Students can assist with examining the work they have done and the value of it. During the discussion of the unit, mathematical calculations concerning the total class score can be used.

Suppose a teacher gives a fifty-item examination on which forty of them represent the major objectives and ten of them additional interesting learnings. What would perfect class scores be like in a group with thirty members?

Obviously to expect everyone to correctly answer all items is unrealistic. Rather, the teacher would expect that the majority of the students would have mastered the basic items and a portion of the class would have learned the remaining ones. It is exciting to see a class do well on an exam.

The teacher can analyze the results to determine if one or more individuals brought the class score down or whether missed items were spread throughout the class. Special future help can be based on such observations. If all do poorly the teacher needs to examine the choice of the material used, the circumstances under which it was taught, the appropriateness of methods used, and his/her attitude toward the teaching task.

Discussion of test scores with an individual will be concerned with whether or not the basic facts have been learned and how assistance can be given now and in the future.

The teacher rather than threats should communicate care and concern. Negative insinuations or judgments about inadequacies should be made with care even when a student has been negligent in taking responsibility. It is important to communicate honest care and concern rather than mouthing superficial caring phrases. Students are quick to identify the difference. Negative, punitive judgments often reflect more concerning fears and inadequacies or weaknesses of the teacher than of the students.

Let students talk about the group score on an examination. Students can learn how to share both positive and negative comments.

Learners who know they are being heard are not likely to resort to unusual means for making their point. Students who sense they are being heard join in a partnership with the teacher and other class members to make a good class reputation even better.

It becomes exciting for both teachers and students when they perceive that treating one another with "dignity and respect" takes place in evaluation as well as throughout the previous steps. It is threatening if a student continually feels a need to prove him/herself. It is encouraging when acceptance is communicated and reassurance given.

This kind of atmosphere creates a new kind of motivation and rapidly propels the students into step one for the next topic. It is "creating a setting" in the total classroom which is truly motivating.