Self Assessment for Understanding

Author(s): Betty McDonald

Source: The Journal of Education , 2007, Vol. 188, No. 1, Mentoring Issue: Major Themes
(2007), pp. 25-40
Published by: Sage Publications, Inc.

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/42744121

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide
range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and
facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at
https://about.jstor.org/terms

Sage Publications, Inc. is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to
The Journal of Education

This content downloaded from

168.195.52.137 on Sun, 10 Sep 2023 19:51:13 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 Self Assessment for Understanding
Betty McDonald

prehensive study on self assessment and academic achievement

This prehensive that that
present provided
provided studyevidence
undisputed paper thatundisputed
high schoolonstudents
draws self assessment empirical evidence evidence and that academic high from school a achievement more students com-
trained in self assessment skills outperformed their untrained counter-
parts in external examinations in all curriculum areas. This paper
focuses on one aspect of self assessment: understanding , a key element for
achievement. Self assessment has been defined as uthe involvement of
students in identifying standards and/or criteria to apply to their work
and making judgements about the extent to which they have met these
criteria and standards " (Boudy 1986 , p. 5). This paper describes how self
assessment training improves students' understanding of concepts.
Beginner teachers will find hands-on suggestions that they could use in
their classrooms. It is hoped that the ideas shared here would provoke
more research in this important area. Longitudinal studies on students
exposed to self assessment training could address issues regarding the
reduction of students' zone of proximal development, where real learning
takes place , and shed further light on how humans create meaning
through understanding.

Introduction
The complexity of life offers boundless opportunities and also under-
mines our feeling of context and relatedness (Mazarr, 1999). Numer-
ous people, and in particular, young students, feel that they are never
understood. Clearly, we need a type of assessment that gives the
learner a sense of belonging, achievement, autonomy, independence,
empowerment, and mastery over his or her own destiny, while simul-
taneously affording the learner a clear understanding of what is being
learned. In keeping with information about multiple intelligences, the
knowledge era, massive globalization, and transformation of modern

The Journal of Education 188. 1 © 2007 by the Trustees of Boston University. All rights reserved. 25

This content downloaded from

168.195.52.137 on Sun, 10 Sep 2023 19:51:13 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
26 I Journal of education

society, a climate of unprecedented organizational change, coupled

with student migration - a broad-based approach to assessment
incorporating self assessment - seems the natural progressive way
forward. Furthermore, an argument could be made that this notion
should be introduced to teachers very early in their teaching career in
an effort to make it common practice in the classroom.
It had almost become traditional for assessment to be conceptual-
ized as an activity originating from an external distant source, for
example, an examiner, supervisor, adjudicator, referee or from an
external close source, for example, a lecturer, teacher, tutor, facilitator,
mentor, or coach. While some individuals had their own homespun
ways of assessing themselves privately, in the public domain not much
emphasis was placed on assessment originating from an internal
source, namely the person himself or herself doing his or her own
assessment. For this reason, it was not surprising that while the cur-
rent literature was replete with empirical research about assessment
from both external distant and external close sources, none could be
found about assessment from the internal source or the self. Needless

to say, there is continuous need for triangulation or for a multiplicity

of views to provide a 360-degree assessment in order to validate,
increase reliability, and enhance credibility of the final assessment
decision made. Since the individual student is the person constantly
exposed to all aspects of his or her course (textbooks, resource mate-
rials, course content, homework, teacher personality, and pedagogical
methodology), he or she is more advantageously positioned to deter-
mine the effectiveness of those aspects of the course through self
assessment. The individual can focus on himself or herself, cognizant
of his or her idiosyncrasies, peculiarities, and individual differences.
The average high school student often has a myriad of activities
that engage his or her attention to the exclusion of significant others.
Oftentimes, a high school teacher who is normally responsible for a
class of about 30 to 40 students of mixed abilities, coming from
diverse socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds, cannot reasonably
be expected, with any measure of success, to attend to most students'

