Descriptive Feedback: A Way to Support Student Learning
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Gimara Richards & Inmar Romero[/caption] School is a place to learn, and making mistakes is part of the learning process, because we all learn from mistakes. The way we point out these mistakes to students could either make them or break them. In 2012, we started a teacher research project to improve student achievement by providing descriptive feedback. Descriptive feedback measures students’ progress toward specific, realistic goals – better known to teachers as S.M.A.R.T goals. While teachers in Virginia use S.M.A.R.T goals to capture their own progress, we use the process directly with our students. They are the first step toward helping students make measurable improvement in their language skills. We are passionate about student achievement, so we wanted to make sure our feedback was truly helping students achieve their goals.