A literature review of Black and Latiné youth’s experience of inequitable feedback: How can middle school educators provide motivationally-supportive feedback?

Abstract Policies and practices in middle school continue to perpetuate inequities faced by students from historically marginalized groups. In the current article, we present a literature review that focuses on feedback as one avenue by which inequities are exacerbated, specifically for Black and Latiné middle school students. Furthermore, we describe Black and Latiné students’ inequitable feedback experiences and the concerning motivational consequences. Specifically, Black and Latiné students experience (a) less encouragement compared to their white counterparts, (b) a positive feedback bias, and (c) more negative feedback. Lastly, we go beyond describing the motivationally-unsupportive feedback and provide recommendations for educators to provide motivationally-supportive, equitable feedback to all students – especially Black and Latiné students. In particular, we discuss specific strategies for (1) reducing one’s biases (i.e. developing a critical racial and cultural consciousness; checking viewpoints) and (2) providing motivationally-supportive feedback (e.g. be specific; provide steps for improvement).