The document provides guidance for writing helpful recommendations as part of a quality review process. Reviewers are instructed to follow a standard approach: reviewing each quality standard and its annotation, examining course evidence, and ensuring recommendations have five key characteristics. The characteristics - constructive, specific, measurable, sensitive and balanced - are then defined in more detail. An example recommendation is also provided to illustrate how to apply the characteristics.

1. Writing Helpful
Recommendations
Jan Richards

2. QM Helpful
Recommendation Equation
Standard
• Reviewers read each Specific Review Standard in the QM Rubric
Annotation
• Reviewers read the Annotation
for each Standard
Course
Evidence
• Reviewers look at the course to find evidence that it meets the
Standard at 85% or better, citing specific examples from the course
Characteristics
• Reviewers ensure that characteristics are present in each recommendation:
constructive, specific, measurable, sensitive and balanced

3. Incorporating the Characteristics into a
Helpful Recommendation
Constructive
Try to offer solutions, not just identify problems:
Clearly identify in what way(s) the course does not yet meet
the Standard, or if the course does meet the Standard, in
what way(s) it could be continuously improved. Then offer
possible solutions to help the instructor meet the Standard or
continuously improve the course.

4. Incorporating the Characteristics into a
Helpful Recommendation
Specific
Include a specific example of what is being recommended:
Include explicit information to help the instructor locate
where the course does not yet meet the Standard or where
the course could be continuously improved, and give an
explicit example of what to do to improve.

5. Incorporating the Characteristics into a
Helpful Recommendation
Measurable
Begin with an action verb that describes a suggestion that
can be observed or evaluated:
Describe how the instructor can improve the course in
observable terms. Since the change will be observable, the
instructor and the team chair will be able to assess whether
or not the changes have been made. The recommendation
should begin with an action verb that describes a behavior
that can be observed and accessed.

6. Incorporating the Characteristics into a
Helpful Recommendation
Constructive
Try to offer solutions, not just identify problems:
Clearly identify in what way(s) the course does not yet meet
the Standard, or if the course does meet the Standard, in
what way(s) it could be continuously improved. Then offer
possible solutions to help the instructor meet the Standard or
continuously improve the course.

7. Example: The Start Here button on the course homepage was a great
idea for "linking students to start-up information" as specified in the
Annotation for Standard 1.1, "Instructions make clear how to get started
and where to find various course components."
When I read the information it contained, I still couldn't tell exactly how
to begin the course. It might be very helpful to [include a prominent link
and directions at the end of the Start Here section about what students
should do next to actually begin the first lesson of the course]. Having a
"clear statement about how to get started in the course" would meet this
Standard and ensure that students know what to do next after reading
Start Here in order to begin the course itself.