ADDING ACCOUNTABILITY TO TRAINING AND CONFIDENTIALITY IN IMPROVING PEER ASSESSMENT EFFECTIVENESS

Existing research indicates peer reviews have been found to positively correlate to other performance criteria when raters were properly trained and the process was done in a confidential manner. This report details the findings of a three-year study comparing undergraduate management students ’ formal course test scores with the assessments received by fellow team members. The study involved 28 offerings of 7 different management courses, totaling 488 students. In addition to traditional instruction on the 360-degree feedback process and a confidential review process, students were knowingly held accountable for the quality of the assessments they gave their fellow team members. All seven course analyses revealed a positive correlation between the students ’ test scores and their evaluations by their peers, four of them significantly