Make zombie feedback come ALIVE with effective feedback for leaders, coaches

October is full of ghosts, goblins and things that go bump in the night. But in schools, one of the scariest creatures isn’t found in a haunted house; it’s in the feedback we give. Too often, teacher feedback looks less like a gift for growth and more like a zombie shuffling through the halls: slow, lifeless and compliance-driven

That’s why it’s time to make zombie feedback come ALIVE with effective feedback for leaders and coaches. Alive feedback is timely, specific, rooted in evidence and delivered in a way that empowers teachers to keep growing.

Alive feedback isn’t about catching mistakes; it’s about breathing life into practice. That’s why leaders and coaches need to make zombie feedback come ALIVE with effective feedback for leaders and coaches.

This focus is the heart of the ALIVE Feedback Framework: actionable, learning-focused, immediate, visible and empowering. These five principles transform feedback from lifeless to life-giving, providing a simple structure that leaders and coaches can use to turn their feedback conversations into growth-focused dialogues that make a difference.

Signs of zombie feedback 

Zombie feedback may look harmless at first, but it drains growth, and we often do it unwittingly. Here are five warning signs:

1. Delayed Feedback. Feedback has a shelf life. When feedback arrives too late (e.g., days or weeks after the event), teachers struggle to link it to specific moments. Edustaff asserts that “Timely feedback can boost employee competence, performance, morale, and engagement by up to 89%.”
2. Generic feedback. Vague comments don’t provide teachers with actionable insights. Insights from the Institute of Education Sciences indicate that teachers benefit most from clear, constructive and specific feedback that references specific observations and pinpoints behaviors that meet or miss those goals, thereby helping teachers understand expectations and focus their improvement efforts.
3. One-way feedback. When feedback is a monologue, teachers feel talked at, rather than coached. Senior learning technologist Mary Burns reminds us that effective feedback is a dialogue between active and skilled participants.
4. Compliance-driven feedback. When feedback becomes about procedural box-checking, it drains motivation and shifts the focus away from growth. Research shows it’s most effective when delivered as a coaching conversation, rather than a compliance task.
   
5. Overwhelming feedback. Too much feedback or critique at once can paralyze teachers rather than inspire them. Research warns that while specificity is valuable, overly detailed feedback can limit teachers’ adaptive thinking and create overload.

Like zombies, these patterns shuffle aimlessly, check a box and then vanish, leaving no energy behind. Coaches and leaders who recognize these signs can prevent them from infecting their schools’ feedback culture.

Bringing feedback ALIVE 

This ALIVE framework offers five principles that shift feedback from lifeless to life-giving:

A – Actionable: Feedback should have a clear next step, not an endless list.

• Example: “What if in your next lesson, after a higher-order question, you incorporated a peer turn-and-talk. How do you think that might shift participation?”

L – Learning-Focused: Feedback connects teacher moves to student outcomes, not just compliance. It shifts the focus from “Did you do what was required?” to “How did your choice impact student learning?” This helps teachers see the direct line between their actions and classroom results.

• Example: “I noticed that when you added wait time, three more students joined the discussion. How do you think that adjustment influenced their engagement?”

I – Immediate: Feedback is offered promptly, while the memory is fresh, anchoring it in experience, making it easier to connect the observation (“what happened”) with reflection (“why it mattered”).

• Example: “I saw students respond quickly today when you gave both a verbal and visual cue. What’s one transition move you’d want to repeat next time?”

V – Visible: Feedback is grounded in evidence that was observed, tallied or collected. I shared in “3 ways instructional coaches can use performance metrics to improve” (SmartBrief, 2024) that visible evidence builds trust and helps teachers see progress in real time.

• Example: “Out of 25 students, 21 raised their hands today compared to 15 last week. What do you think contributed to that increase?”

E – Empowering: Feedback affirms strengths, builds confidence, and invites dialogue. In my article, “Tiny Tim’s approach to teacher support: Strength-based instructional coaching” (SmartBrief, 2024), I share that strength-based coaching not only affirms teachers but also accelerates their capacity to grow and develop.

• Example: “I saw you redirect students calmly three different times, and each one was effective. Which of those strategies felt most natural to you, and how might you build on that strength?”

When feedback is ALIVE, it becomes a catalyst for growth. We can apply these principles in more formal observations, but we can also utilize them in shorter feedback interactions. Want a quick reference to start engaging in quick feedback interactions and create a feedback culture? Download the ALIVE Feedback Protocol to use in your next feedback conversation to keep coaching and leadership feedback concise, collaborative and growth-oriented.

Leadership lens 

School leaders and instructional coaches can create a culture of effective feedback. If leaders treat feedback as a compliance ritual, zombie coaching spreads. But when leaders model ALIVE feedback, they send a clear message: feedback is about growth, not gotchas.

Leaders can:

• Schedule time for same-day or next-day debriefs.
  
• Normalize feedback loops by following up on one action step at the next visit, showing growth is tracked and celebrated, not forgotten.
  
• Use micro-feedback moments in passing (e.g., hallways, emails, post-it notes) to ensure that you don’t confine affirmation to formal evaluations.
  
• Encourage peer-to-peer observation cycles and join one yourself to demonstrate that feedback is for everyone, not just teachers.
• Model vulnerability by asking their own teams for feedback on leadership moves, signaling that growth applies at every level.
  

Leaders create systems that prioritize timely, evidence-based, and empowering conversations, transforming coaching from a box-checking exercise into a force that energizes the entire school.

Zombie coaching may feel seasonal in October, but lifeless feedback can haunt schools all year long. For school leaders and instructional coaches, the challenge is clear: don’t let zombie feedback creep into your practice. Instead, make zombie feedback come ALIVE through effective feedback that energizes and equips teachers to thrive through affirmation, evidence and small next steps that keep growth moving forward.

This Halloween, choose feedback that transforms. When feedback comes ALIVE, teaching flourishes, students grow, and schools become places of energy.

Opinions expressed by SmartBrief contributors are their own.

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