Research taster
Whilst putting grades, marks or scores on work can be motivating for able learners, they can be demotivating for less able learners and may not help pupils to learn . Comment-only marking appears to motivate both less and more able pupils and produce gains in learning and achievement.  But giving marks alongside comments is likely to wash out the beneficial effects of the comments. This is because marks are ‘ego-involving’, whereas comments, on their own, help learners to focus on the task. The kind of comments that are most effective at helping pupils to learn are ones that cause pupils to think and give them opportunities to improve.

Your evidence
You might like to work with a group of pupils from your class and discuss with them examples of some assessments which you have made. You could look in particular at any comments and corrections which you made on their written work and find out how the pupils feel about your responses. You could also self-consciously monitor your verbal feedback to children during a teaching session. Listen to your comments and observe the children's faces. How do they seem to respond? Are they happy, wary, confused, anxious, angry or resigned?

Moving forward
How could you go about ensuring that, when you give pupils feedback that challenges their thinking, they feel positive about it and understand how they can improve? Would you find it helpful to negotiate criteria with the children by which their work will be evaluated?

Find out more
You can find out more about practices that foster pupil learning on the TLRP Learning how to learn project website at: http://www.tlrp.org/proj/phase11/phase2f.html

You can find out more about consulting pupils about their learning on the GTC’s Research of the Month website at: http://www.gtce.org.uk/policyandresearch/research/ROMtopics/pupilvoice/

You can find out more about the potential of AfL to develop and improve pupil learning on the GTC’s Research of the Month website at: http://www.gtce.org.uk/research/romtopics/rom_teachingandlearning/raising/

You can find out more about putting AfL into practice on the GTC’s Research of the Month website at: http://www.gtce.org.uk/policyandresearch/research/ROMtopics/afl/

You can find more further reading suggestions on the theme of assessment for learning at: http://www.rtweb.info/ch14/nfr14.html