Written Assessment:

Portfolio

Ashley Donegan

Kutztown University

EEU 325: Assessment II: Formative and Summative

Dr. Sailsbury

October 19, 2021

have progressed from when they entered in the beginning of the year until they graduate at the

end of the year. The portfolio I am going to be focusing on is a growth and working portfolio for

the students writing. Kindergarten is a year where the students are heavily shaped by academics

and their teachers.

A working portfolio is described in the text as, “A working portfolio is used to collect

examples of students’ work for future evaluation. During an interval of a reporting period, the

work is collected without making final decisions as to what will be kept and what will be

discarded.” (Wortham & Hardin, p. 274). This is something that is helpful to a Kindergarten

student learning ELA because they can master the skills as they go. There will be less pressure

on the student, and they can learn at their own pace, eventually proving to themselves, the

teacher, their guardians, and other administration their abilities in ELA.

A growth portfolio is described in the text as, “Growth portfolios are common in

classrooms. They are often used in student-involved conferences to help students focus on their

own learning and to reveal to others the progress a student has made.” (Butler & McMunn, p.

67). This is something that is important to young students, especially Kindergarten, because this

is such a cardinal year for academic shaping, especially in their writing.

The purpose of a portfolio is to show, in detail, the progression and collection of student

work, “The purpose of the portfolio is determined by the teacher’s objectives for assessment.”

(Wortham & Hardin, p. 280). When considering a working and growth portfolio, the teacher

must understand what they expect the outcome to be. They need a checklist or rubric of some

sort before they begin to outline what they are expecting of their students. With these guidelines

the teacher will be able to identify the aspects they need to push their students on.
 Another key idea to consider when beginning a portfolio for your students is how to

come to the idea of what your guidelines should look like, “A portfolio collection is used to

develop a holistic picture of activities the student has engaged in over a period of time. The

portfolio should include many examples of a students’ work that will provide multiple

assessments of concepts, skills, and projects that result in an accurate picture of what the student

understands and is able to use in a meaningful context.” (Wortham & Hardin, p. 272).

Specifically considering Kindergarten English Language Arts (ELA) we see this careful watch

over student writing often.

Portfolios are helpful to teachers, parents, and students in evaluating past work to create

goals, progress monitor, and discuss the reason for grades post-evaluation. In Kindergarten,

students begin to work on their writing skills with letters and work towards writing whole

sentences. There are multiple types of portfolios, all of which are helpful when used in a

developmental approach during discussion with parents or students.

The goal of using a portfolio is to progress monitor the work that has been collected from

students. A working and growth portfolio in Kindergarten ELA is extremely helpful is

monitoring student’s writing abilities throughout the academic year. We can see their

progression from letters to larger works of writing throughout the year, “Portfolios, particularly

those that are used over a period of several years, make it possible for the student to observe

growth and progress by comparing work samples and drawings longitudinally (Hebert &

Schultz, 1996).” (Wortham & Hardin, p. 273).

The teacher will collect all the students’ writing works and add them to the portfolio

throughout the year. These works provide immense amounts of detail that can be shown to

parents and students during conferences and check ins. The parents and guardians would be able
to see the writing works that their child has completed throughout the year. This would allow

those reviewing it to have a strong understanding of the results of the evaluation as well as the

progress the child has made, “When parents are engaged with their child and teacher in selecting

and reviewing what has been completed during a grading period, they are able to see the work

and assessment examples that have been used (Damiani, 2004; Gilkerson & Hanson, 2000). If

grades are required, the work in the portfolio can document the assessments used to determine

the grade.” (Wortham & Hardin, p. 273). Having this data can also be a tool for teachers because

it will show them the areas that they can assist students to learn more where it is needed.

Portfolios can follow students if it is needed to show development.

The people who can see the portfolio are the student, the teacher, and the students’

parents or guardians. “Periodically, the teacher, child, and parents review portfolio contents to

determine the child’s progress and how appropriate experiences should be planned for further

growth and development.” (Wortham & Hardin, p. 283). This can be used so that the family can

see the work that the student has accomplished while in your class, therefore showing them the

progress, they have made in their writing. This can also be used so that the student can see how

far they have come which is often a way to encourage students to further their academics. Lastly

this can be used by the teacher for progress monitoring purposes.

