Portfolio Assessment

Types of Portfolio

Advantages of Classroom Portfolios:

Portfolio assessment:

• Provides records of a student’s work over time and in a variety of modes to show the depth, breadth, and development of the students’ abilities; • Is purposeful and systematic collection of student work that reflects accomplishment relative to specific instructional goals; • May include collection of items such as:  Audiotape of a story retelling;  Journal of writing ideas;  Student-written books;  Descriptions and diagrams of problem-solving processes;  journal notes recording mathematical investigations;  a computer-generated map of a student’s neighborhood;  sketches, painting, sculptures, and photographs;  journal entries that include self-evaluation;  representative work samples (all subject areas);  case studies;  photographs;  reflections and self-assessments.

1. Learning progress over time can be clearly shown (e.g., changes in writing, thinking, or research skills). 2. Focus on students’ best work provides a positive influence on learning (e.g. best writing samples, best examples of reasoning and problem solving). 3. Comparing present work to past outputs provide greater motivation than comparison to the work of others. 4. Self-assessment skills are increased due to student selection of best samples of work. 5. Reflective learning is encouraged as students are asked to comment on each portfolio entry (e.g., Why do you consider this your best work?). 6. Providing for adjustment to individual differences (. 7. Providing for clear communication of learning progress to students, parents, and others (e.g., work samples obtained at different times can be shown and compared). 8. Increasing teacher-student collaboration in the teaching-learning-assessment process.

Types of Portfolio

• 1. Showcase portfolios
• 2. Documentation portfolios
• 3. Evaluation portfolios
• 4. Process portfolios

Defining Portfolio Assessments Refers to an assessment that is based on “a collection of selected student work – products of performance assessment that serve as the basis for ongoing evaluation but may not reflect authentic tasks”.

Planning for the Use of Portfolios There are number of factors to keep in mind when planning for the use of portfolios in the classroom. A careful consideration of them will increase a portfolio’s value as an instructional and assessment tool.

Evaluating the Portfolio As in any performance assessment, the criteria for each performance task that is to serve as an entry should be specified beforehand. The criteria provide guidelines for preparing and evaluating the entry and should be shared with students early in the process. They are typically converted to rating scales or other scoring rubrics that can be used in self-assessment, peer assessment, and teacher assessment. In addition to specific performance assessments, there is a need to evaluate the portfolio structure and he students’ overall performance.

Sample Portfolio Content - The following elements are the suggested contents for your portfolio. 1. Title Page/Cover Page 2. Table of Contents 3. Dedication/Acknowledgement 4. Statement of Purpose 5. Portfolio Entries 6. Rubric for evaluating the portfolio

The major considerations are:1. Purpose of the portfolio2. Types of entries to include 3. Guidelines for selecting and evaluating the entries 4. Maintaining and Using the Portfolios