on learning and achievement, but this impact
can be either positive or negative.
Hattie & Timperley (2007)
Feedback can be the information that drives the [formative] process, or it can be a stumbling
block that derails the process.
Brookhart (2008)

2. To craft teacher feedback that leads to learning, put yourself in the student’s shoes.
Brookhart (2007)
Learning is more likely to be fostered when feedback focuses on features of the task (success
criteria) and emphasizes learning goals.
Kluger & DeNisi (1996)
It’s the quality of the feedback rather than its existence or absence that determines its power.
Stiggins et al (2004)
When students know that there are no additional opportunities to succeed, they frequently take
teacher feedback on their performance and stuff it into desks, back packs, and wastebaskets.
Reeves (2004)
In giving students descriptive feedback, you have modeled the kind of thinking you want them to
do as self-assessors.
Chappuis (2005)
The most important instructional decisions are made, not by the adults working in the system, but
by the students themselves.
Stiggins et al (2006)
[Sadler] argued that it was insufficient simply to point out right and wrong answers to students.
For assessment to be ‘formative,’ a student must: - come to hold a concept of quality roughly
similar to that of the teacher - be able to compare the current level of performance with the
standard - be able to take action to close the gap.
Shepard (2005)
In the end, it all comes down to the relationship between the teacher and the
student. To give effective feedback, the teacher needs to know the student—to
understand what feedback the student needs right now. And to receive feedback in
a meaningful way, the student needs to trust the teacher—to believe that the
teacher knows what he or she is talking about and has the student's best interests
at heart. Without this trust, the student is unlikely to invest the time and effort
needed to absorb and use the feedback. (Wiliam, 2016)
The only thing that matters is what the student does with the feedback. If the
feedback you're giving your students is producing more of what you want, it's
probably good feedback. But if your feedback is getting you less of what you want,
it probably needs to change. (Wiliam, 2016)
“Most of the feedback that students receive about their work is from other
students – and much of that feedback is wrong” (Hattie, 2009)

3. It is commonly reportedthat students do not read teacher feedbackcomments(Duncan, 2007).
The literature suggeststhat a part of the problem isthat teachers(and students) see feedbackin
isolationfrom other aspectsof the teachingand learningprocessand considerfeedbackto be
primarily a teacher ownedendeavour
(Taras, 2003).
Kluger and DeNisi (1996) found that one-third of the studies showed negative effects – feedback
about performance actually harmed learning outcomes ... positive outcomes were more likely
when feedback focused on features of the task – such as how the student could improve in
relation to the standards – and emphasized learning goals instead of lavishing non-specific praise
or making normative comparisons.
Shepard (2005)
A major role for teachers in the learning process is to provide the kind of feedback to students
that encourages their learning and provides signposts and directions along the way, bringing them
closer to independence.
Earl (2003)
Praise addressed to students is unlikelyto be effective,because it carries little information that
provides answers to any of the three questions: Where am I going? How am I going? and Where
to next?, and too often deflects attention from the task.
Hattie & Timperley (2007)
Good feedback systems produce a stream of data to students about how they’re doing – a flow of
pieces of information that is hourly and daily as opposed to weekly and monthly (which is the
rate of feedback produced by systems that rely on tests).
Saphier et al (2008)
For feedback to have maximum effect, students have to be expected to use it to improve their
work and, in many cases, taught how to do so. This is where student self-assessment and goal
setting become part of the package.
Saphier et al (2008)
Our goal in assessment reform is thus not merely to design more engaging and authentic tasks but
to build in the kind of frequent feedback and opportunities to use that feedback that are found in
all effective performance systems.
Wiggins (1998)
It was only when I discovered that feedback was most powerful when it is from the student to the
teacher that I started to understand it better. When teachers seek, or at least are open to feedback
from students as to what students know, what they understand, where they make errors, when
they have misconceptions, when they are not engaged – then teaching and learning can be
synchronized and powerful. Feedback to teachers helps make learning visible.
Hattie (2009)
“First feedback is most effective if it focuses students‟ attention on their
progress in mastering educational tasks ...”
“If you can both listen to children and accept their answers not as things to
just be judged right or wrong but as pieces of information which may reveal