This content downloaded from

168.195.52.137 on Sun, 10 Sep 2023 19:51:13 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 McDonald • Self Assessment for Understanding | 27

issues and needs. Darwinian principles demand the natural acquisi-

tion of personal skills that would maximize academic achievement
and sustain efforts over a prolonged period of time. Clearly, self
assessment is a sine qua non for effective learning and the provision of
quality feedback for personal improvement (Sadler, 1989). While sev-
eral works have concentrated on providing empirical data in support
of self assessment as it affects different aspects of the whole individ-
ual, this present paper will present a descriptive analysis of self assess-
ment as it promotes understanding. It will also challenge the faculty
of higher education to consider this within teacher education pro-
grams, where traditional assessment, much less self assessment, is
infrequently an emphasis.
It is instructive to establish our working definition for self assess-
ment. We shall choose Bouďs (1986, p. 5) definition of self assess-
ment as "the involvement of students in identifying standards and/or
criteria to apply to their work and making judgments about the
extent to which they have met these criteria and standards." To every
assessment (whether conducted by teacher or learner), Boud (1995)
insists that two key elements are essential: (1) development of
knowledge and an appreciation of appropriate standards and criteria
for meeting those standards; and (2) capacity to make judgments
about whether or not the work involved does or does not meet those

standards (which involves critical thinking). A desire for achieve-

ment and a clear understanding of what is involved in the process are
two key elements involved. Clearly, the whole individual is deeply
engrossed in the process.
Self assessment not only encompasses testing/grading ones own
skills/work but also involves an active process on the part of the indi-
vidual of evaluating what is good, mediocre or poor work in any given
situation. Self assessment represents a much-expanded role in assess-
ment because the construct underscores provisions for strengthening
personal accountability for academic achievement. Besides requiring
setting appropriate criteria for meeting standards, self assessment
seeks to offer a method for judging criteria effectiveness, establishes a

This content downloaded from

168.195.52.137 on Sun, 10 Sep 2023 19:51:13 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
28 I Journal of Education

schedule or timetable for ultimate progress of the individual, and also

establishes a sequence for failure. Additionally, self assessment estab-
lishes a set of procedures that would link criteria over time, across
subjects, and with an external assessment. Moreover, self assessment
emphasizes directing assessment at important learning targets, using
assessment to plan next steps in instruction, and communicating
assessment results to others in ways that have positive consequences
on the individual.
Conceived as an instructional tool or an aid to instruction and not

as an assessment tool, the comprehensive study, from which this paper

draws information, provides an analytic platform that would be trans-
parent enough so that the procedures for self assessment can be bet-
ter decoupled from general assessment. Generally, high school
teachers do not use the assessments done by students as part of their
reporting. Instead, students may use self assessment for their own
formative evaluation. Good and poor practice in self assessment
(Boud, 1995, 208-209) may assist in further clarifying the nature of
the construct and offer a useful skill set of indicators of good self
assessment practice.
Self assessment may be viewed as the act of evaluating or moni-
toring ones own level of knowledge, performance, and understanding
in a metacognitive framework, taking into account the contexts in
which it occurs. Self assessment involves the individual making an
informed assessment of his or her own work, with an appreciation for
and the understanding of those concepts of quality upheld and prac-
tised by the adjudicators of his or her work. Clearly, the honing of self
assessment skills would not naturally be endowed upon an individual
but requires formal training, like several other skills, incorporating
the analytical, creative, and practical. It also requires formal training
on the part of the teachers so that they may effectively integrate it into
classroom teaching and learning.
Rudd and Gumstove (1993) reported a yearlong study conducted
in 1991 that aimed to develop self assessment skills in a third-grade
class in Australia. A class of 20 students (ages eight to nine years) was

This content downloaded from

168.195.52.137 on Sun, 10 Sep 2023 19:51:13 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 McDonald • Self Assessment for Understanding | 29

