Students as the Definitive Source of Formative Assessment: Academic Self-Assessment and the Self-Regulation of Learning

This paper presents a synthesis of scholarship on formative assessment, self-assessment, and self-regulated learning. It has two objectives: (1) to bridge the gap between two related but distinct areas of inquiry, (2) to illustrate how research on self-regulation can inform the study of formative assessment in general and self-assessment in particular. The paper begins by briefly reviewing and integrating the relevant literatures. It then presents a simple model, proposes general principles for supporting self-assessment and self-regulation in the classroom, and presents examples from classroom practice.