4. what the child is thinking, you will have taken a giant step toward becoming
a master teacher, rather than merely a disseminator of information.”
(Easley and Zwoyer 1975: p 25)
Side Benefits / Ideas
This strategyhas the additionalbenefits ofencouragingstudents’ meta-cognition andmaking them more active
participants in the feedback-learningcycle. The workload for teachers canbe offset bythe reduction oftime neededto
give feedback onthe finalproduct and byincorporating peer feedbackintosome ofthe stages (Nicol, 2008).
Some commentators suggest withholding the grade altogether until students have read the comments andindicatedthis in
some way(Taras, 2003).
It is possible that students donot payattention to comments because theydo not make sense to them (Duncan, 2007) or
that theydo not understandthe purpose of the feedback process. Thisis accentuated when feedback is deliveredsolelyby
the teacher andis often associated withstudents as the marking ofwhat is right and wrong. Manyteachers mayalsotend
to focus onthe correctional rather thanthe instructional aspects of feedback(Hattie & Timperley, 2007).
Give feedback as soonas possible after the completion ofthe learning task. Show students how feed-forwardcomments
can be incorporatedinto subsequent performance. Sometimes, temporarilywithholdingfeedbackis neededto allowthe
students to internalise and process the demands of the task (Hattie & Timperley, 2007).
Connect feedback comments after assignments with the learninggoals. Minimise feedbackthat focuseson “praise,
rewards and punishment” (Hattie & Timperley, 2007, p.84). Address achievable goalsandmake sure that feedback does
not carry“high threats to self-esteem” (Hattie & Timperley, 2007, p.86).
“mainpurpose of feedbackis to reduce the gap betweencurrent understandings andperformance and a goal” (p.86). In
this model, feedback must therefore be addressedto three questions: Where amI going?(What are the goals?) HowamI
going?(What progress is being made towards the goal?) Where to next? (What activities needto be undertakento make
better progress?)
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT QUOTES
“Formative Assessment is a deliberate process used by teachers and students
during instruction that provides actionable feedback used to adjust ongoing teaching
and learning strategies to improve students’ attainment of curricular learning
targets/goals.” (The Formative Assessment Process Smarter Balanced
Assessment Consortium, 2014)
Assessment is derived from assidere to sit with or beside. It is
something we do with and for a student, not something we do to
them.
(Wiggins, cited in Green, 1998)
Supporting Formative Assessment for Deeper Learning: A Primer for
Policymakers. Linquanti, 2012.
“Formative assessment is a process teachers and students use during instruction
that provides feedback to adjust ongoing teaching moves and learning tactics. It is
not a specific test, nor an event, nor a bank of test items. Well supported
by research evidence, when effectively implemented formative assessment as a
process assists students in achieving intended instructional outcomes.
Ample research evidence demonstrates that these assessment for learning practices
lead to improved student learning and achievement. There is also a growing

