Empowering Students to Own the Assessment Process 

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Here's a sketch video about self-assessment and peer assessment. It includes an explanation of specific strategies you might use.
Transcript:
Assessment is all around us. If you’re a skater at a skatepark, you’re engaging in self-assessment every time you reflect on your progress and plan next steps.
If you’re a runner training for a marathon, you look at time splits and compare it to your goals. If you’re a musician, you’re engaging in assessment every time you listen to yourself play
and make modifications on your approach.
As an author, you engage in self-assessment when you revise your work. It’s not always individual. Often, assessment happens in community. If you’re a chef, you’re engaging in peer assessment when you ask a trusted fellow chef, “how does this taste?”
If you’re an artist you might ask for an extra set of eyes on a particular project. If you’re an engineer, you might observe users to see if your design is working. If you do any kind of creative work, both self-assessment and peer assessment are vital for improving your craft.
It helps you refine your process and helps you improve your products.
Assessment helps us figure how what we know, what we don’t know, and what steps we need to take in the future to master a skill or understand a concept at a deeper level.
But what does this mean in the classroom?
It starts with self-assessment. Here students engage in goal-setting: where they set goals, plan their approach, and keep track of the progress. They also engage in self-reflections. Here, they can reflect on their learning process but also focus on the strengths and weaknesses of their products, which then leads to new iterations.
A similar option is a student survey with multiple choices, checkboxes, and Likert scales. In some cases, students might use a self-assessment rubric. Students are able to look at the progression from emerging to mastering with specific descriptions in various categories. They are able to gain an accurate view of how they are doing, while also having a clear picture of where they need to be.
Students might also use checklists. These can be a powerful diagnostic tool that students use before, during, and after a task. When projects are done, they can present their work in a portfolio, where they reflect on what they’ve learned.
Peer assessment is also important. One option is the 10-minute peer feedback system. This begins with one student sharing their work or pitching an idea while the other student actively listens.
It then moves into a chance to ask clarifying questions, get feedback, respond to feedback, and chart out next steps. Another option is structured Feedback with Sentence Stems. Or you could use the 3-2-1 Structure. This is simple. Students provide three strengths, two areas of improvement and one question that they have.
Or you could do a feedback carousel. Each group gets a stack of sticky notes and offers anonymous feedback as they move from group to group. Or you could keep it more open-ended with Peer Coaching: Students interview each other about the process, guide reflection, and provide feedback.
We often think of classroom assessment as a conversation between teachers and students. But in life, students won’t always have a teacher to grade their work or provide them with necessary feedback. This is why we need self-assessment and peer assessment. The more we can integrate this into our lessons, the better prepared our students will be for the creative life.