Teaching and tutoring
Turn assessment notes into a useful next step
Useful feedback points to something in the submission, says what to change and gives the student a task to try. Start from your scoring notes and the work itself. Pick one strength and one issue, quote the line or step involved, then assign practice that targets only that issue.
A text to start with
Here are my notes on [student first name or initial]'s submission for [assignment], with the relevant excerpt: [excerpt]. The criteria I scored against are [criteria]. Draft feedback with one strength I observed, one specific issue with a quoted example, and one short practice task for the next class. Use only what is in the excerpt and notes. Keep it under [word limit].
Example request. Change the details to fit your situation.Feedback to next-step worksheet
Student (first name or initial): [ ] Assignment: [ ] Criterion being addressed: [ ] Observed strength: [ ] Where it appears in the work (quote or location): [ ] Specific issue: [ ] Example from the work: [ ] Why it matters for the criterion: [ ] Next practice task: [ ] When it is due: [ ] How I will check it: [ ] Statements I removed because the work did not support them: [ ]
Check that feedback stays on the work
Read each sentence and ask which line of the submission it points to. Remove any statement about effort, motivation, confidence or ability, since one submission cannot show those. Check that the quoted example matches the student's wording. Confirm the issue ties to a stated criterion, because a comment about a different standard will confuse the student. If the practice task asks for three skills at once, cut it to the one the issue names. Make sure the strength is real and not polite filler.
Ask another agent to check the result
Read this feedback beside the excerpt. List every claim about the student's motivation, ability or personal traits, and every statement the excerpt does not support. Check that each strength and issue points to a quoted line. Rewrite only the unsupported sentences, using the student's work as the evidence.
Test the feedback before sending it
Reread the feedback beside the submission and mark each claim with the line it refers to. Replace anything you cannot point to. Decide when the student will do the practice task and how you will look at the result. If you scored with a rubric, use its wording for the issue so the feedback and the scores agree. Keep your notes with the draft for later conferences.