5. consensus that formative assessment plays a key role in developing deeper learning
of cognitive, interpersonal, and intrapersonal knowledge and ready standards. Skills
needed for life and work in the 21stcentury, as currently manifested in new college
and career ready standards.”
“FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT is often misconstrued. Routinely, it is conceptualized
as a “test” or an “instrument” that is more fine grained and administered more
frequently than other types of assessment. This formulation misses its documented
power for improving student learning...Formative assessment is only effective when
teachers are clear about the intended learning goals for a lesson. This means
focusing on what students will learn, as opposed to what they will do, which is often
where teachers are tempted to start” (Formative assessment: An enabler of
learning. Heritage, 2011.)
“Effective classroom assessments clarify each student’s journey up the scaffolding
leading to each standard. It is never the case that, first, a student cannot meet a
standard and then, all at once, he or she can. Over time, the student masters
progressive levels of prerequisite learning that accumulate to mastery of the
standard. Ongoing classroom assessment must track that progress in order to know,
at any point in time, what comes next in the learning. Such continuous, ongoing
assessment is essential to a balanced classroom assessment system...In the final
analysis, the ultimate test of effective assessment is simple — does it provide
teachers and students with the information they need to ensure that all students
learn at higher levels.” (Maximizing the Power of Formative Assessments.
Stiggins & DuFour, 2009.)
“Assessment has two fundamental purposes: One is to provide information about
student learning minute-by-minute, day-by-day,and week-to-week so that teachers
continuously adapt instruction to meet students’ specific needs and secure progress.
This type of assessment is intended to assist learning and is often referred to as
formative assessment or assessment for learning. Formative assessment occurs in
real time during instruction while student learning is underway. (Allal 2010; Black
and Wiliam 1998; Bell and Cowie 2000; Heritage 2010; Shepard 2000, 2005b).”
“Practice in a classroom is formative to the extent that evidence about student achievement
is elicited, interpreted, and used by teachers, learners, or their peers, to make decisions
about the next steps in instruction that are likely to be better, or better founded, than the
decisions they would have taken in the absence of the evidence that was elicited.”
(Developing the theory of formative assessment. Black & Wiliam, 2009.)
“Students who are actively building their understanding of new concepts (rather
than merely absorbing information), who have developed a variety of strategies that
enable them to place new ideas into a larger context, and who are learning to judge
the quality of their own and their peer’s work against well-defined learning goals and
criteria, are also developing skills that are invaluable for learning throughout their
lives.…Ultimately, the goal of formative assessment is to guide students toward the
development of their own “learning to learn” skills (also sometimes referred to as
“metacognitive” strategies). Students are thus equipped with their own language and

6. tools for learning and are more likely to transfer and apply these skills for problem
solving into daily life; they strengthen their ability to find answers or develop
strategies for addressing problems with which they are not familiar. In other words,
they develop strong “control” strategies for their own learning.” (Assessment for
Learning: Formative Assessment. CERI & OECD, 2008.)
“We have the opportunity to teach not only knowledge and skills, but also the Self-
management and learning to learn skills needed in school and life (as well as the
learning Mindsets). We may think that students implicitly learn these skills as they do
their work, but without explicit instruction and reflection, this understanding is not as
solidly consolidated in the mind and understood (Schwartz, 1998). Research shows
that we need experiences to deeply understand knowledge, but we also need explicit
discussion and reflection to truly make sense of our experiences and apply our new
understanding in different contexts.” (Mindsets and Student Agency. Briceno,
2013.)
“Formative assessment is that process of appraising, judging or evaluating students‟ work or
performance and using this to shape and improve their competence.” (Tunstall and Gipps 1996)
References
Black and Wiliam, (1998). Inside the Black Box, Raising Standards Through Classroom
Assessment. London: School of Education, King‟s College.
Duncan, N. (2007). ‘Feed-forward’:improvingstudents’ use of tutor comments, Assessment &
Evaluation in Higher Education. 32 (3), 271-283.
Harlen, W (1998). Classroom Assessment: A Dimension of Purposes and Procedures. Paper
presented at the Annual Conference of the NZARE, Dunedin, December.
Hattie, J (1999). Influences on Student Learning. Inaugural Lecture. Professor of Education,
University of Auckland, August 2002.
Hattie, J. and Timperley. H. (2007). The Power of feedback. Review of Educational Research, 77,
81-112.
Sadler, R (1989). “Formative Assessment in the Design of Instructional Systems,” Instructional
Science, 18, pp. 119-144.
Spiller, D. (2009). Assessment: Feedback to promote student learning. Manuscript submitted for
publication, The University of Waikato, The University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand.
Taras, M. (2003). To feedback or not to feedback instudent self-assessment. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher
Education, 28 (5), 549-565.
Wiggins, G (1998). Educative Assessment: Designing Assessments to Inform and Improve Student
Performance. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.