Self reported grades comes out at the top of all influences. Children are the most accurate when predicting how they will perform. In a video Hattie explains that if he could write his book Visible Learning for Teachers again, he would re-name this learning strategy “Student Expectations” to express more clearly that this strategy involves the teacher finding out what are the student’s expectations and pushing the learner to exceed these expectations. Once a student has performed at a level that is beyond their own expectations, he or she gains confidence in his or her learning ability.

Example for Self-reported grades: Before an exam, ask your class to write down what mark the student expects to achieve. Use this information to engage the student to try to perform even better.

Hattie cites five meta-studies:

• Mabe/West (1982): Validity of self-evaluation of ability (Abstract)
• Fachikov/Boud (1989): Student Self-Assessment in Higher Education (Abstract)
• Ross (1998): Self-assessment in second language testing (Abstract)
• Falchikov/Goldfinch (2000): Student Peer Assessment in Higher Education (Abstract)
• Kuncel/Crede/Thomas (2005); The Validity of Self-Reported Grade Point Averages, Class Ranks, and Test Scores (Abstract)