Chapter 8: Designing and Evaluating Portfolio

Assessment in the Classroom

Overview
Learning Outcomes
Portfolio development requires learners to
At the end of the lesson the students collect and integrate examples of their
will be able to: work and allows the teacher to assess their
learners as well. This assessment tool
1. Develop and evaluate provides opportunities for both learners
portfolio assessment utilized and teachers to better understand the
in the classroom. educational process in a wider
perspective.

I. Steps for developing portfolio assessment

Designing a portfolio assessment requires some advance and careful planning. It begins
with a clear idea about the purpose of the assessment.
1.1. Identify overall purpose and focus

The design and use of portfolio begins with a clear description of your purpose and focus.
The questions, “Why do I want a portfolio?” and “What learning targets and curriculum
goals will it serve?” sharpen the focus of identifying the purpose and focus of portfolio.

Portfolios may be used to assess understanding but are ideal for assessing product, skill,
and reasoning targets. Students also develop metacognitive and decision-making skills.

1.2. Identify the physical structure

Some guide questions in identifying the good physical structure of the portfolio:

 What it will look like?

 Where will the students place the outputs?
 What type of container is appropriate?
 Do they need file folders? Clear book? Plastic bins?
 How are materials to be organized – categorically, numeraically, alphabetically,
by subject area or in other ways?
 Where can students store the portfolios for easy access?
1.3. Determine the appropriate organization and sources of content
The content of portfolio consists of entries (student products and activity records)
which provides assessment information about the content and processes identified in the
dimensions to be assessed.
Select the organizational entries of portfolio that will allow the students to meet the
purpose of portfolio.

1.4. Determine student reflection guidelines

Establish guidelines to help students self-reflect along the way. With this, students
will develop greater ownership of the process and will have experience in working
collaboratively with you as their teacher.

1.5. Identify and evaluate scoring criteria

Establish the scoring criteria you will use in evaluating student performance. By
working on the student criteria, students will develop greater ownership of the process
and will have experience in working cooperatively and collaboratively with you as a
teacher.

1.6. Communicate results of portfolio evaluation

The final step is to conduct conference with each student to review its contents,
the students’ reflections, and assessment of the individual output. Give your students
guidelines for these conferences so that they can prepare some questions ahead of time
and allow the students to give their views and insights during the conference. As a result,
this serves as an avenue to determine the strengths and limitations of portfolio for plan
of action formulation.

2. PORTFOLIO EVALUATION

2.1 Student Evaluation

One advantage of portfolio assessment is allowing the students to revisit, reflect,

and evaluate their own work. This allows them to practice critiquing and conceptualizing
the quality of their work based on the criteria performance. This also provides an
opportunity for students to become better achievers as they learn to reflect on their
strengths and weaknesses.

Teacher as a model should be the first person to demonstrate the skills in

evaluating and critiquing portfolio. Once the students understand the process and the
principle of evaluating, they can start to engage with their own reflection and establish a
comfortable, confident and reliable analysis and critique of their own work.
 Some guide questions

 Why did you select this piece of writing?

 What did you learn from the selection?
 Can you identify your strengths and weaknesses?
 What problems have you encountered in doing the task?
 Which is the most satisfying experience?
 What are your insights after reading the poem?
 Is this your best work?
 What kind of work would you like to do in the future?

1.2 Teacher Evaluation

Evaluating a portfolio involves judgements about students’ outputs. The teacher can
use numerical scores to summarize judgement or qualitative system. Scoring needs to
be reliable and should not be affected by inconsistencies not related to the qualities being
judged.
It is important to remember that the purpose of portfolio is to assess the students’
outcomes of the instructional goals. The samples of entries are indicators whether
students have achieved the goals of instruction which are evaluated based on the
portfolio’s entire content, structure and individual entries.

