The Ten Step Portfolio Process

1. Establish a  program policy on portfolios.  Involve teachers, families, administrators and more to create a guidance policy.  Have a trial period and then review and adjust the policy as needed.
2. Determine what items will be collected.  What types of items, how often they’ll be collected, how many will be collected, and whether they will be scored first, are all questions to consider.  This should be included in your portfolio policy.
3. Take photographs.  Pictures of children and activities should be taken often.  Always keep a loaded camera handy if possible.
4. Include learning logs.  A learning log is an ongoing record, created by children and teachers together, to document and discuss their activities.
5. Conduct interviews with children to gain a better understanding of what they really know and accomplish.  This method can be combined with learning log discussions.
6. Have systematic records.  These are observations done to see certain behaviors or activities in specific settings.  They can come from information collected in learning logs and interviews.
7. Take anecdotal records.  Be sure to take notes on individual children’s  “important developmental events” (p.116).
8. Write narrative reports based on collected data and samples.  These should be brief summaries of children’s progress, key learning in various domains and topics, and goals.
9. Try three-way portfolio conferences, including the teacher, parents, and the child if possible.  Children should have started to take their learning more seriously through logs and interviews, but some may still not be ready.
10. Prepare transition portfolios to pass along to the child’s next teachers.   Parents and children should help educators make decisions about which contents will be included.  Whether and how your program does this should be established in your portfolio policy.