present for the entire school year (four 1 1 -week terms). To make plan-
ning and post-teaching reflection more manageable for the teacher, a
specific curriculum area (science and technology) was selected. Based
on ideas that students had about the skills they needed in science and
technology, a self assessment questionnaire was developed early in the
year. Students were introduced to concept maps and learned to use
them in their work. Further, the students also created self assessment
graphs that allowed them to record additional self assessment con-
cepts and techniques introduced during each term. Students accepted
the self assessment tasks as teaching and learning strategies in their
own right. Rudd and Gumstove (1993) found that student awareness
and use of skills in these class activities were substantially enhanced
and the teacher's role changed from a dominating instructor to a del-
egator as students became more proficient at self assessment. No con-
trol group was used in this study as a means of comparison. With this
apparent shortcoming, this researcher s comprehensive study sought
to improve on the methodology by using a randomized treatment
group from a random stratified sample to determine differences in
academic achievement between treatment groups as a result of formal
self assessment training.
Self assessment affects the individual's understanding as it empha-
sizes high levels of thinking - metacognitive, self-reflective, self-regu-
lated - as well as goal-directed learning and preferred learning styles.
Mercer et al. (2004) claim that "talk-based activities can have a useful
function in scaffolding the development of reasoning and scientific
understanding" (p. 370,). As students discuss standards and/or criteria
for making judgments, they are involved in talk-based activities that
force them to reason one with another and with themselves. In a

sense, self assessment is a component of metacognition that is applied

more spontaneously, more deeply, and more automatically as students
move through primary school. This developmental aspect of self
assessment continues to influence the whole individual. This is par-
ticularly useful for beginning teachers because they are assured that
students already have information upon which they could build.

This content downloaded from

168.195.52.137 on Sun, 10 Sep 2023 19:51:13 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
30 I Journal of éducation

Self assessment is an integral part of both portfolio and authentic

assessment. It involves reflecting on past achievements, critically eval-
uating present performance, and planning future goals. It thus
involves past, present, and future perspectives of the individual,
thereby fostering understanding as situations from the past, present,
and future are compared and contrasted. Personal goal setting and
standards underscore the perspectives (McAlpine, 2000). Sekula, But-
tery, and Guyton (1996) agree that self assessment is premised on
realistic knowledge about the whole self in relation to educational
goals. It asks "How am I doing?" "How can I do better ?" Students learn
to compare and contrast their work with models and against a set of
standards and/or criteria (Bourke & Poskitt, 1997). In this regard, it is
important that students understand what they are attempting before
they commence the task, and this is the process that teachers can facil-
itate. Further, the student needs to understand the standards of per-
formance, know what he or she is trying to achieve, and be able to
compare his or her own performance to that standard. Inherent is the
notion that students need to have an understanding of competence
that can be applied to them. These metacognitive issues associated
with human assessment, and in particular self assessment, may pres-
ent methodological challenges that must be addressed in its training
and measurement. The lack of a common metric for its measurement

may, to many, be a major roadblock to establishing a coherent system

aimed at improving the acceptance of self assessment as a viable
method of a standards-referenced approach to assessment to be incor-
porated into the overall assessment of an individual.
Throughout the literature, proponents of formative assessment
(Black & William, 1998a, b; Ramaprasad, 1983) agree that the student
must take an active, responsible part in assessment if sustained, mean-
ingful learning is to occur. Sadler (1989) recommends that gap closure
between a student s state of knowledge revealed by feedback and the
desired state must be undertaken by the student. A student who sim-
ply follows the instructions of the teacher blindly without under-
standing the purpose of the teacher's comments would have difficulty

This content downloaded from

168.195.52.137 on Sun, 10 Sep 2023 19:51:13 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 McDonald • Self Assessment for Understanding ' 31

in internalizing the work and improving in the future. Consequently,

Sadler (1989) posits that teachers must share responsibility of assess-
ment with students whose self assessment would contribute to their
overall assessment.

Goodrich (1997) studied the effects of instructional rubrics and

guided self assessment on students' writing and understandings of
good writing. Thirteen seventh- and eighth-grade classes in the same
two urban schools formed the sample. Both the experimental and
control groups wrote two essays: a historical fiction essay and a
response to literature. All students in both groups in participating
classes were given instructional rubrics. The two self assessment les-
sons focused on a formal process of guided self assessment designed
by the researcher in collaboration with the participating teachers. Stu-
dents used markers to color code the criteria on the rubric and the

evidence in their essays that showed that they met the criteria. Only
the experimental classes participated in a process of guided self assess-
ment. Control classes received copies of the rubrics but did not for-
mally assess their own work in class. The results of the study indicated
that rubric-referenced self assessment could have a positive effect on
females' writing but no effect on males' writing. This finding agrees
with research on sex differences in the manner in which males and

