There are two principle components of the ongoing assessment process: establishing criteria and providing feedback.

Criteria for each performance of understanding need to be:

• clear (articulated explicitly at the beginning of each performance of understanding--though they may well evolve over the course of the performance, especially if it is new to the teacher as well as the students).

• relevant (closely related to the understanding goals for the unit).

• public (everyone in the classroom knows and understands them).

Feedback needs to:

• occur frequently, from the beginning of the unit to its conclusion, in conjunction with performances of understanding. Some occasions for feedback may be formal and planned (such as those related to presentations); some may be more casual and informal (such as responding to a student's comment in a class discussion).

• provide students with not only information about how well they have carried out performances, but also how they might improve them.

• inform your planning of subsequent classes and activities.

• come from a variety of perspectives: from students' reflection on their own work, from classmates reflecting on one another's work, and from the teacher.