Based on your specific goals for the assignment and available time, you can choose from two different rating options when assigning a Peer Review:
- All students can rate (no prerequisites)
- Only students who have mastered NoRedInk's practice topics (mastery required) - only available to Premium Writing teachers
In either option, students can begin rating peers immediately after submitting writing in the first step of your Peer Review. However, the rating option you choose determines what criteria students can actually rate peers on.Â
See below for an overview of the two different options:
 | All students can rate | Only students with mastery |
Prerequisites | None | Separate Practice assignment |
Students can rate peers on... | All criteria | Only criteria they have mastered via Practice, and any criteria without prerequisites |
Good for... | Ensuring all students can participate right away and rate peers on all criteria you assign | Ensuring students have a baseline of skills so they can give effective feedback to peers |
Considerations | Students may not be prepared to give effective feedback, especially on more advanced criteria | The assignment may take longer overall since students will need to complete the Practice prerequisite |
FAQs about requiring mastery in a Peer Review
What does mastery mean?
- After selecting an essay component, you'll select your Rating and Grading criteria
- Each criterion are associated with different topic pathways on NoRedInk
- In order for students to provide feedback on those criteria, they must master the topics associated with each criterion via a separate Practice assignment
How many prerequisite topics does each criterion have?
- Some criterion have no prerequisites
- Criteria with prerequisites have at least one associated topic pathway, and some criteria with more complex and nuanced concepts have more than one
- For example, "Fact vs. Opinion" has one associated topic, while "Wordy vs. Concise" has 6 associated topics students must master
When should students complete the separate Practice assignment?
- If you choose to require students to master skills prior to rating peers' work, you will create an additional Practice assignment with the prerequisite topics
- Students will see this Practice as a distinct assignment on their dashboard
- Students should complete this Practice assignment before you start your Peer Review
Do I have to assign Practice, or can students achieve Mastery on their own?
- If students have previously achieved Mastery through independent Practice, they are also eligible to rate peers, even though you didn't assign the Practice
- If a student has already achieved Mastery on the topics, they will be given a brief refresher quiz.
Can a student still rate peers if they haven't achieved mastery yet?
- In any Peer Review, students can begin rating peers on the Rate step after submitting writing in the first step, regardless of whether they have achieved mastery via Practice
- When rating, students will only see questions for criteria they have already mastered
- If a student hasn't achieved mastery via Practice, she will only be able to leave comments or answer questions on criteria without prerequisites
- If you do not want your students to begin rating peers until they have achieved mastery, you should have your students complete Practice before you manually start your Peer Review. That way, students won't see or be able to start the Peer Review until they have demonstrated mastery via Practice