females respond to feedback (Hollander & Marcia, 1970; Dweck &

Bush, 1976; Dweck, Davidson, Nelson, & Enna, 1978; Deci & Ryan,
1980). It must be pointed out here that the study did not examine stu-
dents' cognitive and emotional responses to self assessment, which
means that the explanation offered for the differences between males
and females may be speculative. The call for a better understanding of
the different ways in which males and females respond to self assess-
ment further fueled the flame for such an investigation in the holistic
manner in which self assessment affects the individual. Further
research in this area could be useful.

As explained earlier, in arriving at consensus, students must share

their personal views with each other and mutually agree on standards
and/or criteria before for making an evaluation through the vehicle of

This content downloaded from

168.195.52.137 on Sun, 10 Sep 2023 19:51:13 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
32 I Journal of education

language. Mercer et al. (2004) provide support for a generally

accepted sociocultural hypothesis that "intermental activity (social
interaction) of using language as a tool for reasoning collectively can
influence the development of individual thinking (intramental activ-
ity) and learning" (p. 369). Further, the multidisciplinary nature of
the researcher-designed 12 self assessment modules and the training
using eclectic approaches mandated students to think across conven-
tional subject disciplines. The constant positive reinforcement from
teachers other than those directly involved in the self assessment
training program made students realize that self assessment was not
subject-specific or task-specific but targeted at the whole individual.
The skills the students learned enabled them to communicate better

with understanding and make informed choices of routes to and from

school, choices of friends and choices of careers, etc. To use the words
of Mercer et al. (2004), the teachers created "talk-focused classrooms"
(p. 375) as they facilitated exchange among students with a view at
arriving at consensus while at the same time ensuring that the stipu-
lated curriculum was adequately covered as expected. That richness
in focus, depth in understanding, and breath of information clearly
reflected the performance of the students of the experimental group
as they outperformed their untrained counterparts in all curriculum
areas of business studies, humanities, science, and technical studies.
With a continually changing context for reference, students quickly
learned that self assessment was all inclusive and definitely pervasive
and transferable enough to accommodate the individual at school and
elsewhere. Students also learned that making self assessment a habit
supported Aristotle's famous assertion that we are what we repeatedly
do and that excellence is a habit.

Mercer et al. (2004) posit that the spoken language can be related
to the learning of science in the context of teacher-led interactions
with students and peer group interaction.
While the former pampers to:

. . . the sociocultural account of cognitive development that

emphasises the guiding role of more knowledgeable members of

This content downloaded from

168.195.52.137 on Sun, 10 Sep 2023 19:51:13 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 McDonald • Self Assessment for Understanding | 33

communities in the development of the learner's knowledge and

understanding and their induction into the discourses associated
with the particular knowledge domain, the latter allows for interac-
tions which are more 'symmetrical' than in teacher-led discourses
and so present different kinds of opportunities for developing rea-
soned arguments, describing observed events, etc. (p. 366)

It is precisely for this reason that, self assessment is an interactive,

collaborative process involving all of the self and others in relation to
standards and/or criteria. That interaction with peers is undoubtedly
beneficial to students' learning and understanding. It is no small won-
der that in the comprehensive study, high school students who
received formal training in self assessment skills were encouraged to
discuss with their neighbors and arrive at mutually agreed solutions to
problems. That process then extended beyond that neighbor to others
in the classroom and also to the group as a whole, with input from the
teacher serving as facilitator. Collaboration is the key to its success. In
a sense, the group functioned as a receptacle for "protecting" the
thoughts and ideas of the group members, thereby affording them the
privilege of expressing themselves freely and openly without fear of
being belittled by peers, a fundamental right of the whole individual.
This too explains why this researcher conducted group sessions
throughout the three terms of the entire academic year of self assess-
ment training. Teachers and students became partners in the process
of assessment and self directed learning. The questions that teachers
asked a class served as models for questions that learners asked them-
selves in self assessment. Educational goals underpin the questions
and students were led, at different levels, to a realization of these goals.

