Few people would argue against marking being one of the most important weapons in a teacher’s armoury when it comes to improving attainment. How else are pupils going to know when they’ve done well? What they need to do better? And how to improve?
Obviously, exactly how you are going to mark is going to be shaped to a large extent by your whole-school policy and the subject you teach. But even within these constraints, there are a variety of approaches you can take to try and mitigate the marking millstone. Here are three:
1, Whole-class feedback
This is something that has been with us for a while now and I doubt there is a school in the country that hasn’t dipped their toes into whole-class marking, not least in a bid to support staff wellbeing and reduce workload. It goes something like this…
You take in a set of books and read through a specific piece of work, making notes as you go. Some departments and schools produce their own branded feedback sheets and, such is the popularity of this approach, you can download examples or even buy formatted pads that can be photocopied once filled in. Other teachers find that a blank piece of paper works just as well.
Regardless, you typically make a note of the pupils that have performed particularly well, those who have misunderstood or not attempted the task and will have to be spoken to individually, common SPAG errors, and frequently occurring misconceptions. You can then create targets based on your observations.
At the start of the next lesson, you talk the class through the feedback and give pupils the opportunity to meet their targets in DIRT (directed improvement and reflection time) or set it as a homework task.
Understanding can then be checked either through register feedback (I’m a big fan of a random name selector myself) or sample marking five or six books.
There are some incredible schools out there with “no written feedback” policies which have completely embraced whole class feedback to great effect. Without doubt it dramatically reduces marking time and therefore markedly improves teacher wellbeing.
Yet, it still allows you to identify what pupils have got a firm handle on and what gaps there are in their knowledge. The time gained can be put to much better use planning to plug those gaps identified in knowledge or understanding. For further reading, see Adam Riches’ recent SecEd article on whole-class feedback (Riches, 2021).
What went well
- Dramatically shortens the amount of time it takes to mark a class set of books, typically reducing the time from three hours to 30 minutes.
- Informs planning for the next lesson as you are able to identify gaps in understanding or misconceptions.
- Pupils love to see their name on the whole class feedback sheet, and this often acts an incentive.
- Research indicates that the lack written feedback has no impact on pupil performance(Churches et al, 2022).
- You no longer find yourself writing the same comment over and over again.
Even better if…
- It allowed for a personal line of communication with individual pupils.
- It enabled you to give lengthier, more detailed, pupil-specific feedback.
2, Enlist the help of the pupils.
Many people advocate incorporating pupils into the marking process. This can have two major benefits: reduction of teacher workload and turning marking into an active rather than passive activity for the learners.
In my experience, going down the self or peer-assessment route is an all-or-nothing decision – there can be no dipping in and out.
For it to succeed, pupils need to have a firm grasp of the success criteria. This means sharing them with the pupils every lesson. It also means using your class boards to display examples of excellent work that are labelled to indicate how they have met the success criteria.
You will have to undertake some “quality control” sample marking, and this approach requires huge commitment. It is not easy to pull off, especially with the more challenging classes, but if you can get it to work there are huge benefits for teacher and pupils alike.
Another way of getting pupils to carry some of the burden is through the use of codes. To a greater or lesser degree most of us do this anyway – what is a tick if not a universally understood code for “this has been done well”? However, some uses of codes in marking are considerably more extensive.
It could range from the use of “Sp” to highlight a spelling mistake or “P” to bring attention to a punctuation mistake. Or it could involve the use of numbers to identify any number of subject-specific elements that are worthy of praise or correction.
Either way, keys to the code need to be in every child’s book and displayed around the classroom. This approach is undoubtedly more effective if it is adopted across a whole department or even the school. With exposure to the codes in every lesson, the pupils will soon know by heart what they mean.
What went well
- Marking becomes something the pupils do – rather than have done to them.
- Shortens the amount of time it takes to mark compared to traditional methods.
- Requires pupils to reflect on their performance to a far greater degree than other forms of marking.
- Codes remove the need to write the same comment over and over again.
Even better if…
- It was easier to implement with more disruptive or less able classes.
- It didn’t require such a high level of commitment.
- It retained more of a personal and personable teacher-to-pupil element.
3, Talking to technology
The pandemic has forced us to teach and mark in ways that we may have never previously considered. This has led to permanent changes in the ways many of us mark. In addition, voice recognition technology is having an impact on how some teachers approach marking.
For example, Mark Mate enables teachers to dictate their feedback to a computer or smartphone which converts it into text that can then be printed out on a sticky label and stuck into a book or emailed to pupils.
Teacher Fast Feedback is another company that offers a similar printed label service but without the subscription.
Elsewhere, Mote is a Chrome add-on that allows you to send pupils voice notes either via email or Google Classroom, enabling extended pupil-specific feedback without the need for a printer or labels.
Some teachers use voice notes to discuss what they are reading as they tick and flick their way through the book. They then use an ink stamp saying something like: “Your book has been marked. Check your email/Google Classroom to listen to your feedback and meet your targets below.”
What went well…
- Undoubtedly quicker than traditional marking with handwritten comments.
- Allows for far more detailed and pupil-specific feedback than either traditional handwritten comments or whole class feedback.
- Establishes a personal line of communication between teacher and pupil. The conversational nature of a voice note allows your personality, appreciation for their efforts and, occasionally, delight at the quality of their work to come across. A proud student can also play a voice note to their parents/carers.
Even better if…
- It was as quick as whole class feedback (although voice notes can be left for an entire class and whole class feedback can be delivered through sticky label systems)
- It was free. There is, like is often the case with edtech solutions, a subscription cost (Mark Mate) or upfront costs (Teacher Fast Feedback) as well as paying for labels. There is a basic free version of Mote, but a subscription is required to access its features.
Summary
As with so many things in teaching, approaches to marking will come down to personal preferences and professional discretion. Whichever route you choose, there is absolutely no reason why teachers today should find themselves demotivated, demoralised, and feeling permanently behind schedule on a relentless marking treadmill.
- James Ball is an experienced history teacher and head of department who has also authored a number of key stage 3 and 4 textbooks. He now works as a freelance education writer, content creator and copywriter. Visit www.ballpointcopy.co.uk
Further information & resources
- Churches, Hall & Sims: Reducing workload improves teacher wellbeing and has no negative effects on student attainment: A meta-analysis of teacher-led quantitative studies, Impact, May 2022: https://bit.ly/3fByZUr
- Riches: Whole-class feedback, SecEd, April 2021: https://bit.ly/2RDjw9Y
- SecEd Podcast: Effective marking and feedback, June 2021: https://bit.ly/2TkgMQ8