While life happens, and sometimes grades and feedback need to be postponed, I believe it is very beneficial to set initial goals for yourself as an instructor and give your students a timeline for expecting feedback. Any student likes to know where they stand in the class. Giving feedback and grades on formal projects within 2 weeks also helps ensure that for a negligent student, your comments may still be read and learned from, and for the nervous student, that they don't need to spend a lot of time worrying.
In an ideal world, I don't think there is such a thing as too much feedback. But practically speaking, for an English class (where grading can take hours per student if you let it) I think synthesizing feedback into outlining the top 3 weaknesses of a paper is helpful. I also like to use the "compliment sandwich" method: start with something the essay did well, outline the top weaknesses that could be improved, then finish with one more positive observation of some kind. At the very least, I always include a "strengths" observation along with the "weaknesses."
In my experience with English classes, a numerical grade by itself isn't very meaningful at all (unless the student missed the assignment entirely, or the assignment is based on completion). Rubrics are helpful, but as Brittany pointed out, giving even just a few sentences of explanation is essential to helping a student grow.
In an ideal world, I don't think there is such a thing as too much feedback. But practically speaking, for an English class (where grading can take hours per student if you let it) I think synthesizing feedback into outlining the top 3 weaknesses of a paper is helpful. I also like to use the "compliment sandwich" method: start with something the essay did well, outline the top weaknesses that could be improved, then finish with one more positive observation of some kind. At the very least, I always include a "strengths" observation along with the "weaknesses."
In my experience with English classes, a numerical grade by itself isn't very meaningful at all (unless the student missed the assignment entirely, or the assignment is based on completion). Rubrics are helpful, but as Brittany pointed out, giving even just a few sentences of explanation is essential to helping a student grow.