1.3 Student-teacher conference

The final step is to conduct conference with each student to review the contents,
reflections and evaluation. It should be scheduled throughout the year which provides
important link between the students and teachers. Your students can be responsible for
conducting the conference and this will serve as a motivating force for the learners to
produce excellent portfolio in the future.
McMillan (2007) pointed out that the students need to compare their reflections with
your evaluations and make plans for subsequent work. Although weaknesses and areas
for improvement need to be covered, emphasize students’ progress and achievement as
well.
This also provides an excellent means of communicating with parents. The work
outputs and reflections of the students can be a sort of window into what is happening
within the classroom as parents see the different aspects of their children’s experiences
in the school. as a tripartite communication between the parents, teachers and students,
portfolio assessment provides framework for meaningful three-way discussion of the
progress, achievement and limitations.
 After the portfolios are complete, it is good idea to have an exhibition of portfolios
and/or student-led parent-teacher conferences, in which students present their portfolios
to their parents.

Explore

NAME: _______________________________________________ Date: _________

Discuss the concepts of designing and evaluating portfolio assessment in the situation
given.

1. As a Grade 7 teacher, Ms. Aissa has decided to implement a science portfolio in

her class. She believes that portfolio increases students’ learning and
encourages students to become more reflective learner and develops skills in
evaluating strengths and weakness of their work. She provides clear books for
the students and tells them that they to put all their activities and examinations in
it. Moreover, she kept on reminding her students that they will discuss the
content of the portfolio. Was the plan properly implemented and adequate? Is
the plan consistent with the principle of designing a portfolio? What else does
she need to improve her implementation?
Apply

NAME: _______________________________________________ Date: _________

Discuss the concepts of designing and evaluating portfolio assessment in the

situation given.

Matrix Completion

For a subject specialization you will teach, identify learning targets that will
be appropriate and indicate classroom activities and its corresponding
assessment task/s

And portfolio evidence/s. use template provided.

Year/Grade Level: _________________________________________________

Topic: ___________________________________________________________

Performance Standard:
_______________________________________________

Learning Classroom Assessment Portfolio

Targets Activities Tasks Evidence
Assess

NAME: _______________________________________________ Date: _________

A. Designing a Portfolio
Plan a portfolio by completing each question in the portfolio development
checklist. Check the necessary boxes that apply and provide necessary
explanation and discussion if necessary. Attach document to support your
detail of claims.
1. What purpose(s) will your portfolio serve? (Check any that apply.)
 Prepare a sample of best work for future teachers to see
 Communicate to parents what has been learned
 Evaluate my teaching
 Assign course goals
 Create collections of favorite or best work
 Document achievement for alternative credit
 Submission to a college or employer
 To show growth in skill and dispositions
 Others ___________________________________________
2. What cognitive skills will be assessed by the individual entries?
 Cognitive strategies (specify)
 Deep understanding (specify)
 Communication (specify)
 Metacognition (specify)
 Procedural skills (specify)
 Knowledge construction (specify)
 Others ____________________________________________
3. What dispositions do you want entries to reflect?
 Flexibility
 Persistence
 Collaboration
 Acceptance of feedback
 Others (specify) _____________________________________
4. What criteria or rubrics will you use to judge the extent to which these skills
positions were achieved?
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
______________________.
5. In rating portfolio as a whole, what things will you look for?
 Variety of entries
 Growth in reflection
 Growth in skill or performance

  Organization
 Presentation

6. What kind of scale will you construct to rate the overall portfolio?

_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________

7. How will you combine all your ratings into the final grade?

_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________.

8. Who will be involved in the planning process?

 Learners
 Teachers
 Parents

9. What content categories are included in the portfolio?

_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________

10. Will learners have a choice over content categories?

 Yes
 No

11. Who decides what samples to include in each content area?

 Learners
 Teachers
 Parents

12. How many samples will be included in each area?

 One
 Two
 More than two

13. Have you specified deadlines of the entries?

 Yes
 No

14. Have you developed forms to rate and summarize ratings for all drafts and final
products?

 Yes
 No

15. What are your instruction on how work gets turned in and returned?

_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

16. Where will the portfolio be kept and who has access to them?

 Where (specify) __________________________

 Who (specify) __________________________

17. Who will plan, conduct, and attend the final conference?

 Learners
 Other teachers
 Parents
 Others (specify) ___________________