Is the World an Orderly Place? A Review of Teacher Comments and Student Achievement

Abstract

In 1958, Page conducted a large multiple experiment: 74 teachers gave one class its normal quiz, scored and graded it in the usual way, assigned three comment treatments to students in stratified-random blocks, and then reported scores from the next objective quiz. There was a highly significant effect of comments. Others have borrowed some study features, with results that have appeared mixed. Here, a critical overall analysis shows much agreement with the ordered hypothesis of comments and with specified comments over no comments (p < .01). Despite great variety of designs and subtlety of effect, results broadly support teachers who comment. A typical effect size is demonstrated for ranks, and lessons are taken about the proper strategies for designs and the future of such research.

Personalized feedback as a strategy for improving motivation and performance among middle school students

“…beyond the classroom is one of the most consistent conclusions in feedback research (e.g., Bangert-Drowns, Kulik, Kulik, & Morgan, 1991;Hattie & Timperley, 2007). One way that researchers have studied the role of feedback specificity is by comparing the consequences of solely providing numeric grades on assessments to giving students written comments (Hattie & Timperley, 2007;Koenka et al, in press;Page, 1992). 2 The results of these comparisons are dramatic: students who receive written comments on assessments are more confident and inherently interested in academic activities, and they also perform better (see Butler, 1987Butler, , 1988Koenka et al, in press).…”

The Role of Assessment in Mathematics Classrooms: A Review

“…Research supports the benefits of individual feedback on tests. Students who receive positive comments or encouraging words on test outcomes do better on subsequent work (Page, 1992). Moreover, the effects of short personalized comments (e.g., good, can do better) justify extra efforts involved in future work in mathematics.…”

Using Teacher Feedback to Enhance Student Learning

“…Results also indicated that teachers were able to effectively integrate the feedback routines into their teaching. • Page (1992) investigated the effects of written comments on student achievement and found that personally designed comments (i.e., specific comments that were written based on knowledge of the student and details of their work) were more beneficial than prespecified comments determined by grade assignment (i.e., A = Excellent; B = Good Work; C = Perhaps try to do still better? ; D = Let's bring this up; F = Let's raise this grade!).…”