MODULE 5

Portfolio Assessment

INTRODUCTION
This module discusses portfolio assessment. Topics included in this module
include the definition and description of portfolio in education, the different types of
portfolio, parts of portfolio, the pros and cons of using portfolio assessment. We will
also include the parts of student-teachers portfolio which will serve as a guide for
students who will be deployed for student-teaching.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

After completing this module, you should be able to:

a. Describe a portfolio;
b. Identify the different kinds of portfolio ;
c. Identify the essential parts of a portfolio;
d. Explain the advantages and disadvantages of using portfolio as an
assessment tool
LEARNING CONTENT

LESSON 1: PORTFOLIO ASSESSMENT

Portfolio assessment is a term with many meanings, and it is a process that can
serve a variety of purposes. A portfolio is a collection of student work that can exhibit a
student's efforts, progress, and achievements in various areas of the curriculum. A
portfolio assessment can be an examination of student-selected samples of work
experiences and documents related to outcomes being assessed, and it can address
and support progress toward achieving academic goals, including student efficacy.
Portfolio assessments have been used for large-scale assessment and accountability
purposes (e.g., the Vermont and Kentucky statewide assessment systems), for
purposes of school-to-work transitions, and for purposes of certification. For example,
portfolio assessments are used as part of the National Board for Professional Teaching
Standards assessment of expert teachers.

KEY CHARACTERISTICS OF PROTFOLIO ASSESSMENT

 A portfolio is a form of assessment that students do together with their

teachers.
 A portfolio is not just a collection of student work, but a selection - the
student must be involved in choosing and justifying the pieces to be
included.
 A portfolio provides samples of the student’s work which show growth
over time. By reflecting on their own learning (self-assessment), students
begin to identify the strengths and weaknesses in their work.
These weaknesses then become improvement goals.
 The criteria for selecting and assessing the portfolio contents must be
clear to the teacher and the students at the outset of the process.
 The entries in an EFL portfolio can demonstrate learning and growth
in all language domains/skills, or can focus on a specific skill such as
appreciation of literature, or writing,

Lesson 2: The Development of Portfolio Assessment

Portfolio assessments grew in popularity in the United States in the 1990s as part
of a widespread interest in alternative assessment. Because of high-stakes
accountability, the 1980s saw an increase in norm-referenced, multiple-choice tests
designed to measure academic achievement. By the end of the decade, however, there
were increased criticisms over the reliance on these tests, which opponents believed
assessed only a very limited range of knowledge and encouraged a "drill and kill"
multiple-choice curriculum. Advocates of alternative assessment argued that teachers
and schools modeled their curriculum to match the limited norm-referenced tests to try
to assure that their students did well, "teaching to the test" rather than teaching
content relevant to the subject matter. Therefore, it was important that assessments
were worth teaching to and modeled the types of significant teaching and learning
activities that were worthwhile educational experiences and would prepare students for
future, real-world success.

Involving a wide variety of learning products and artifacts, such assessments

would also enable teachers and researchers to examine the wide array of complex
thinking and problem-solving skills required for subject-matter accomplishment. More
likely than traditional assessments to be multidimensional, these assessments also could
reveal various aspects of the learning process, including the development of cognitive
skills, strategies, and decision-making processes. By providing feedback to schools and
districts about the strengths and weaknesses of their performance, and influencing
what and how teachers teach, it was thought portfolio assessment could support the
goals of school reform. By engaging students more deeply in the instructional and
assessment process, furthermore, portfolios could also benefit student learning.

SPECIFYING PORTFOLIO CONTENT

Specify what, and how much, has to be included in the portfolio - both core and options
(it is important to include options as these enable self-expression and independence).

Specify for each entry how it will be assessed. The students should be acquainted
with the scoring guides/rating scales that will be used before performing the task.

Portfolio entries can take many forms - written, audio and video-recorded items,
artifacts (e.g., a T-shirt, an annotated drawing, a model), dialogue journals, etc.

It is recommended to request a limited number of portfolio entries.

