Wise Feedback Resource

Wise Feedback is:

• Feedback that treats students as fully capable individuals with the potential for success.

Wise Feedback includes:

1. High expectations
2. An assurance that the student is capable
3. Specific, actionable steps and/or resources

Educator Breana Bayraktar (2021) provides the following examples of Wise Feedback:

Step 1: Communicate high expectations.

• “I know it feels like this is a very challenging task I’m asking you to do - and it is.”
• “Learning how to write a lab report is a new skill that you haven’t been asked to do before, but it will help you to think about your skill set as a scientist for when you write your research proposal.”
• “Giving a presentation in front of the whole class can feel scary, but it’s really good practice for job interviews.”

Step 2: Explain that you believe the student can meet the expectations.

• “Your work to this point demonstrates that you already can do _____ and ___ well.” 
• “You earned a score of ____ on the last quiz, which shows me that you understand the foundational concepts for the project.”
• “Your first draft had some really excellent points, so I know that you are capable of meeting the expectations for the final essay.”

Step 3: Provide actionable feedback that demonstrates support.

• “The feedback I gave you on your draft is where you should start as you write the next version - I look forward to reading your final paper!”
• “Looking at your quiz responses, you should start with a review of ____ and ____ concepts so that you feel as comfortable with them as you do with ______, which you did really well on.”

Hammond (2014, p. 105) describes the following "Asset-Based Feedback Protocol":

1. Begin with a check-in. Have a few minutes for reconnecting. Ask about the student and what is going on in his life— how he is feeling.
2. State explicitly the purpose of your meeting and affirming your belief in the student’s capacity as a learner. Give evidence by citing progress and growth in other areas.
3. Validate the student’s ability to master the learning target while acknowledging high demands of the task. Have the student analyze the task with you. Identify the easy parts and the harder parts.
4. Deliver feedback that is specific, actionable, and timely. Restate what the final goal is and what mastery looks like and then show the student where he is in relationship to the goal.
5. Create space for the student to react to what he has heard and how he feels about it.
6. Give the student specific actions to take to improve: new strategies, instructions on what to tweak during the execution of the task. Give feedback and action steps in writing if possible. Provide some way to track progress.
7. Ask the student to paraphrase what he heard you say— what is wrong, what needs to be fixed, and how to go about fixing it.
8. Offer emotional encouragement and restate your belief in him. It is important not to skip this part, even if the student seems uncomfortable. He is taking it in even if he is playing it cool.
9. Set up a time to follow up and check progress.

• Bayraktar, B. (2021, February 2). Tip: Give "wise" feedback. Tips for Teaching Professors. https://higheredpraxis.substack.com/p/tip-give-wise-feedback
• Cohen, G. L., Steele, C. M., & Ross, L. D. (1999). The mentor’s dilemma: Providing critical feedback across the racial divide. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 25, 1302– 1318.
• Hammond, Z. L. (2014). Culturally responsive teaching and the brain: Promoting authentic engagement and rigor among culturally and linguistically diverse students (pp. 104-106). Corwin Press. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/relay/detail.action?docID=6261739
• Yeager, D. S., Purdie-Vaughns, V., Garcia, J., Apfel, N., Brzustoski, P., Master, A., Hessert, W. T., Williams, M. E., & Cohen, G. L. (2014). Breaking the cycle of mistrust: Wise interventions to provide critical feedback across the racial divide. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 143(2), 804–824. https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/xge-a0033906.pdf