Discussion and Conclusions

Understanding is pivotal to the internalization of new concepts as
these must in some way be hinged to already existing concepts if the
learner is to make sense of new information. Accordingly, there seems
to be an incremental developmental process in progress. Van
Krayenoord and Paris (1997) reported developmental trends in self

This content downloaded from

168.195.52.137 on Sun, 10 Sep 2023 19:51:13 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
34 I Journal of education

assessment that may suggest the development of understanding with

time. Self assessment may initially commence at the lower levels of the
cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains. As time progresses and
the learner internalizes self assessment skills, higher levels of those
domains would replace lower levels. With time, the learner would
embrace self assessment as a necessary and sufficient part of his or her
daily activities. Despite the fact that children can start using self assess-
ment to evaluate their achievements when quite young, older students
are more effective at the process. According to their levels of ability and
the "quality" of teaching practices in particular classrooms, there are
differences within older students. Metacognitive abilities associated
with reading determine the quality of self assessment done. Greater
development in students' metacognitive abilities manifested itself in
an improved ability for self-reflection and self- regulation of learning
(Van Krayenoord & Paris, 1997). The foregoing information is espe-
cially helpful to beginning teachers since they often tend to frustrate
themselves by underestimating their students' potential. Incorporating
self assessment into one's repertoire of teaching strategies would pro-
vide more frequent feedback from the learner, enabling teachers to
more quickly identify problems and modify instruction, if necessary.
Paris and Cunningham (1996) and Van Krayenoord and Paris
(1997) found that effectiveness of self assessment and self-manage-
ment of learning improve with age, experience, intelligence, academic
achievement, and the quality of instruction. Self assessment assists the
whole student to "learn how to learn" and it encourages reflection to
become second nature. As students develop, they rely less on the
authority of grades and adults' evaluations as the sole source of feed-
back about their performance, and self assessment tends to become a
foundation to the development of intrinsic motivation and
autonomous learning.
Van Krayenoord and Paris (1997), Blumenfeld, Pintrich, Meece,
and Wessels (1982), and Stipek and Maclver (1989) posit that in judg-
ing their own achievements, as children grow up, they gradually
change from equating achievement with "effort" and see it related

This content downloaded from

168.195.52.137 on Sun, 10 Sep 2023 19:51:13 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 McDonald • Self Assessment for Understanding | 35

more to "ability." As the development process progresses, the learner

takes initiative for assessing his or her own work. In a study on self-
appraisals using work sample interviews based on both portfolio and
authentic assessments, Van Krayenoord and Paris (1997) observed
that activities related to portfolio assessment mandate that the learner
takes the first step in assessing his or her individual work. Such initia-
tive could be achieved autonomously but more often in association
with peers and teachers.
Van Krayenoord and Paris (1997) believe that one of the main
purposes of authentic assessment is to encourage students to become
involved more actively in monitoring and reviewing their own per-
formance. This includes self assessment of the products as well as the
process of daily learning so that students learn to reflect on their work
and evaluate their effort, feelings, and accomplishments, not just their
past grade. This kind of assessment develops feelings of ownership
and responsibility for learning and assists students in becoming inde-
pendent learners who develop control over their own learning. Begin-
ning teachers especially will do well to observe that special ability
students may gain enormously from self assessment training and seek
to develop this practice early in their careers. Self assessment could
arguably make a teacher s job easier, as more information about the
students becomes available.

Continuing in the developmental trend, Hill (1995) confirmed that:

using portfolios engages learners in self assessment as they reflect

on how well they have achieved the standards and/or criteria they
set out for themselves, and gather samples and artifacts with their
teachers, peers, parents or other interested people, (p. 66)

Many high school students practice journaling and this, too, is part
of self assessment. Journaling is easy to practice so beginning teachers
could include this in their teaching methods. Journaling forces the
whole individual to reflect on past experiences, make evaluative state-
ments of those experiences, and compare those experiences with sim-
ilar experiences on a judgmental basis. Finally, this researcher has
observed that while self assessment may be taken seriously by older