Give clear and detailed guidelines for portfolio presentation

Explain the need for:
§ clear and attractive presentation
§ dated drafts
§ attached reflections or comment cards

Explain how the portfolio will be graded and when it needs to be Remember -
unfamiliar ways of teaching and assessment are potentially threatening and confusing
to students. It is important to present the portfolio guidelines clearly, and to go over
the guidelines periodically. Although all the guidelines - goals, content, timetable, etc.
should be presented to the class orally, so that they can discuss the procedure and ask
questions, there should also be written guidelines to back-up the points discussed and
for reference while preparing the portfolio. It is helpful to prepare these guidelines in
question-and-answer. These can be written in the student’s mother tongue if necessary.

Portfolio Development Competencies

These competencies are presented as an addition to accepted teaching standards or

content standards for students.

Below are the competencies:

Teacher Competencies Student Competencies

 Model all of student competencies  Collect evidence of learning

PLUS:  Select specific evidence the
 Articulate the difference between demonstrates a particular outcome,
assessment OF learning and goal or standard
assessment FOR learning  Reflect metacognitively on learning
 Implement classroom-based represented in evidence, making a
assessment FOR learning strategies case that the artifacts constitute
 Provide specific and detailed evidence of achievement
feedback to learners about their  Make connections in their learning
learning  Set goals for future learning
 Support student reflection through
modeling and research-based
practices
 Create an environment that
facilitates students' deep learning

Steps in implementing a classroom portfolio program

Talk to your students about your ideas of the portfolio, the different
1. Make sure students
purposes, and the variety of work samples. If possible, have them help
own their portfolios.
make decisions about the kind of portfolio you implement.

Will the focus be on growth or current accomplishments? Best work

2. Decide on the showcase or documentation? Good portfolios can have multiple
purpose. purposes but the teacher and students need to be clear about the
purpose.

3. Decide what work For example, in writing, is every writing assignment included? Are
samples to collect, early drafts as well as final products included?
 Decide where the work sample will be stored. For example, will each
4. Collect and store
student have a file folder in a file cabinet, or a small plastic tub on a
work samples,
shelf in the classroom?

If possible, work with students to develop scoring rubrics. This may

take considerable time as different rubrics may be needed for the variety
5. Select criteria to
of work samples. If you are using existing scoring rubrics, discuss with
evaluate samples,
students possible modifications after the rubrics have been used at least
once.

Help students learn to evaluate their own work using agreed upon
6. Teach and require
criteria. For younger students, the self evaluations may be simple
students conduct self
(strengths, weaknesses, and ways to improve); for older students a more
evaluations of their
analytic approach is desirable including using the same scoring rubrics
own work,
that the teachers will use.

Teacher-student conferences are time consuming but conferences are

7. Schedule and
essential for the portfolio process to significantly enhance learning.
conduct portfolio
These conferences should aid students' self evaluation and should take
conferences ,
place frequently.

Parents need to understand the portfolio process. Encourage parents to

8. Involve parents. review the work samples. You may wish to schedule parent, teacher-
students conferences in which students talk about their work samples.

Notify other interested parties

Make sure that the school principal is aware of your new assessment procedures. It is
also a good idea to inform parents about the portfolio assessment and allow them to
comment on the work.

LESSON 4: Types and Uses of Portfolios

 While portfolios have broad potential and can be useful for the assessments of
students' performance for a variety of purposes in core curriculum areas, the contents
and criteria used to assess portfolios must be designed to serve those purposes. For
example, showcase portfolios exhibit the best of student performance, while working
portfolios may contain drafts that students and teachers use to reflect on
process. Progress portfolios contain multiple examples of the same type of work done
over time and are used to assess progress. If cognitive processes are intended for
assessment, content and rubrics must be designed to capture those processes.

Portfolio assessments can provide both formative and summative opportunities

for monitoring progress toward reaching identified outcomes. By setting criteria for
content and outcomes, portfolios can communicate concrete information about what is
expected of students in terms of the content and quality of performance in specific
curriculum areas, while also providing a way of assessing their progress along the way.
Depending on content and criteria, portfolios can provide teachers and researchers with
information relevant to the cognitive processes that students use to achieve academic
outcomes.

