Portfolio Assessment

 



The information in this section is taken from the 1993 book Effective Instruction of Difficult to Teach Students by L. Idol & F.W. West (Austin, Texas: Pro Ed).

Student Portfolio Definitions

  1. A portfolio is a collection of selected examples of the type and quality of work that a student has produced in any given subject area.  This collection serves as an exhibit of work that is reflective of that particular student's skills, either at a single point in time or at various points in time (Idol & West).
  2. According to Paulson, Paulson, and Meyer (1991), a portfolio is defined as "a purposeful collection of a student work that exhibits the student's efforts, progress, and achievements in one or more areas.  The collection must include: student participation in selecting contents; the criteria for selection; the criteria for judging merit; and evidence of student reflection."
  3. Portfolios are a purposeful collection of learner work in an area of learning (Pillay, 1997).  They may include: research papers, book reports, journals, logs, photographs, drawings, video/audio tapes, abstracts of readings, group projects, software, slides and test results.
  4. Arter and Spandel (1991) define the portfolio as a purposeful collection of student work that exhibits to the student, or others, her efforts or achievement in one or more areas.
  5. According to Meisels and Steele (1991), portfolios enable children to participate in assessing their own work; keep track of individual children's progress; and provide a basis for evaluating the quality of individual children's overall performance.

A portfolio may consist of two folders.  One folder is a work portfolio, and the other is an assessment portfolio.  The work portfolio holds all work for a period of time (e.g. 1-4 weeks), and students always have access to it.  Students may make revisions of samples and attach the revisions to the original work.  At the end of the designated period, students take an active role in reviewing the work portfolios and transferring representative work samples to the assessment portfolio.  The teacher and student discuss and select the work to be placed in the assessment portfolio.  This allows students to feel ownership of their work and responsibility for the learning process.  In this process, students become judges of their own best work and become proficient at selecting those samples representative of their work.  The portfolio can be used for multiple purposes of assessment.

Portfolio Uses

  1. As a means of conducting an initial assessment of the type and quality of skills students have at the beginning of a course or a school year or a semester.  Students could be required to prepare this initial portfolio as a means of providing initial assessment data to the teacher; these data could then be used to form a base for planning for future instruction.
  2. To assess student progress in an ongoing and periodic fashion to compare progress of the student over time.  A portfolio of this type could include samples of the same task done to perfection over time, as in An Example of Multiple Efforts toward Skill Mastery.  In this example a student has written a first, second and third draft of a poem.  All three pieces could be kept in the portfolio, with dates on each, to indicate the tremendous amount of progress this student has made.
  3. To examine students' progress over time.
  4. To involve students in a process of self-evaluation.
  5. To serve as an alternative to standardized testing.
  6. To identify instructional strengths and areas needing improvement.
  7. To assist students and teachers in setting goals.
  8. To provide time for reflection about students' accomplishments.
  9. To replace competency exams.
  10. To serve as an end-of-semester/end-of-year culminating project.
  11. To assess curriculum needs.
  12. To connect reading, writing, and thinking.
  13. To evaluate the kinds of assignments instructors give students.
  14. To serve as a means for changing our conversations with parents and the public.
  15. To serve as the basis for parent conferences.
  16. To demonstrate to students their own progress and growth.
  17. To give importance to daily writing and work.

Guidelines for Portfolio Development

  1. Developing a portfolio offers the student an opportunity to learn about learning.  Therefore, the end product must contain information that shows that a student has engaged in self-reflection.
  2. The portfolio is something that is done by the student, not to the student.
  3. The portfolio is separate and different from the student's cumulative folder.
  4. The portfolio must convey, explicitly or implicitly, the student's activities.
  5. The portfolio may serve a purpose during the year different from the purpose it serves at the end of the year.
  6. A portfolio may have multiple purposes, but these must not conflict.
  7. The portfolio should contain information that illustrates growth.
  8. Many of the skills and techniques that are involved in producing effective portfolios do not happen by themselves. Models are needed.
  9. The hallmark of a portfolio used for assessment is that the learner selects the content.
  10. The items are chosen according to a set of standards or objectives connected to the curriculum or learning event.
  11. Items chosen should represent a documented history of learning and an organized demonstration of accomplishment.
  12. A portfolio can serve as a catalyst for reflection on one's growth as a learner and a means of identifying areas for improvement.
  13. A portfolio can serve as a tool for presenting oneself to potential employers.

Components of a Portfolio

The portfolio can include work samples, records of systematic observation and screening tests.  Systematic observation must be objective, selective, unobtrusive and carefully recorded (Bertrand and Cebula, 1980).  Ideally, a portfolio includes:

  1. Anecdotal Records: These are factual, nonjudgmental notes on children's activity (Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, 1991).
  2. Checklist or inventory: This should be based on instructional objectives and the skills being monitored.  Observations should be based on regular activities, not on specially designed or contrived activities.
  3. Rating Scales: These are appropriately used when the behavior to be observed has several aspects or components, such as a child's success at following directions in different situations.
  4. Questions and Requests: One of the most effective and easiest means of gathering information is to ask direct, open-ended questions of individual children.
  5. Screening Tests: These are used to help identify the skills and strengths that children already possess, so that teachers can plan meaningful learning experiences for their students.

Criteria for Evaluating Student Portfolios

Use multiple areas for evaluating, i.e., assign points to different categories of performance.  An example would be:

Points for Area to Be Evaluated

20-Overall quality of presentation.

20-Accuracy of information presented.

20-Degree of match between what you think the student is capable of producing and what has actually been done.

20-Amount of innovation, creativity, and unique ideas contained in the contents.

20-The accuracy of the mechanics of the writing.

20-Degree of match between the critical curricular goals you established and what the student has produced.

10-The student has provided reflection and input on accomplishments and areas in need of improvement.

130-TOTAL POSSIBLE POINTS +10-Bonus points for portfolios completed one week earlier than the turn-in deadline date.

Note: The author of this course arbitrarily developed this weighting system and items.  You are encouraged to develop your own items and weights, etc.