Definition
Portfolio
assessment
provides a
body of
student
work--essentially,
a
portfolio--that
can be used to
appraise
student
performance
over time.
Discussion
Portfolio
assessment
ranges from
portfolios
that
demonstrates
the student's
best work to
an "expanded
student
record" that
holds a full
representation
of the
student's
work, from
math equations
to essays on
literature.
There has been
some confusion
in the field
as to who the
portfolio is
being kept
for. For
example, in
some cases,
student
portfolios
serve as a
replacement
for the high
school diploma
or transcript.
The
disadvantage
of portfolios
is that
they're not as
quick and easy
to evaluate,
plus they're
hard to rank,
as with a
grade or
score. Because
portfolios are
qualitative,
many employers
find them
difficult to
use as a
determinant of
a candidate's
skills. Often,
employers
would rather
see a
quantitative
demonstration
of a student's
best skills
and work.
Some
schools create
portfolios
that serve as
a
representative
sample of a
student's
work, showing
the range of
performance
and
experience.
Such records
usually hold
far more
information
that employers
need. Other
schools want
to use
portfolios as
an assessment
tool to
provide an
alternative to
standardized
or teacher
testing.
In some
schools there
has been much
discussion on
who "owns" the
portfolio, the
student or the
school?
Ownership
implies who
gets to decide
what goes into
the portfolio,
where the
portfolio is
stored, and
what happens
to the
portfolio
after
graduation.
Let's look
the
implications
portfolios
have on the
following
elements of
education:
-
Curriculum--Some
people
believe that
using
portfolios
will enable
teachers to
broaden
their
curriculum
to include
areas they
traditionally
could not
assess with
standardized
testing. How
well this
works
depends on
how much a
curriculum
is developed
"to the
test," in
other words,
how much
curriculum
is geared
towards
achieving
high test
scores
rather than
learning for
learning's
sake.
-
Instruction--Portfolio
assessment
appears to
compliment a
teacher's
use of
instructional
strategies
centered
around
teamwork,
projects,
and applied
learning.
Portfolios
are also
compatible
with more
individualized
instruction,
as well as
strategies
focused on
different
learning
styles.
-
Assessment--A
portfolio
can be used
as an
assessment
tool.
External
assessors--employers,
evaluation
panels, and
so on--can
benefit from
them.
Teachers can
also utilize
them to
judge
student
performance.
Plus,
students can
use their
own
portfolios
for
self-assessment
and
reflection.
The content on this page was written
by On Purpose Associates in
http://www.funderstanding.com/portfolio_assessment.cfm.
