J. Willard Marriott Library University of Utah Electronic Reserve Course Materials Course: Ed St 5170 Instructor: OBrien Title: Week 10: What Makes A Portfolio a Portfolio? Author: Paulson, F. © Ed, Leadership 1990/91 The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction, which is not to be used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research. If a user makes a request for, or later uses a photocopy or reproduction for or purposes in excess of “fair use”, that user may be liable for copyright infringement.E. LEON PAULSON, PEARL R, PAULSON, AND CAROL A. MEYER. ————————} What Makes a Portfolio a Portfolio? Eight thoughtful guidelines will help educators encourage self-directed learning. this paper persuade. Word choice svas very important to me.” Tony tached these words to paper in his ee writing portfolio to explain why the a paper ws significant to him. His se Pe i ae reflective statements help illustrate a ad < : key value associated with student por af cead aL g —weting atethe folios and a rationale for using them: PAD, Cs Papas foewneemdte s 5 portfolios permit instruction and as- sessment to be woven together in a 1 | I used all my writing skill to make / way that more traditional approaches, do not ‘This anicle explores the question, ‘What makes a portfolio a portfolio?” Let's begin with @ definition that we helped formulate while working with 4 group of educators from seven states under the auspices of the Northwest Evaluation Association’: A portfolio is a purposeful collection of Student’ work that exhibits the student’s forts, progress, and achievements in one ‘or more areas. The collection must include Stuclent participation in selecting, content, the criteria for selection, the criteria for judging mec, and evidence of student selfreflection EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP‘The writing portfolios used in Tony's class are in many ways similar to the portfolios artists assemble in order (0 gain entrance into an art + | school or to secure a commission. For example, the Pacific Northwest Col- lege of Art? gives the following ratio nale for portfolios: {an application portfolio is a visual repre: sentation of who you are as an artist, Your hisory as well as what you are currently doing... Tt is representing you when Jou're nor present... Pact oF the evalua: "on of 4 ponfolio is based on the personal choices [you] make when picking pieces for the ponfolio. Ir tells the school Some: thing about. jyour| current values: that's ‘why you will rarely get a school to be very specific about what they look for in ponfolio. (You) should nor be afraid « make choices. The Portfolio: A Powerful Concept Portfolios have the potential to reveal a lot about their creators. They can become a window into the students ads, a means for both staff and stu dents to understand the educational process at the level of the individual leamer. They can be powerful educa |. | sional tools for encouraging students take charge of their own learning, Ponfolios allow stuclents ro assume ownership in ways that few other in- structional approaches allow. Portfolio assessment requires students 10 cok lect and reflect on examples of their work, providing both an instructional component to the curriculum and of fering the opportunity for authentic assessments, IF carefully assembled, portfolios become an intersection of To Whom it May Concern: in this portfolio. peor reviewing. + FrRRuaRy 1991 In the pages that follow in this portfolio, you will find the work that T feel represents my strengths in ay written work from my junior year at Hillsboro High School. In order that you may see the overall picture, I have included expository, informative, and creative pieces All six samples were constructed in an atmosphere that provided ample tine for revision and | Bach sample represents skills that T have found to enhance the quality of my writing. | | instruction and assessment: they are not just instruction or just assessment bot, rather, both, Together, instruction and assessment give more than either Bives separately Guidelines for Realizing ‘That Power Fulfilling the potential of portfolios as an intersection of instruction and as: sessment is neither simple nor straightforward. We must find new ‘ways for the two processes 10 work together. Doing so involves answering 4 question that has no simple answer: ‘What makes a portfolio 2 portfolio? ‘The portfolio is a concept that can be realized in many ways. Portfolios are as varied as the children who create them and as the classrooms in which they are found, However, (0 preserve those aspects of the portfolio that give the concept its power, we offer this list of guidelines’ 1. Developing a portfolio offers the student an opportunity to learn about learning. Therefore, the end product must contain information that shows that a student has engaged in self reflection 2. The portfolio is something that is done by the student, not fo the stu dent, Portfolio assessment offers a con- olcrete way for students to learn to value their own work and, by extension, to value themselves as learners. ‘There fore, the student must be involved in selecting the pieces to be included 3. The portiolio is separate and dif ferent from the stucent’s cumulative folder. Scores and other cumulative folder information that are held in central depositories should be in cluded in a portfolio only if they take fon new meaning within the context oF the other exhibits found there. 4. The portfolio must convey explic itly or implicitly the students activities; for example, the rationale (purpose for forming the portfolio), intents (its goals), contents (the actual displays), standards (what is good and not so. ‘good performance), and judgments (what the contents tell us).