Feedback on the task, not the student

The 60-second card

The finding

Feedback usually helps, but about one time in three it makes performance worse. The difference is where it points the student's attention.

Do this

Point feedback at the work and the next step ("Line up the decimal points, then redo problem 4"). Avoid feedback about the student ("You're so smart") or comparisons with classmates.

Best evidence

A meta-analysis of 607 effect sizes found feedback raised performance on average, but over a third of feedback interventions lowered it. Feedback hurt most when it drew attention to the self rather than the task (Kluger & DeNisi 1996(opens in a new tab)).

Over 1 in 3

feedback interventions lowered performance (607 effect sizes)

The 5-minute brief

Why it works

Good feedback tells a student exactly what to do differently and keeps attention on the task. Feedback aimed at the person (praise, criticism, rankings) pulls attention away from the work and toward how they look. That is the main reason the same "feedback" helps in one classroom and hurts in another.

What it looks like

Grade band	In practice
K–2	"Your b is facing the wrong way. Watch me: bat, then ball. Now you try."
3–5	Whole-class feedback: teacher reads 10 exit tickets, shows the two most common errors next morning, and the class fixes them.
6–8	"Your claim is clear. Add one piece of evidence from paragraph 3." Student revises in class.
9–12	Corrected answers shown right after a quiz, so students see the right answer while the question is fresh.

Common mistakes

Long written comments that students never act on. Build in time to use the feedback in class.
Comparing students to each other, such as ranked scores posted for the class. This is the kind of self-focused feedback the review found most likely to backfire.
Praise for intelligence instead of for a specific step done well.

What a leader looks for in 5 minutes

Is feedback about the work, and specific enough to act on?
Do students get time to use the feedback before moving on?