This content downloaded from

168.195.52.137 on Sun, 10 Sep 2023 19:51:13 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
36 I Journal of education

children, there may be some difficulty in getting younger students to

appreciate its worth. Herein lies a significant role for the beginning
teacher; if it were an integral component in teacher education, then it
might follow that it would be implemented with students of all ages.
As with most practices, the younger it is introduced, the greater the
chance for fluency.
By its very nature, self assessment is also a social activity requiring
understanding on the part of the individual. It occurs in situations
that are social and collaborative and frequently with others who are
more expert than the self assessor. Establishment and maintenance of
mutually agreed ground rules - active listening, waiting on others,
mutual respect, information sharing, appropriate discourse analysis,
focused engaging discussion, critical questioning, decision negotia-
tion, and accurate transcription skills - are essential ingredients of the
self assessment process. Van Krayenoord and Paris (1997) noted that
self assessment does not occur in isolation because the self has very
little meaning unless it relates to others. This inevitably means that
there must be relationship with peers and teachers. The reliability and
validity of scores derived from self assessment is formulated not only
in relation to standards and/or criteria but also in relation to social
interactions with assessments of peers and teachers. Before students
can decide on acceptable standards and/or criteria for their work, they
must use some reliable and valid forms of reference by which they
could be confident that the standards and/or criteria they intend to
use to make judgments about their whole corpus of work are "univer-
sally" acceptable as far as they exist within their locus of control. This
undoubtedly demands understanding. Self assessment may be the key
to producing a common currency for evaluating an individuals pro-
ductivity. Much research in this area is recommended.
A considerable amount of time is required to implement and sus-
tain self assessment as it influences understanding and this may pres-
ent a major demand on beginning teachers as they are learning many
other new skills. However, if the task is skillfully implemented and
neatly interwoven into the normal curriculum as the comprehensive

This content downloaded from

168.195.52.137 on Sun, 10 Sep 2023 19:51:13 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 McDonald • Self Assessment for Understanding | 37

study was, the rewards are overwhelming. Teachers need to have dia-
logue with students during the course of their learning, as students
have to be trained to develop sound self assessment skills with under-
standing. Some beginning teachers may feel that their authority is
challenged if they allow student self assessments to count in assess-
ment and learning. Further, since there is some degree of "disclosure"
in some areas of self assessment, the procedure may be seen as a threat
to privacy (McAlpine, 2000). There is also the danger of breech of con-
fidentiality in sharing self assessment results with a wider audience
especially with the school environment. Sometimes there might even
be uncertainty as to who the real audience might be. Being aware of
these issues, this researcher designed the comprehensive study to take
account of these challenges, thereby minimizing as much as possible
random or systematic experimental errors. In self assessment training,
beginning teachers should take responses from students very seriously.
Bourke and Poskitt (1997) believe it is important to avoid a tokenist
"claim" or to pretend to empower students through self assessment
but record one s own assessment. Students are less likely to take self
assessments seriously in an environment where school and national
examinations are seen to be the main measure of performance. It is
hoped that the ideas shared would be useful to beginning teachers.
Longitudinal studies on students exposed to self assessment training
could address issues regarding the reduction of students' zone of prox-
imal development, where real learning takes place, and shed further
light on how humans create meaning through understanding.

References
Adams, C. & King, K. (1995). Towards a framework for student self-assess-
ment. Innovations in Education and Training International 32(4),
336-343.

Andrane, H. G. (1999). Student self assessment: At the intersection of

metacognition and authentic assessment. Retrieved March 10, 2008
from ERIC NO. ED 431030, http://www.ericir.syr.edu/plweb-cgi.
Billingsley, D. (1995). Improving students' ability to self assessment writing.
Retrieved March 10, 2008 from ERIC NO. ED 386749, http://www.endr
.syr.edu/plweb-cgi.htm.

