Unpacking Strategy 4

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OVERVIEW OF STRATEGY 4

Strategy 4: Teach Students to Self-Assess and Set Goals

Read this handout on self-assessment and engaging in assessment. Stop and reflect after each paragraph.

What was new for you? Was there anything unexpected or interesting?

Strategy 4 is about self-assessment.

Self-assessment: Students make judgments about what they know and can do.
Justification: Students show evidence to support the self-assessment.
Goal Setting: Students make a plan for continued learning.

UNPACKING STRATEGY 4

Self-Assessment Readiness

This is a brief checklist to consider if your students are ready to self-assess. If we ask students to self-assess too early, they may feel overwhelmed. It is best to have students self-assess once they have learned, practiced, and received some feedback.

Part 1:

Does the student have a clear vision of quality (what’s expected)?
Can the student describe the intended learning?
Can the student differentiate between strong and weak work?

Part 2:

Has the student had experience giving and offering feedback?
Has the student received descriptive feedback using the language of quality, with opportunity to act on it?
Has the student practiced offering peer feedback using the language of quality?

Self-Assessment Tools

Template

This tool is a template that teachers could ask students to complete after returning an assignment or assessment. Students would list the items, the learning target that was being assessed/practiced, if their answer was correct or incorrect, why the student missed the question, and how they plan to study the skill. This type of tool asks students to think about why they made errors and even allows them to see patterns in their errors. How do you think you think this tool would work for your students? What types of adjustments would you want to consider?

Click here to download the tool.

When students are learning to self-assess, they should be:

Identifying their own strengths and areas for improvement.
Writing in a response log at the end of class, recording key points they have learned and questions they still have.
Using established criteria, select a work sample for their portfolio that proves a certain level of proficiency, explaining why the piece qualifies.
Offering descriptive feedback to classmates.
Using your feedback, feedback from other students, and their own self-assessment to identify what they need to work on and set goals for future learning.