Student Self-Assessment: The Key to Stronger Student Motivation and Higher Achievement.

TLDR

Student self‑assessment, in standards‑based education, promises to boost motivation, engagement, and learning by fostering intrinsic motivation, mastery orientation, and meaningful learning, and by empowering students to guide their own learning and internalize success criteria. The article aims to define student self‑assessment, demonstrate its effectiveness through theory and research, and show how teachers can implement practical steps to reap its motivational and learning benefits. The authors define self‑assessment, review supporting theory and research, and outline practical steps teachers can use to implement it effectively.

Abstract

In the current era of standards-based education, student self-assessment stands alone in its promise of improved student motivation and engagement, and learning. Correctly implemented, student self-assessment can promote intrinsic motivation, internally controlled effort, a mastery goal orientation, and more meaningful learning. Its powerful impact on student performance—in both classroom assessments and large-scale accountability assessments—empowers students to guide their own learning and internalize the criteria for judging success. In this article we will define student self-assessment and its importance in influencing student motivation and learning. We begin with a detailed definition of self-assessment, then review pertinent theoretical and research literature that supports the positive impact of student selfassessment in the classroom. Our intent is to show that, based on both theoretical and applied research and theory, self-assessment works, and that by applying a set of practical steps teachers can facilitate this kind of assessment and reap the benefits.