Situational and other sociocultural perspectives on learning interpret knowledge as a fundamentally social discourse to improve formative assessment and practice (Gutierrez & Rogoff, 2003; Lave & Wenger , 1991) and consider participation in discourse, for example. for example, as a primary characterization of learning and knowledge. In this sense, strengthening participation in discursive practices constitutes learning and not simply something that supports learning. In this article, the authors rely on Hickey, et. al.' sociocultural views of classroom discourse, which view social interaction as integral to meaning-making and learning (e.g., Mercer, 2004; Wickman and Ostman, 2002; Wortham, 2005), but which hold also takes into account the understanding and skills of individuals. These researchers characterize the act of conducting individual assessments as another form of participation in a trajectory of discursive practices that connect understanding in social situations to what is "gathered" in more individualized contexts (often unavoidable in formal education ). Such learning is a trajectory of participation in discursive practices in which students must engage with the text and inscriptions of assessments in a meaningful way. This practice necessarily relies on other, less formal, discursive representations. Hickey et al. (2005) considered the latter type in their analyses, which were then refined in three stages with the aim of supporting students' abilities to navigate a more formal discursive representation such as that of achievement tests. a program is socially constituted and supported by individuals in participatory contexts that shape student and teacher engagement (Gutiérrez & Rogoff, 2003; Holland, Lachiotte, Skinner, & Cain, 1998)....... middle of the article .. ....actice supports the learning of a “descriptive process”. Student and teacher engagement in collaborative activities can be said to support and constrain meaningful understanding, which is considered in terms of the trajectory of participation in and through multi-level conversations and assessments, as well as the gains from individual learning during formal classroom exams and standards-based assessments. external tests. Analyzes of complementary formulations of gender concepts – as social action – suggest that participation in social forms of scientific engagement supports both learning and subsequent performance in more formal contexts. The results obtained in this study suggest design principles for integrating the formative functions of discursive feedback with the summative functions of traditional assessment, through participation in different forms of rhetoric-based discourse.).