HOW TO EFFECTIVELY

IMPLEMENT SELF ASSESSMENT

By Nicole Flynn

WHY USE SELF ASSESSMENT?

Increase student responsibility and independence
Encourages students to strive for a more advanced and deep

understanding of the subject matter, skills and processes

Helps to lift the role of students from passive learner to

active learner
Involves students in the critical reflection process
Encourages students to reflect on their work and compare it

to a set criteria; from there they can then go back and selfcorrect
Encourages students to gain a better understanding of their

own judgement and critical thinking processes

ADVANTAGES OF SELF
ASSESSMENT
Encourages students to critically reflect on their own learning

processes and makes helps them become more accountable and

responsible for their own learning
Helps develop constructive, judgemental skills
Aids students to become more aware of their own weaknesses and

strengths
Group work: urges students to reflect on their own role and

contribution throughout the process

In one study, students said that they felt they had a better

understanding of the learning intentions because they were involved

in helping to create a criteria
Can let the teacher know how the students felt about the effort that

they put into their work- in studies it showed that many students were
very honest about these aspects

DISADVANTAGES OF SELF
ASSESSMENT
If not implemented correctly, students may feel ill equip

to apply assessment for assignments and projects

Is sometimes seen as unreliable because students may

over-evaluate or under-evaluate their own performance

Many teachers develop concerns that parents will react

negatively to self-assessment because they expect that it

is the teachers role to do all the evaluating
Academic rubrics are time consuming to produce, and the

wording is not always student friendly in the pre-made

ones

HOW TO IMPLEMENT SELF

ASSESSMENT

Students need to learn how to assess their own progress by

asking themselves some key questions:

1- Where am I now?

2- Where am I trying to go?

3- What do I need to get there?

4- How will I know I have accomplished what I set out to do?

HOW TO HELP STUDENTS DETERMINE:

1.WHERE THEY ARE NOW
Make sure that students understand the criteria for

quality work
Help students gradually assume more responsibility for

their own learning as they practice using different tools

Allow students to have opportunities to discuss their self

assessments in light of peer and teacher assessments

Make sure that all components provide specific anecdotal

feedback rather than scores or grades to identify the next

steps for student learning

HOW TO HELP STUDENTS DETERMINE:

2.WHERE THEY INTEND TO GO
Help students develop clear learning targets and provide

exemplars of student work; they need to understand

what theyre aiming for
Define good work using language that is meaningful for

the students; ideally, involve them in the decision making

of the language used
Model goal setting for the students
Review the goals that students set for themselves to

determine if they are meaningful and manageable

Ensure that goals are recorded for future reference

HOW TO HELP STUDENTS DETERMINE:

3.WHAT THEY NEED TO DO TO GET THERE

Help students develop realistic action

plans that are practical and directly

linked to the goals that have been set
Monitor students progress as they
implement their action plans

HOW TO HELP STUDENTS DETERMINE:

4. IF THEY
HAVE ACCOMPLISHED WHAT THEY SET OUT TO DO

Have students revisit long-term goals frequently to

make sure they still apply to their learning

outcomes and to make any necessary adjustments
Talk with each student about his/her goals
Have students write a reflection about their goals
and what they did to achieve them (they may need
guidance to target their strengths and areas for
improvement)

TOOLS AND STRATEGIES TO GUIDE

STUDENTS SELF ASSESSMENT
Checklists
Exemplars
Rubrics
Audio/video recordings
Portfolios
Journals/logs
Traffic light visual

CHECKLISTS
Suggestions for getting started:

Start by developing checklists with students before moving

on to rubrics; they are easier to construct and use

Use checklists when a process or product can be broken into

components; they can be used easily and quickly in
processes that have a large number of criteria

Focus on aligning checklist with tasks so that they are

justified and can be supported

http://mrsbmg.blogspot.ca/2012/11/the-checklist.html#comment-form (checklist
example)

EXEMPLARS
Suggestions for getting started:

Create and model exemplars of final products for a given

assignment so that students know where their learning is going

Display students and teachers exemplars in the classroom so that

students can easily reference them to make sure they are on task
and heading in the right direction

Use exemplars in correspondence with checklists and rubrics

Have students sort exemplars into different categories and levels

based on a rubric and have them explain their reasoning's

Have students compare their finished products with the exemplars in

the end

RUBRICS
Suggestions for getting started:

These are more useful when used alongside samples of work or exemplars by
students

Use pre-made rubrics as starting points- you can alter them with suggestions
from students making sure that the language used is student-friendly

Consider having students practice assessing an exemplar using the rubric for
practice

Create rubrics with students about familiar topics while taking into account
developmental stages and various cultures (ex. What makes the best
playground, a good ice-cream cone, an ideal birthday party, etc)

Encourage students to highlight or checkmark rubrics while using them as

visual guides during assignment processes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkFWbC91PXQ

AUDIO/VIDEO RECORDINGS
Suggestions for getting started:

Using a voice recorder, have students read orally into it and then
allow them time to reflect on their own fluency and use of cueing
systems

Video tape students while they are performing oral presentation

Tape small group discussions so they can listen back and reflect

Use a rubric (made up by the teacher and students together) so that

students can have some guidance with their self assessment during
viewing or listening

Create audio/visual exemplars

PORTFOLIOS
Suggestions for getting started:

Start small- only focus on one curricular area at a time

Review important dates frequently (ex. If student-led conferencing is

going to occur)

Inform parents from the very beginning about the purpose and
processes of the portfolio

Have students set goals and revisit them frequently

Have portfolios in a place where students can access them easily

Go over/ model what self assessment and goal setting looks like so
that students have a better understanding when applying these
things to their own assessment and goal setting

JOURNALS
Suggestions for getting these started:

Go over what I looks like to keep a journal for a specific curricular

area

Talk to students about the language they are to use when making
reflections on their assignment processes and experiences

TRAFFIC LIGHT VISUAL

Traffic Lights

This allows students to

communicate with the
teacher how they are
feeling about a given topic.
The teacher can then go
over the students reviews
and see where they need
to focus some extra
instruction if it is needed.
This could even be hung up
as a visual in the classroom
and used as a cross
curricular self assessment
tool.

ROADS TO SUCCESS
Yellow brick road- I have mastered this specific curricular

area
Highway- I know just about everything but there is still a

little learning to do
Paved Road- I am on my way to knowing just about

everything but I still need some guidance and help to get

there
Gravel Road- I dont fully understand a certain concept

and need some guidance and help

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wi9wxLolu0
*These types of scales are put into student friendly language
*These kinds of assessment strategies can also be seen in tools like the happy face
visual*

SELF-ASSESSMENT: A GROWTH
CONTINUUM FOR TEACHER REFLECTION

OTHER IDEAS FOR SELF

ASSESSMENT

http://
www.educ.ualberta.ca/staff/olenka.bilash
/best%20of%20bilash/strats_selfassessmen
t.html

SOURCES
http://

sydney.edu.au/education_social_work/groupwork/docs/Sel
fPeerAssessment.pdf
(2,3)
http://pareonline.net/getvn.asp?v=11&n=10 (5,6)
http://

www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/literacynumeracy/inspire/researc
h/studentselfassessment.pdf
(7-11)