Uses of Portfolios
Much of the literature on portfolio assessment has focused on portfolios as a way
to integrate assessment and instruction and to promote meaningful classroom learning.
Many advocates of this function believe that a successful portfolio assessment program
requires the ongoing involvement of students in the creation and assessment process.
Portfolio design should provide students with the opportunities to become more
reflective about their own work, while demonstrating their abilities to learn and achieve
in academics.

For example, some feel it is important for teachers and students to work
together to prioritize the criteria that will be used as a basis for assessing and
evaluating student progress. During the instructional process, students and teachers
work together to identify significant pieces of work and the processes required for the
portfolio. As students develop their portfolio, they are able to receive feedback from
peers and teachers about their work. Because of the greater amount of time required
for portfolio projects, there is a greater opportunity for introspection and collaborative
reflection. This allows students to reflect and report about their own thinking processes
as they monitor their own comprehension and observe their emerging understanding of
subjects and skills. The portfolio process is dynamic and is affected by the interaction
between students and teachers.

Portfolio assessments can also serve summative assessment purposes in the

classroom, serving as the basis for letter grades. Student conferences at key points
during the year can also be part of the summative process. Such conferences involve
the student and teacher (and perhaps the parent) in joint review of the completion of
the portfolio components, in querying the cognitive processes related to artifact
selection, and in dealing with other relevant issues, such as students' perceptions of
individual progress in reaching academic outcomes.

The use of portfolios for large-scale assessment and accountability purposes

pose vexing measurement challenges. Portfolios typically require complex production
and writing, tasks that can be costly to score and for which reliability problems have
occurred. Generalizability and comparability can also be an issue in portfolio
assessment, as portfolio tasks are unique and can vary in topic and difficulty from one
classroom to the next. For example, Maryl Gearhart and Joan Herman have raised the
question of comparability of scores because of differences in the help students may
receive from their teachers, parents, and peers within and across classrooms. To the
extent student choice is involved, contents may even be different from one student to
the next. Conditions of, and opportunities for, performance thus vary from one student
to another.

These measurement issues take portfolio assessment outside of the domain of

conventional psychometrics. The qualities of the most useful portfolios for instructional
purposes–deeply embedded in instruction, involving student choice, and unique to each
classroom and student–seem to contradict the requirements of sound psychometrics.
However, this does not mean that psychometric methodology should be ignored, but
rather that new ways should be created to further develop measurement theory to
address reliability, validity, and generalizability.

Lesson 5: Essential Parts of Portfolio

It is important to include all of the following:

1. Cover Letter “About the author” and “What my portfolio shows about my progress
as a learner” (written at the end, but put at the beginning). The cover letter
summarizes the evidence of a student’s learning and progress.

2. Table of Contents with numbered pages.

3. Entries - both core (items students have to include) and optional (items of
student’s choice). The core elements will be required for each student and will provide a
common base from which to make decisions on assessment. The optional items will
allow the folder to represent the uniqueness of each student.
Students can choose to include “best” pieces of work, but also a piece of work which
gave trouble or one that was less successful, and give reasons why.
4. Dates on all entries, to facilitate proof of growth over time.

5. Drafts of aural/oral and written products and revised versions;

i.e., first drafts and corrected/revised versions.

6. Reflections can appear at different stages in the learning process (for formative
and/or summative purposes.) and can be written in the mother tongue at the lower
levels or by students who find it difficult to express themselves in English.
a. For each item - a brief rationale for choosing the item should be included.
This can relate to students’ performance, to their feelings regarding their progress
and/or themselves as learners.
Students can choose to reflect upon some or all of the following:

 What did I learn from it?

 What did I do well?
 Why (based on the agreed teacher-student assessment criteria) did I choose this
item?
 What do I want to improve in the item?
 How do I feel about my performance?
 What were the problem areas?

LESSON 6: ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF PORTFOLIO

ASSESSMENT

Here are some major disadvantages of portfolio use.

