Some General Information about Portfolios

What elements are necessary for something to be called a “portfolio”?

1. Collection of diverse materials over time

2. Purposeful selection of illustrative items from the collection

3. Honest reflection (commentary on the work) by the portfolio creator

How can portfolios be used?

1. They can be used to show a student’s development over time. They can provide a system to encourage student reading, writing, and thinking. A learning portfolio does not have to be formally graded, but it may be graded if “effort” or “improvement” is part of a student’s overall grade. Criteria for evidence of hard work and progress are quite different from evidence of skill level or achievement, which can be demonstrated by showcase portfolios.

2. Learning portfolios can serve as a collection device from which students select work to develop into more formal pieces of writing.

3. Showcase or presentation portfolios are designed to present the student to the wider world. They should contain the students’ best work, work that has been carefully revised and polished. These portfolios are assessed and graded by the teacher (and sometimes by the student as well). Often such portfolios are also read and responded to by other students, parents, and, sometimes, administrators or other teachers.

What can portfolios do?

1. They can help students see their own progress.

2. They can help students take responsibility for their own learning by requiring them to reflect on the evidence in the portfolio and what it reveals about their participation in the class.

3. They can take the emphasis off grades and put the emphasis on good work habits.

4. They can give students the opportunity for regular practice of reading and writing in all classes.

5. They allow teachers to function as coaches and guides for most of the class.

6. They can help students learn how they learn by requiring evidence of reading and/or writing practice and metacognitive writing about these practices. ( What have I done? How did I do it? What do I know that I didn’t know before? What can I do now that I couldn’t do before? What does this work mean to me or say about me?)

7. They can help teachers see where students need additional instruction and which kinds of learning activities are most useful for students.

8. They can allow the teacher to set higher standards.

9. They are flexible; teachers can ask students to create different kinds of portfolios in different classes for different purposes. They can evolve in response to classroom needs.

10. They provide “authentic” assessment— a way of seeing student achievement more completely than is possible by adding up test and paper grades. In fact, in many cases portfolios can replace tests.

How can portfolios be graded?

1. Rubrics can be as simple or complex as the teacher wishes, but each rubric should be created after the teacher has answered the following questions: What do I want my students to demonstrate? How will I recognize an exemplary response when I see it?

2. There is no one perfect rubric; the “best” rubric is the one that best fits the needs of a particular class.

3. Rubrics should be given to students when they begin assembling their portfolios so they will know exactly what is expected of them.

4. Students regularly should be shown models of good work, and the teacher should discuss these models with the class.

SAMPLE: Biology Portfolio for One Nine Week Marking Period

(Designed by Susan Callahan)

Written materials produced during marking period:

• learning log - 16 short entries (2 each week) in response to readings and lab work
• 8 one minute quick writes in response to teacher prompts at start or end of hour (Ex. What is the most important thing you remember from our last class meeting? What question do you still have about X? What was the most confusing thing about today’s lesson? What was the most interesting thing about today’s lesson? What would you like me to explain tomorrow?)
• One drawing or visual aid for a key concept in the text with a brief written explanation
• One genre switching exercise
• 5 study guide or quiz questions created independently or collaboratively
• Vocabulary sheet with definitions and illustrations

None of these items are graded. They are given “good faith” participation points when due (activity done on time and with an acceptable degree of effort), using teacher’s check, plus, minus system or a 0 to 3 point system. Students are required to keep all of these materials until the end of the marking period.

During the last week of the marking period, students are asked to create a portfolio. The portfolio grade will be balanced with the “good faith” participation grade and any required oral work to create one participation grade for the marking period.

Portfolio Directions to Students

1. Select six things you have written this marking period that you believe represent the best work you have done while you were learning. Three of these pieces must come from your learning log, but the others can be anything you wish to include. Put these six items in the manila folder you have been given.

2. Write a paragraph explaining why you have selected each of these items. In other words, tell me how these six short pieces of writing have helped you learn about biology during this marking period.

3. Turn in a draft of your paragraph on ____________________.

4. Revise your paragraph and edit it. Put this introductory paragraph inside your manila folder on top of your six chosen items. Turn in your completed portfolio on ______________

5. Your portfolio grade will be combined with your daily participation points to determine the participation part of your grade for the marking period.

Evaluation Rubric

• (0-7 points) _____ The portfolio contains six items and an introductory paragraph.
• (0-10 points) _____ The portfolio paragraph clearly explains how the selected items have assisted learning
• (0-8 points) _____ The portfolio paragraph meets the ISBE standards for stand alone paragraph