At the Heart of Education: Portfolios as a Learning Tool (original) (raw)
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Portfolios in First Grade: Four Teachers Learn to Use Alternative Assessment
Day Care & Early Education, 1998
Educational assessment is experiencing significant changes which affect classroom practices. This article describes an in-depth qualitative study of the implementation of portfolio assessment by four first grade teachers. Creative activities and valuable insights were given by these teachers which allow for successful implementation of portfolios in the classroom. These teachers found three major benefits of portfolios: (1) a means of
Portfolios in Action: A Study of Two Classrooms with Implications for Reform
1993
The impact of portfolio assessment, specifically writing portfolios, on the norms of classroom assessment practices were studied in two English Language Arts classes in a middle class suburban high school in the Los Angeles (California) area. Data were gathered through observations and interviews, and the examination of 25 student portfolios, with student reflections and teacher comments, and 56 student compositions regarding portfolios. Students maintained working portfolios all semester, and selected items for permanent inclusion at the end of each semester. Portfolios counted heavily for grades in both classes. Portfolios in these classes met the qualifying criteria, but no impact on assessment practice was discernible. A single significant criterion was apparent in both classes, and that was completion of the assignment on time. Neither quality of work nor student growth appeared to be a consideration. Both teachers expressed discomfort regarding assessment. Students generally expressed favorable attitudes toward portfolios, but most (9 of the 11 interviewed) viewed the teacher as the primary variable in determining grades. Findings suggest that even expert instructors may lack the awareness, knowledge, and skills to participate in professional assessment practices, particularly with portfolios. One graph and one chart illustrate the discussion. (SLD)
Developing portfolios for integrating teaching, learning, and assessment
2005
Fellow, who continues to provide encouragement. We gratefully acknowledge the support of Mrs. Lynda Quamina-Aiyejina, on whose expertise as a documentalist we depend. We thank Christabell Dookhie, teacher of Pleasantville Senior Comprehensive School, for allowing us to use samples of her work and that of her students as illustrations. We are grateful to Dr. Maria Byron, Senior Lecturer, School of Education, UWI, St. Augustine and Mrs. Iris Hewitt-Bradshaw, Lecturer, Corinth Teachers' College, for their invaluable comments on selected areas of the manuscript. We also wish to thank the staff of the Multimedia Production Centre, School of Education, UWI, who accommodated our demanding production deadline.
Portfolio Assessment: A Guide For Teachers And Administrators
2012
This article examines the use of portfolios as a means of assessing elementary-aged students. The advantages and disadvantages of portfolio-based assessment are discussed and the parameters, guidelines, and the necessary conditions for implementing a portfolio-based assessment process are examined. Recommendations for establishing portfolios as an essential component in a comprehensive assessment process are provided.
Educational Assessment, 1997
A case study across 2 different elementary education settings examined (1) how well portfolios document literacy learning that is both authentic and aligned with curriculum; (2) teachers' ability to interpret and evaluate portfolio evidence from more than one site; and what teachers learn about literacy instruction and assessment as a result °of cross-site collaboration. The two programs were the Bellevue Literacy Portfolio Project (located in a suburb of Seattle, Washington) and the Kamehameha Elementary Education Program (a privately funded educational research and development effort in Hawaii). Results suggest that portfolios contained authentic artifacts of students' literacy experiences, although there was a substantial amount of evidence judged to be missing from the portfolios. Nevertheless, with a shared understanding of literacy learning, teachers were able to reach a high degree of agreement when rating portfolios from different sites and enhance their understanding of both learning and assessment through the cross-site evaluation process. Findings should not be interpreted simply as findings on portfolio assessment--they must be interpreted in light of a complete portfolio system in which attention is given to generating and collecting artifacts, supporting collaborative evaluation, and providing ongoing professional development. Supportive internal and external conditions must be present if portfolios are to become effective tools for literacy assessment and professional development.
Portfolio Assessment: A Celebration of Learning
The Assessment Handbook: PEMEA Continuing Education Program, 2009
This article is a summary of a presentation delivered in the 1st PEMEA Continuing Education Program which aims to equip teachers with a basic know-how of portfolio assessment to enable them to effectively assess student learning and evaluate educational outcomes. The seminar focused on current trends in classroom assessment, particularly the development and use of portfolios in the basic education level.
Assessment Portfolios as Opportunities for Teacher Learning. CRESST Report 736
National Center For Research on Evaluation Standards and Student Testing, 2008
This report is an analysis of the role of assessment portfolios in teacher learning. Over 18 months, 19 experienced science teachers worked in grade-level teams to design, implement, and evaluate assessments to track student learning throughout a curriculum unit, supported by semi-structured tasks and resources in assessment portfolios. Teachers had the opportunity to complete three assessment portfolios for two or three curriculum units. Evidence of teacher learning included (a) changes over time in the contents of 10 teachers' portfolios spanning Grades 1-9 and (b) the full cohort's self-reported learning in surveys and focus groups. Findings revealed that Academy teachers developed greater understanding of assessment planning, quality assessments and scoring guides, strategies for analysis of student understanding, and use of evidence to guide instruction. Evidence of broad impact on teacher learning was balanced by evidence of uneven growth, particularly with more advanced assessment concepts such as reliability and fairness as well as curriculum-specific methods for developing and using assessments and scoring guides. The findings point to a need for further research on ways to balance general approaches to professional development with content specific strategies to deepen teacher skill and knowledge. their contributions to the findings reported here. The professional development team was co-directed by Kathy Diranna (WestEd) and Craig Strang (Lawrence Hall of Science), and the team consisted of
1994
Most of this paper is, like many research papers, a simple recounting of our experience working with teachers who were beginning to use portfolios in their literature classrooms. It is, for the most part, a practical paper, since the research, conducted through the National Research Center on Literature Teaching and Learning, uses a case-study approach in investigating how teachers use portfolios. But the researchand the arguments stemming from the research-becomes more complex, since the use of portfolios in classrooms takes on a metaphoric or symbolic role in education.
Portfolio as a student’s assessment tool: lesson learned
2019
The study examined the potential of portfolio as a tool of assessment in the process of final evaluation of students’ competence. This empirical study was joined by 29 students taking English Teaching Media subject at the English Education Study Program, the University ofPalangka Raya using portfolio to assess the students’ activities in the aspects of presentation, exercises, mid-term test and final project. The students’ performance in the portfolio was rated by using a rating scale of 1 (below the standard, emerging) to 4 (exceeds the standard, exemplary). The results revealed both the advantages and limitations of portfolio for the students’ final evaluation and also the possibilities of optimization as an assessment tool for the lecturers to reflectively think about their practices