Hi @kmcgrath - Sorry your question has been out here for a few weeks; perhaps you have figured out the issue now on your own. But peer reviews can be tricky, and peer review discussions even trickier. (And the Student View is of no help here.) Assuming you set up the discussion as a peer review, as you stated, if I am understanding your question and screen captures correctly, then in fact the second set of screen captures is indicative of a correctly completed peer review. The first screen capture is NOT a peer review by Canvas' definition: it is a reply to a discussion. That is not the same as a peer review. (Again, the way peer review is defined by Canvas.)
For Canvas to consider the peer review complete, the student must comment on the assigned student's discussion post, not reply to it. That is exactly what the second screen capture shows: the student commented, in a comment box, on the quality of his/her assigned student's discussion post. This is a case where the student documentation is arguably better than the instructor's. Here is the appropriate student documentation to illustrate the process from the student's perspective: How do I submit a peer review to a discussion? In fact, I'll bet if you have the student involved in the comment on your second screen capture login to Canvas in front of you, it will show him/her that the peer review is complete. As instructor you should head to the discussion in question, click the options icon and head to the Peer Reviews screen, and view which ones Canvas considers complete. (As shown under the View Assigned Peer Reviews heading on this page: How do I automatically assign peer reviews for a discussion? ) Again, I'm pretty sure you will see that the student shown on your second screen capture will be considered "completed" (checkmark), whereas the first one will not.
I do not blame you for the confusion, and [personal opinion] this is one reason why I find the peer review process for discussions, specifically, a bit counter-intuitive for all involved. Students are generally used to replying to discussions; discussions are, by design, a public-like forum, and faculty often ask them to reply to a fellow student. (The same does not apply to peer review of assignments; there, students are used to the idea that the submission is relatively private and a peer review will only be seen by the submitter and the peer reviewer(s) involved.)
I highly recommend to my own faculty that links to student documentation for any sort of peer review exercise is absolutely vital. You saw the student documentation link, above, for peer review for discussions. Assuming you want to grade students based on their public replies to other students, my suggestion is to not make it a peer review, but rather to require students reply to one another and grade appropriately from there.
I hope this helps a bit, Kimzey...and that I properly understood your issue.
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