This content downloaded from

168.195.52.137 on Sun, 10 Sep 2023 19:51:13 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
38 I Journal of education

Black, P. 8c Wiliam, D. (1998a). Assessment and classroom learning. Assess-

ment in Education , 5(1), 7-74.
Black, P. & Wiliam, D. (1998b). Inside the Black Box: Raising standards
through classroom assessment. London: School of Education, King's
College. Phi Delta Kappan, 139. Retrieved March 10, 2008 from
www.pdkintl.org/kappan/kbla98 1 9.htm.
Black, P., Harrison, C, Lee, C., Marshall, B. & Wiliam, D. (2002). Working
inside the black box: Assessment for learning in the classroom. London,
UK: King's College, London School of Education.
Blatchford, P. (1997). Pupils' self- assessments of academic attainment at 7, 1 1
and 16 years: Effects of sex and ethnic group. British Journal of Educa-
tional Psychology, 67, 169-184.
Blumenfeld, P. C., Pintrich, P., Meece, J. & Wessels, K. (1982). The formation
and role of self perceptions of ability in elementary classrooms. Ele-
mentary School Journal 82, 401-420.
Boersma, G. (1995). Improving student self- evaluation through authentic
assessment. ERIC Document Reproduction Service. NO. ED. 393885.
Boud, D. (1986). Implementing student self assessment. Sydney: HERDSA.
Boud, D. (1995). Enhancing learning through self assessment. London: Kogan
Page.
Boud, D. (2000). Sustainable assessment: Rethinking assessment for the
learning society. Studies in Continuing Education, 22(2), 151-167.
Bourke, R. & Poskitt, J. (1997). Self assessment in the New Zealand classroom
(Booklet). Wellington: Ministry of Education.
Butler, D. L. 8c Winne, P. H. (1995). Feedback and self- regulated learning: A
theoretical synthesis. Review of Educational Research , 65 (3), 245-281.
Cort, M. & Disario, N. (1994). Point yourself in the right direction. Work-
place literacy self- test. Final report. Retrieved March 10, 2008 from
ERIC NO. ED 376370, http://www.ericir.syr.edu/plweb-cgi.htm.
Deci, E. & Ryan, R. (1980). The empirical exploration of intrinsic motiva-
tional processes. In L. Berkowitz, (Ed.), Advances in Experimental Social
Psychology. New York: Academic Press, 13, 39-80.
Dixon, S. (1999). Towards self- assessing colleges. FE matters. Retrieved
March 6, 2008 fromERIC NO. ED 39450, http://www.ericir.syr
.edu/plweb-cgi.htm.
Dweck, C. & Bush, E. (1976). Sex differences in learned helplessness: 1. Dif-
ferential debilitation with peer and adult evaluators. Developmental
Psychology ; 12, 147-156.
Dweck, C., Davidson, W, Nelson, S. & Enna, B. (1978). Sex differences in
learned helplessness: 2. Contingencies of evaluative feedback in the
classroom and 3. An experimental analysis. Developmental Psychology ;
14(3), 268-276.

This content downloaded from

168.195.52.137 on Sun, 10 Sep 2023 19:51:13 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 McDonald • Self Assessment for Understanding | 39

Goodrich, H. (1997). Thinking-centered assessment. In S. Veenema, L. Het-

land, 8c K. Chalfen (Eds.), The Project Zero classroom: New approaches
to thinking and understanding. Cambridge, MA: Project Zero, Harvard
Graduate School of Education.
Hill, M. (1995). Self assessment in' primary schools: A response to student
teacher questions. Waikato Journal of Education (1), 61-70.
Izard, J. F. (2004). Best practice in assessment for learning. Paper presented at
the Third Conference of the Association of Commonwealth Examina-
tions and Accreditation Bodies on Redefining the Roles of Educational
Assessment, March 8-12, 2004, Nadi, Fiji: South Pacific Board for Edu-
cational Assessment.

