Teacher preparation programs are under scrutiny for their role in the troubled American educational system. Thus, teacher educators must encourage teachers to use effective teaching practices. One technique for increasing use of effective practices is providing feedback to teachers on both newly acquired and ingrained teaching behaviors. To determine attributes of effective performance feedback, a systematic search for empirical literature was completed. Analysis of the ten identified studies indicates attributes of feedback that have been studied fall into categories of (a) nature of feedback, (b) temporal dimensions of feedback, and (c) who gives feedback. Through this review, attributes of feedback were classified as either promising or effective practice in changing specific teaching behaviors. Only immediate feedback was identified as an effective attribute. Promising practices for feedback to teachers included feedback that was specific, positive, and/or corrective. These findings, recommendations and directions for additional research in feedback and teacher preparation are discussed.
In teacher preparation most supervisory feedback is deferred, allowing learners to perform skills incorrectly and delivery of on-site immediate feedback may interrupt instructional flow. This study used a multiple baseline design to examine effects of immediate, corrective feedback delivered via wireless technology on completion of three-term contingency trials. Participants were five preservice special education teachers working on academic skills with students with special needs in elementary and middle school classrooms. Corrective, immediate feedback was shown to be an effective way to increase completion of three-term contingency trials by teachers. During baseline, percentage of completion ranged from 30-92. With corrective, immediate feedback, all five teachers reached criterion level of 90% completion. Overall, mean percentage of correct student responses increased 3 to 17 percentage points over baseline results for four of the five teachers. All teachers rated the method as beneficial. Implications for practice are discussed.
To examine current practices in the use of psychoeducational evaluations for service delivery, we surveyed 91 service providers to college students with learning disabilities. The three purposes of the survey were to determine (a) whether service delivery decisions are based on information from psychoeducational evaluations, (b) which sections of the psychoeducational report are most useful in making service delivery decisions, and (c) the respondents' satisfaction with the tests and measurements for service delivery. The findings supported the common belief that data from psychoeducational evaluations serve as the primary basis for both eligibility and specific accommodation determinations. Respondents reported that all sections of the psychoeducational evaluation written report were useful, with the least useful section being test scores and the most useful being the summary of cognitive strengths and weaknesses. However, the section used most often for service delivery decisions was the professional's recommendations.
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