Helping Teachers and Administrators Clarify Instructional Feedback

As a learning specialist, I find that one of the most common pieces of feedback I give to teachers is about using visual supports. Of course, it’s not enough for me to simply say, “Add visual supports.” That isn’t actionable or helpful. A confused teacher might respond by inserting anchor charts, or making a set of visual prompts, or putting pictures next to every problem on a worksheet.

All three responses led to a visual, but none hit the actual target. Worse yet, the teacher likely spent valuable time trying to decipher what I meant in the first place. Afterward, the teacher is going to wonder if my next suggestion will be worthy of consideration.

Contrast that back-and-forth with more specific feedback for visual supports. This time, I tell the teacher to take pictures of their class sitting properly on the carpet, at tables, and in the reading center. Then, I say, the teacher should post the pictures as visual examples that students can review before transitioning to different spaces. My feedback is actionable; the teacher knows exactly what to do and how to do it. 

A mismatch between what a school leader or specialist means, and what a teacher understands, is called a feedback gap. This feedback gap typically causes friction, because teachers end up relying on guesswork that might not align with a school leader’s or specialist’s original intent.

Feedback is much more effective when each party is aiming at the same target. A shared understanding of next steps, and clear criteria for success, reduce frustration and save time for teachers and leaders alike. Below are strategies that are to the benefit of both sides of the feedback loop.

Three Clarifying Questions for Teachers

There are three successive questions that help teachers better understand the feedback they receive and what leaders’ expectations are for them. Ideally, these questions are asked in the moment, but when that’s not possible, they also work as email follow-ups.

1. “Can you help me understand specifically what you’d like to see done differently?” Ask about a school leader’s specific expectation. This shifts the feedback from a broad concept to something observable. Instead of trying to interpret what the leader wants, you can aim for a concrete target.
2. “What would this look like in practice?” This is the action step. You have the target from your expectations question, but you need more information. Asking this question leads to examples and/or modeling of the expectation. It helps to reduce misinterpretation, because now you have an idea of what the leader is hoping to see.
3. “What would success look like next time?” You need to know about the level of expectation. Sometimes, implementation involves mini-steps along the way. Asking what success looks like for the next walk-through clarifies just how far you’re supposed to go at this stage (and in the future, too). You’re able to prioritize your efforts during the next expected step.

After posing these three questions, don’t leave anything up to chance. You can eliminate guesswork with a brief recap email of your understanding of next steps. This provides an opportunity to clear up any misconceptions before you put energy into the work, while also ensuring that both of you are on the same page about expectations, actions, and success steps.

Three Action Steps for Administrators

Clarifying questions from teachers are great. Even better? Proactive feedback from school leaders. I once worked with a veteran teacher to help implement differentiated instruction. She told me, “I have heard over and over again that I need to differentiate my lessons, but nobody has ever told me how.” She had repeatedly tried to do so but always got bogged down in the “how.”

Eventually, a combination of misplaced effort and a lack of results caused her to give up on differentiation. That is, until she received actionable feedback for the first time, after which she was quick to respond and even became one of the champions of differentiation at her school. At first scan, this teacher may have looked resistant to her leaders, but that’s not what was really happening. Her willingness and interest were always there—she just needed a school leader to do the following.

1. Use specific, observable examples instead of broad labels. Avoid generic statements such as, “Increase critical thinking in your lessons.” Give teachers a more specific target: “Add two more ‘why’ questions to your discussion.”
2. Prioritize one or two actionable steps, rather than multiple disconnected suggestions. Some implementation goals contain a number of components. Leaders need to narrow the focus for teachers in order to make the feedback as clear as possible. Instead of saying, “Use additional best practices to make sure students are thinking critically,” pass along the actual next action they can take. Something like, “Read this article about asking better questions, and add one of the ideas into next week’s lessons.”
3. Clarify when feedback is an immediate priority versus when it’s intended for long-term growth. It can be overwhelming when a teacher is presented with an end goal and is led to believe they need to reach that goal ASAP. Feedback from leaders is more manageable when it is broken into realistic pieces. Try this: “Focus on reframing your questions right now. Later, we’ll look at how to incorporate them into your unit plan.”