Effects of Student-Directed Formative Feedback and Performance Feedback on Student Mathematical Achievement and Teacher Performance

The action research study investigated the impact of student-directed formative feedback in combination with teacher-directed performance feedback on mathematical achievement, as measured by formative assessment scores, of second grade students. The participants in this five-week study were three second grade students from an urban school district. The intervention consisted of administering three Classroom Assessments Based on Standards (CABS) taken over the course of five weeks. Following each CABS, the teacher analyzed student results with the Math Teacher Leader, who provided guidance in designing re-teaching opportunities. Following the conference between the teacher and Math Teacher Leader, the study’s participants had a student-teacher conference, during which they analyzed errors and identified areas for improvement. After the teacher re-taught content and gave students additional opportunities to practice, students took the CABS again. At the end of the study, participants’ scores from the NWEA MAP® from both the winter and spring were compared. Findings suggest that teacher-directed performance feedback and student-directed formative feedback were effective in increasing student achievement on classroom-based CABS and had less impact on student performance on the NWEA MAP®