The importance and role of criteria in the evaluation of writing

Based on data from previous research on how teachers deal with the process of returning texts to students after correction, we have performed a critical analysis of the evaluation procedures employed by a teacher in the final series of elementary education at a public school in the municipality of Olinda (PE).

The data were collected through observation of Portuguese language classes, with audio and field diary recording, and the analysis was based on a theoretical frame of reference centered on the concept of formative evaluation. Following the discussion of the corpus, we show a possibility of working approach that articulates the processes of teaching, evaluation and learning. The study led us to reassert the importance and role of criteria, regardless of the extent of the act of evaluating the learning in question.