Klein, P. A. (1998). Self assessment in mathematics as a placement/advising

tool. Retrieved March 7, 2008 from ERIC NO. ED 577982, http://www
.ericir.syr.edu/plweb-cgi.htm.
Le Blanc, R. (1985). Second language student placement through self assess-
ment. Retrieved March 10, 2008 from ERIC NO. ED 267605,
http://www.ericir.syr.edu/plweb-cgi.htm.
Le Blanc, R. 8c Psinchaud, G. (1985).Self assessment as a placement test.
Retrieved March 1, 2008 from ERIC NO. ED 259584, http://www.endr
.syr.edu/plweb-cgi.htm.
Mazarr, M. J. (1999). Global trends 2005 : An owners manual for the next
decade. New York: Palgrave.
McAlpine, D. (2000). Assessment and the gifted. Tall Poppiesy 25(1).
Retrieved March 10, 2008 from http://www.tki.org.nz/r/gifted/pedagogy
/tallpoppies_e.php.
McDonald, B. (2004). Self assessment and academic achievement. Unpub-
lished doctoral thesis, University of The West Indies, Cave Hill, Barba-
dos, West Indies.
Mercer, N., Dawes, L., Wegerif, R. 8c Sama, C. (2004). Reasoning as a scien-
tist: ways of helping children use language to learn science. British Edu-
cational Research Journal , 30(3), 359-377.
Miller, M. 8c Turner, T. (1987). Formats for assessing students' self assessment
abilities. Retrieved March 5, 2008 from ERIC NO. ED 286302,
http://www.ericir.syr.edu/plweb-cgi.htm.
Moritz, C. E. B. (1996). Student self assessment of language proficiency: Per-
ceptions of self and others. Retrieved March 1, 2008 from ERIC NO. ED
39977 1 , http://www.ericir.syr.edu/plweb-cgi.htm.
Paris, S. G. 8c Cunningham, A. (1996). Children becoming students. In D.
Berliner and R. Calfee (Eds.), Handbook of Educational Psychology. New
York: Macmillan, 17-147.
Ramaprasad, A. (1983). On the definition of feedback. Behavioral Science , 28,
4-13.

This content downloaded from

168.195.52.137 on Sun, 10 Sep 2023 19:51:13 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
40 I Journal of education

Richard, G. D. & Helmes, E. (Eds.) (2000). Problems and solutions in human

assessment: Honoring Douglas N. Jackson at seventy. Boston: Kluwer
Academic Publications.
Rudd, T. J. & Gumstove, R. F. (1993). Developing self assessment skills in
grade 3 science and technology: The importance of longitudinal stud-
ies of learning. Retrieved March 9, 2008 from ERIC NO. ED 358103,
http://www.ericir.syr.edu/plweb-cgi.htm.
Sadler, D. R. (1989). Formative assessment and the design of instructional
systems. Instructional Science , 18, 119-144.
Sadler, D. R. (1998). Formative assessment: Revisiting the territory. Assess-
ment in Education , 5( 1), 77-84.
Schön, D. (1983). The reflective practitioner. New York: Basic Books.
Schön, D. (1987). Educating the reflective practitioner. London: Jossey-Bass.
Sekula, J., Buttery, T. & Guyton, E. (1996). Authentic assessment. In Hand-
book of Research on Teacher Education. New York: Prentice Hall Inter-
national, 5-15.
Shepard, L. (2000). The role of assessment in a learning culture. Educational
Researcher ; 29(7), 4-14.
Sink, C. A., Barnett, J. E. 8c Hixon, J. E. (1991). Self- regulated learning and
achievement by middle-school children. Psychological Reports , 69(3),
979-989.

Stipek, D. J. & Maclver, D. (1989). Developmental changes in children's

assessment of intellectual competence. Child Development , 60,
521-538.

Topping, K. J. (2002). Self and peer assessment in school and university: Reli-
ability, validity and utility. In M. S. R. Segers, F. J. R. C. Dochy, and E. C.
Cascallar, Optimizing new modes of assessment: In search of qualities and
standards. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 43-60.
Topping, K. J. & Sanders, W. L. (2000). Teacher effectiveness and computer
assessment of reading: Reading value added and learning information
system data. School Effectiveness and School Improvement , 11(3),
305-337.

Van Krayenoord, C. E. & Paris, S. G. (1997). Australian students' self-

appraisal of their work samples and academic progress. Elementary
School Journal 97 (5), 523-537.
Yerian, J. M. & Miller, T. K. (Eds.) (1989). Putting the students to work:
Training manual for the CAS self assessment guides. Retrieved March
9, 2008 from ERIC NO. ED 305547, http://www.ericir.syr.edu/plweb-
cgi.htm.
Zuercher, N. T. (1989). Students' self assessment. Retrieved March 9, 2008
from ERIC NO. ED 305659, http://www.ericir.syr.edu/plweb-cgi.htm.

This content downloaded from

168.195.52.137 on Sun, 10 Sep 2023 19:51:13 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms