6 - Rubrics for the Dimensions of Formative Assessment

VIII. Self-Assessment
Self-assessment is important because it provides students with an opportunity to think metacognitively
about their learning. Research suggests that improved understanding of one’s own learning is a critical
strategy that can lead to improvements in learning.

N Not Observed B Beginning D Developing P Progressing E Extending

Students are not provided The teacher asks The teacher asks The teacher asks The teacher asks
with any opportunities students to assess students to assess their students to assess their students to assess their
to engage in self- their own learning on own learning or to think own learning or to think own learning or to think
assessment of their work a trivial task, such as metacognitively in order metacognitively in order metacognitively in order
or understanding. checking their own to improve the quality of to improve the quality of to improve the quality of
work on a spelling test, their work. their work. their work.
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math facts worksheet,
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Students are asked to or state capitals quiz.
mark their own work for a The task provides Most students do not take Most students take Most students take
summative grade. limited opportunities to the self-feedback task the self-feedback task the self-feedback task
comment on the quality seriously, or they do not seriously and engage with seriously and engage with
of the work or to think perceive value in the task. it meaningfully. it meaningfully.
metacognitvely. Rather,
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the assessment is focused
on completeness or The self-assessment task The self-assessment task The self-assessment task
accuracy. lacks structure and does is structured in a way that is structured in a way
not support students supports some students that supports most or all
(e.g., students do not in completing an honest students in completing an
understand the task, self-assessment, but honest self-assessment.
the task has not been the support may not
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modeled for students, be adequate for most
and students have not students. The output of the self-
been provided with assessment process
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examples). Most students provides students with
struggle to complete an The output of the self- evidence by helping them
honest self-assessment. assessment process identify ways to improve
provides students with their work or to set
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evidence that will help goals for further action
The output of the self- them identify ways to as appropriate, or the
assessment process improve their work or self-assessment does not
does not provide students to set goals for further provide evidence to the
with evidence that will action; however, students’ teacher about student
help them identify ways goals may be vague or perceptions of their
to improve their work not likely to contribute learning in a way that can
or ways to set goals to improvement, or the be used to direct the next
for further action as self-assessment may not instructional steps.
appropriate, or the provide evidence to the
self-assessment may not teacher about student
provide evidence to the perceptions of their
teacher about students’ learning, or the evidence
perceptions of their may not be used to direct
learning in a way that can the next instructional steps.
be used to direct next
instructional steps.

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 6 - Rubrics for the Dimensions of Formative Assessment

Observation Notes
Self-Assessment

This rubric addresses the intentional, structured opportunities that teachers create for students to
M
engage in self-assessment rather than those unprompted instances where an individual student
might say something that demonstrates that he or she is reflecting on his or her own learning.

The rubric makes reference to whether the self-assessment activity is meaningful to students.
M
This requires the observer to make a professional judgment. Observers may draw on evidence
from student comments regarding the self-assessment task, the degree to which students
seriously engage with the task, how they appear to view its importance, and if there is follow-
through to address any identified deficiencies in order to make judgments. An observer may
want to ask students about what they think of the task.

The rubric refers to the importance of structure and support for the self-assessment process.
M
Depending on how familiar students are with self-assessment, there may be evidence of direct
support for the tasks, such as the teacher reminding students about what it means to engage
in self-assessment, why they are doing it, or how the information will be used. In other cases,
if students are more experienced with this task, the teacher may only make a brief reference
to previous discussions, or it may be clear from how students approach the task that they
no longer need any direct support but can immediately engage with the task. The amount of
structure in a self-assessment task will also vary according to students’ ages and experiences.

If a teacher does not provide students with any assessment criteria or structure to support their
M
self-reflection but simply asks the students to give a thumbs up or thumbs down to indicate how
they felt about the lesson, the lesson is unlikely to be rated higher than the Developing level.
However, the teacher may use the thumbs up or thumbs down approach as a springboard into
deeper reflection, which could change the scoring. For example,

• a teacher who just accepts the feedback without further probing cannot know
the accuracy or specifics of the students’ confusion/understandings, and so the
assessment’s impact on future learning or instruction is very limited.

• However, if the teacher probes further into what students did and did not
understand in the lesson by noting that they covered four key ideas in the lesson
and then lists each idea for additional information from students, the teacher is now
providing additional structure—and the improved information may enhance the
teacher’s planning.

• Moreover, if the teacher further probes to check for understanding from students
who gave a thumbs up to confirm that they did indeed understand or from
students who gave a thumbs down to clarify what students did not understand, the
likelihood of enhancing future learning and/or instruction increases.

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 6 - Rubrics for the Dimensions of Formative Assessment

Structures for self-assessment are any kind of tool or process that provides support for the activity.
M
For example, a teacher may provide students with structures to guide or focus their self-assessment
and metacognitive thinking by modeling the activity for the students, by providing exemplars, or by
providing a writing frame in which the students identify something new, something to learn more
about, and something that is puzzling and that they need additional help with. Another structure
to support self-assessment is the process of student-generated questions and/or explanations.
When students generate questions with the intent to identify gaps or deepen understanding, they
must also think about what they do and do not already know.

Additional Notes: _________________________________________________________

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