Fast Feedback on Skills and Habits

Fast Feedback on Academic Skill Growth

Use Feedback Forward to gather evidence of student skill growth as part of the feedback cycle.

Give feedback on students’ progress and growth every time your students complete an activity where they practice a specific academic skill. Criteria can range from graphing in science class to developing strong thesis statements in English class. Fast Feedback makes it easy to elicit and interpret evidence of progress more consistently so that you can give students feedback regularly. 

Five questions to answer as you plan for Fast Feedback:

1. Which academic skill should be a focus during this project, unit, term or course?

As you are planning, review the content, formative and summative assessments, tasks and activities, standards, and learning goals for a period of time, whether it be for a single project or an entire term. Consider what academic skills students will be practicing as they progress, and choose at least one as a criterion for Fast Feedback during that time period.

2. What are specific indicators of growth? What does success look like over time or in different activities?

Identify specific indicators (or success criteria) that will help you recognize and explain what proficiency or progress looks like for each skill. Consider developing a rubric or framework, or co-creating one with students.

3. How will I share success criteria with students?

If you do not co-create a rubric or framework with students, make a plan to share these indicators with students. Discuss the specific success criteria with students and consider building reflection exercises into class activities.

4. When and how often will I give Fast Feedback to students on this skill?

Meaningful data insights in Feedback Forward require at least five sessions of Fast Feedback. This means that giving feedback needs to be a consistent part of your routine. Consider both your lesson plans and daily classroom routines: identify the formative assessments or activities that allow students to demonstrate this academic skill.  

5. How will I act on data insights and help students move forward?

Make a plan to help students move forward using the feedback from Feedback Forward. Use the Insights to provide the foundation for conferences or weekly check-ins. Ask students to reflect, set goals, and create plans for moving forward. You can also screenshot a student’s data insights to create a customizable progress report to share with students and parents. Use Insights to plan for intervention, targeted re-teaching, or differentiated instruction.