I like that it repeats the importance of the process here. I noticed that in the official definition it does not mention a means of ranking students, but rather a process intended to improve student achievement. I think too much emphasis gets place on the grade by both students and the teacher and not enough emphasis on the learning.

While I believe that teaching the subject encourages deeper understanding, the counselor me is more cautious about the potential harm in pairing the wrong students. I think it would be imperative to choose the right partners to insure optimal learning.

This statement couldn't be more true. I think that people assume that all assessments are created equal and that just because you have gathered data means that the data is relevant and measuring what you want in to measure. This is not always the case, but people get distracted by numbers and forget that even though it is a number, it is still open for interpretation and analysis.

I think the hardest thing about testing bias is realizing it is a problem. Typically it creeps in when you aren't aware. Bias will often enter a question out of ignorance rather than intention.