Teague’s Going Forward Assessment

Going Forward Assessment

     Going Forward Assessment is my formative and summative assessment strategy. Going Forward assessment means that, during Week 1, I will advise mhy students of items that are not matching the rubric, or that need to be corrected Going Forward to earn full points on an assignment. Assessment is my classes is aligned to a posted rubric. The rubrics are posted at the beginning of each course. The rubrics often contain the same categories of Content, Mechanics, and APA Documentation in addition to specific assignment sections. For the first assessment cycle, my students are advised to look for the words “Going Forward” in my assessment comments. 

     For me, I often learned what should have been done or included with an assignment, after it was assessed. By then, full points had been deducted and there was no way to redo the assignment and earn back the points. This is why I decided to create a slightly different assessment model called Going Forward assessment. 

     My Going Forward assessment messages explain repetitive or procedural things that students need to do “Going Forward” to continue to earn full points in the rubric categories. In other words, students may have received full points during Week 1 for good-faith attempts at assignment completion, but may lose those points going forward, if rubric-related performance indicators are not addressed and corrected. 

     It is quite possible that students may see a high assessment score but will lose that high score Going Forward if they do not correct items that are not matching the rubric. So please read my assessment comments even if you receive full points for an assignment. 

     For example, in essay assignments, students sometimes choose to write a lengthy post emphasizing mainly their opinion with a scant reference to the weekly class resources. In this case, a Going Forward message might read, “to keep full points/almost full points, please continue to reference the weekly Class Resources even more in your initial post.” In futur weeks, points will be deducted because after a course policy video, references to rubrics and policy, time for questions and answers, it is time for implementation.

     In another example, a student may have articulated important points during a whole class discussion, but in their enthusiasm, they interrupted other students. A Going Forward message might note minimal points deduction with a reminder about courtesy discussion with a note to correct the behavior in the future so that full points rubric points will not be deducted. 

     Going Forward assessment benefits students by decentralizing the attempted completion aspect of student-created work from the criterion-referenced aspect of rubric assessment. Going Forward suggests an iterative, continuing, and progressive movement. Going Forward assessment promotes Mastery Learning instead of Mystery Assessment. 

Consider adapting the Going Forward assessment strategy with your classes.

~Helen Teague

First Published April 1, 2014
Last Update: January 5, 2026

Shirkey’s premise that the “sustaining force of political will” has the potential to bring the two circles together seems plausible. As a bi-product, it may also usher in a new form of arguing but as they say in the South, “For every dark road, there’s someone behind you with a flashlight.”