* 5. The portfolio may serve a dif- ferent purpose during the year from the purpose it serves at the end, Some material may be kept because it is instructional, for example, partially finished work on problem areas. At the end of the year, however, the portfolio may contain only material that the student is willing to make public Portfolios can become a window into the students’ heads, a means for both staff and students to understand the educational process at the level of the individual learner. eles Sol va e [eee of the year, 5 Lhenit en in pertods 5 ord Lamnow 5 A Ae Hs g of theyea, B a Nn yoasng Sentence 3 a sce \5 Seeing gob the ye year, 2 aboration a ite tne n | oC; oes 6. A portfolio may have_multiple purposes, but these must not conflict A students personal goals and inter- texts are reflecied in his or her selec tion of materials, but information in- luded may also reflect the interests of teachers, parents, or the district. One purpose that is almost universal in stuclent portfolios is showing progress on the goals represented in the in struetional progeam. 7. The portfolio should contain infor mation that illustrates. growth, There ‘are many ways to demonstrate growth, ‘The most obvious is by including a series of examples of actual school performance that show how the stu- dent's skills have improved. C observed on interest inventories, rec ords of outside activities such as read ing, or on attitude measures are other | ways to illustrate a student’s growth 8. Finally, many of the skills and techniques that are involved in pro- ducing effective portfolios do not hap: pen by themselves. By way of support One-Room Schoolhouse Alumni Wanted Did you attend a one-room school during the first half of this century? If so, your recollections would be valuable to a research project—to result in a book andior | tadio series—that will study how the basic operations, teaching methods, and curriculums of ane-room schools can offer lessons for today’s educational systems. Personal experiences, work samples, and photographs are especially valuable. Please contact Steven Landfried Consultants, Route One, Evansville, WI5353 call 608-873-8848. ~ EDUCATIONAL LEADERSIIFstudents need models of portfolios, as well as example of how others d velop and reflect upon portfolios, ‘There are a considerable variety of portfolio assessment projects appear: ing in schools, reflecting the fact that portfolio assessment is a healthy and robust concept, We recommend, how: ever, that when designing programs or purchasing commercial portfolio as- sessment materials, educators reflect ‘on the eight aspects of the portfolio that we believe give the concept its power. We offer our list as a way of initiating thoughtful critiques. A Broad Look at Learning Portfolios offer a way of assessing stu- dent learning that is quite dificrent from traditional methods. While achievement tests offer outcomes in Units that can be counted and_ac- counted, portfolio assessment offers the opportunity t0 observe students in a broader context: taking risks, devel oping creative solutions, and Icarning, i |. Toot | stowds Portfolios are as varied as the children who create them and as the classrooms in which they are found. to make judgments about their own performances. ‘A portfolio, then, is a portfolio when it provides a complex and comprehen sive view of student performance in context. It is a portfolio when the student is a participant in, rather than LD leokeck ot all my Ta my uniting fo read some of my Wh tinge tember. TL. noticeck that bale olgmvel core staff Mow Lecls'r my stores, ancl TOVISC, Now use pee’ | der. | | | hrecls,| Lote Hon marke Sometimes wmy ctories ee are words | dado missspellimy | ero mowL look tn o | | LT uritre exciting aud scarystories lerionary or o6k afriend anc now aud nowL hove very. ase ce pi tals, words enelhshort simple stories. | Now L es ook ending usdte [eave | the object of, assessment. Above all, a portfolio is a portfolio when it pro- vides a forum that encourages stu- dents to develop the abilities needed to become independent, self-directed learners. ‘This working definition grew out of discussions at a conference on "Aggregat ing Portfolio Data” held at Union, Washing: ton, in August 1990. Far more information, see: White Paper on Aggregating Portfolio. Data, rev. e1, (1990), by C. Meyer and S. Schuman, which is ‘available from the Northwest Evaluation Association, 5 terpointe Dr, Lake Oswego, OR 97035. “pacific Northwest College of Art, (1985), Preparing your Application Portfolio (pamphlet); available from the college at 1219 SW, Park, Portland OR 97205, Sthis list draws on discussions on meta ‘cognition (thinking about thinking) held at Northwest Evaluation Association confer tences on portfolio assessment in Decem- er 1989 and August 1990. Participants ‘were from seven states and included teach- ffs, curriculum and assessment specialists, administrators, and representatives of state departments of education. We would like to acknowledge the contributions of the 57 people who participated. “See F. L Paulson and P. R. Paulson, ‘Mow Do Portfolios Measure Up?: A Cog: nitive Model for Assessing Porfollos.” pa per presented at the conference of the Northwest Evaluation Association on “Ag: spregating Portfolio Dat” Union, Washing- ton, August 1990 (available from the au thorsat the addresses given below and also through ERIC). Authors’ note: We would like 10 thank Linda Lewis (For Worth Independent School District, Fort Worth, Texas), Jill Marienberg (Hillsboro High School, Hills: boro, Oregon), and Ronda Woodruff (West ‘TV Flementary School, Beaverton Schoo! District, Beaverton, Oregon) for providing. portfolio examples used in this article F. Leon Paulson is Program Assessment Specialist at Multnomah Education Service District in Portland, Oregon. He may be contacted at 6800 SW. Gable Plowy., Port and, OR 97225. Pearl R. Paulson is Stu- dent Services Coordinator and Carol A. Meyer is Evaluation Specialist, both with Beaverton School District, P.O, Box 200, | Beaverton, OR 97075. Feercaky 1991 3B