First, good portfolio assessment takes an enormous amount of teacher time and
organization. The time is needed to help students understand the purpose and structure
of the portfolio, decide which work samples to collect, and to self reflect. Some of this
time needs to be conducted in one-to-one conferences. Reviewing and evaluating the
portfolios out of class time is also enormously time consuming. Teachers have to weigh
if the time spent is worth the benefits of the portfolio use.
Second, evaluating portfolios reliability and eliminating bias can be even more
difficult than in a constructed response assessment because the products are more
varied. The experience of the state-wide use of portfolios for assessment in writing and
mathematics for fourth and eighth graders in Vermont is sobering. Teachers used the
same analytic scoring rubric when evaluating the portfolio. In the first two years of
implementation samples from schools were collected and scored by an external panel of
teachers. In the first year the agreement among raters (i.e. inter-rater reliability) was
poor for mathematics and reading; in the second year the agreement among raters
improved for mathematics but not for reading. However, even with the improvement in
mathematics the reliability was too low to use the portfolios for individual student
accountability (Koretz, Stecher, Klein & McCafirey, 1994). When reliability is low, validity
is also compromised because unstable results cannot be interpreted meaningfully.
Lesson 7: Student-Teacher Conferences

Student-Teacher Conferences are a one-on-one forum that allows both the

student and teacher to mutually discuss their concerns, feedback and goals. The
duration can vary from a short meeting (3-5 minutes) to a longer meeting (5-15
minutes), depending on the points that need to be addressed. The many benefits of
Student-Teacher Conferences makes it a very important and an essential strategy to be
incorporated within the classroom.
Good communication is essential in every classroom. It is crucial for the
development of an effective student-teacher relationship.Defined as individualized
meetings between the student and teacher, Student-Teacher Conferences play a vital
role in discussing the needs, requirements and progress of the student. In a time when
connecting with students is no easy task, these conferences can be a lifesaver.

Here are some of the reasons why Student-Teacher Conferences are important in the
classroom:
 The teacher can set clear expectations and goals for the student
 The teacher gains feedback from the students
 The teacher gains a better understanding of each student and is able to focus on the
areas that need more assistance
 The teacher demonstrates various individualized study strategies to assist with
learning
 The teacher can monitor each student’s progress
 The student can self reflect and critique their own work
 The student can seek clarification or assistance with their learning
 The student becomes accountable for their learning and performance
 The student can set attainable goals and work towards achieving them

Student-Teacher Conferences can be a helpful tool in the classroom when used

effectively. These four tips will allow the best results out of these conferences:
1. Create a pleasant and welcoming atmosphere for the student and conduct the
discussion in a friendly manner
2. Understand that the purpose of the conference is to ensure that it is mutually
benefiting both for the student and teacher
3. Address 1-2 specific problems which the student can work on and provide the
required guidance
4. Instill the student with confidence and encourage them to realize their own self-
worth and abilities
Student-Teacher Conferences are a powerful strategy that enable teachers to build a
relationship with each student, address their needs, state their expectations and above
all help students to attain their potential and work towards academic excellence.
TEACHING AND LEARNING ACTIVITIES
The following are learning tasks that will empower your understanding of the
different lessons found in this module. Answer them truthfully and extensively.

Activity 1:
Interview a teacher and one of his/her students who have undergone portfolio
assessment preferably students who are enrolled in the Teacher Education program
who had their field study. Ask them to narrate their experiences in putting up a
portfolio. Point out the challenges, and also ask them what they think are the benefits
of portfolio assessment. Write a reflection about their experiences.

Recommended learning materials and resources for supplementary reading

To better further your understanding on the principles of high quality classroom

assessment, please click on the following links:

FLEXIBLE TEACHING AND LEARNING MODALITY (FTLM) ADAPTED

Google Meet, Facebook Messenger, Schoology, Gmail, YouTube, Zoom
ASSESSMENT TASKS

Answer the following questions in essay form:

1. Do you think portfolio assessment is an effective way of assessing student

learning? Explain.
2. Do you think it is necessary for teachers to assess their students using
portfolio? Exaplain.
REFERENCES

Books

"The Place of Portfolios in Our Changing Views." In Construction versus Choice in

Cognitive Measurement: Issues in Constructed Response, Performance Testing, and
Portfolio Assessment, ed. Randy E. Bennett and William C. Ward. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
A. 2000.

"Using Performance Assessment and Portfolio Assessment Together in the Elementary

Classroom." Reading Improvement 37 (1):32–37.

Online Resources