Date of Degree

6-2014

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Program

Educational Psychology

Advisor

Helen L. Johnson

Subject Categories

Educational Psychology | Elementary and Middle and Secondary Education Administration | Elementary Education and Teaching | Teacher Education and Professional Development

Keywords

feedback, feedback level, feedback type, formative assessment, teacher education, written feedback

Abstract

The current study explored three main aspects relating to the use of written feedback as a formative assessment tool: the types (form or content) of written feedback provided by elementary school teachers and the levels (task, process-Self-Regulation) at which those types of feedback are provided; whether elementary school teacher beliefs about written feedback principles and their own written feedback practice correspond to the actual written feedback they provide; and whether exposure to a model of written feedback influences teacher written feedback practice.

Data were collected from 188 elementary school teachers spirally assigned to five groups (four treatment, one control). Treatment groups were exposed to different written feedback models and subsequently all teachers were asked to provide written feedback on a fifth grade student's social studies writing sample. All teachers responded to a demographic survey as well as a questionnaire containing a series of questions related to their beliefs about written feedback and their written feedback practice.

Findings showed that elementary school teachers provided form type comments almost ten times more frequently than content type comments. Teachers' beliefs regarding feedback practices did not match the actual feedback provided on the Written Task. Specifically, teachers believed that they provide content written feedback more frequently than was reflected in their actual feedback. There was no statistically significant relationship between teacher beliefs about process-SR related feedback principles and the actual number of process-SR level comments teachers gave on the Written Task. Exposure to written feedback models influenced the levels of written feedback participants delivered. Group 1 (form and task) provided significantly more task level feedback than Group 2 (form and process-SR) or the control group. Further, trend level differences were found between Group 2 and Group 1, with Group 2 providing more process-SR comments than Group 1. No differences were found by written feedback type or between Group 3 (content and task) and Group 4 (content and process-SR).

Study findings suggest that teachers would benefit from support geared towards enhancing their written feedback practice to provide more content comments at the process-SR level. Practical and classroom applications are discussed.

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