In the portfolio, the teacher will collect all the students’ writing works. In the beginning

of kindergarten, the students will begin practicing writing their letters. They will do a lot of

tracing sheets and things like that. They will create projects that assist them in their writing skills

as well. These will all be collected in the working portfolio. The teacher will also take pictures of

the progress that the students make throughout the year. The students will eventually move on to

writing their sight words as well as CVC words. Much of this has a correlation with student
development as well as academic development. This is also something to take note of and show

off in each students’ portfolio.

These items will be selected by the teacher. The teacher will collect anything that she

knows is beneficial to improving the students’ writing abilities; this may include fine motor

activities, tracing activities, writing on their whiteboards, etc. The teacher will take these works

or pictures of the students working on these things and add them all into the working portfolio.

These are things that outside figures might not think to think about, but the teacher can use it as a

means of data to show the steps they take to improve the students’ writing abilities, “Portfolios

provide evaluation above and beyond letter grades on a report card.” (Wortham & Hardin, p.

286).

The teacher will have mailboxes set up for students. All the students work for the week

will go into their individual mailbox. The teacher is always attentive to their students in that they

are consistently practicing and working on their writing abilities. At the end of the week, the

teacher will check the mailbox for student work, grade what needs to be graded, send home what

needs to be sent home, and add to the students’ portfolios. “Periodically, during a grading period

or another designated time, pieces are selected for the portfolio. The teacher can likewise select

samples for the portfolio from assessment activities or tests that have been administered,

checklists, rating scales, essays, and other evidence of work.” (Wortham & Hardin, p. 281) The

students will be turning in work each day, but the teacher is only evaluating and adding to the

portfolio at the end of the week.

Once a month, the teacher will open the portfolio and sit down with the student in a one-

on-one conference. The student will get to look at their work and see how far they have come. At

this time, the teacher can ask probing questions such as “Where would you like to improve”,
“What do you think you have improved the most on”. These interviews can also be recorded by

the teacher and added to the students’ portfolio. “Over the duration of the school year, more

decisions are made as to which materials will remain for the entire year and which will be

replaced by better or more advanced work.” (Wortham & Hardin p. 281). The portfolios will be

kept in crate bins on the countertop labelled with their name where students have access to them

at any time.

In the beginning of the year, the teacher will introduce the students to their portfolio.

“Portfolios include input from the child, making the child an active partner in the evaluation

process. The child not only makes selections for portfolio contents but also participates in the

assessment process.” (Wortham & Hardin, p. 286). Their portfolio is essentially going to be

binder with dividers marking different works the student has done. The student will get to

decorate the cover page for their binder making it unique to them. The teacher will explain the

importance of the portfolio, what goes into it, and how it will be used constantly. The students

will be reminded to put their work in their mailboxes at the end of every day and have access to

their binders whenever they want. Each of their binders will be stored together in a crate on the

countertop.

The students will also get to self-evaluate during their scheduled conference times. As

stated before, the conferences will include lots of casual student input that the teacher will take

note of. The teacher will probe the student by asking questions whilst the student examines their

work. Questions such as, “How do you think you have improved since the beginning of the year”

and “What do you think you could do differently to be a better writer” can be asked to the

kindergarten students. This interview style conference can be recorded on audio or by taking

notes by the teacher. The teacher can then add this information to the students’ portfolio.
 In summation, the working and growth portfolio created for this Kindergarten class’ ELA

section will have lots of student feedback, be essential for the teacher’s evaluation process, and

include all of the students’ work from throughout the year. The goal of this portfolio is to show

the teacher the progress the student has made both academically and developmentally. The

portfolio will focus in directly on student writing while aiming to build students up showing

them their ability to grow and develop as a mature writer.

Butler, S. M., & McMunn, N. D. (2011). Teacher's guide to classroom assessment:

Understanding and using assessment to improve student learning. Jossey-Bass. 

Wortham, S. C., & Hardin, B. J. (2020). Assessment in early childhood education (8th ed.).

Pearson. 
 Kindergarten ELA Writing Checklist:

The student can…

 Write their alphabet A-Z in lowercase & uppercase letters

 Use spacing appropriately (finger space).

 Use punctuation accurately (. , ? !)

 Reread their sentence to make sure it makes sense.

 Grip the pencil comfortably to write.

 Uses uppercase letters to begin a sentence

 Write words with lowercase letters.

 Uses uppercase letters for proper nouns.

 Use their neatest handwriting.

 Spell phonetically without teacher help.

 Create a story using writing.

 Make logical connections between drawings and writing.

 Write using detail.

 Use their sight words in their writing.