1.
PORTFOLIO ASSESSMENT
Carlo Magno, PhD
Lasallian Institute for Development and Educational
Research

2.
METHOD
 Assessment should measure what is really
important in the curriculum.
 Assessment should look more like instructional
activities than like tests.
 Educational assessment should approximate the
learning tasks of interest, so that, when students
practice for the assessment, some useful learning
takes place.

3.
PORTFOLIO ASSESSMENT: EXPLORATION
 Have you ever done a portfolio?
 Tell me about this experience. Did you enjoy it?
 What elements did you include in your portfolio?
 Are the materials placed in the portfolio required?

4.
WHAT ARE PORTFOLIOS?
 Purposeful, systematic process of collecting and
evaluating student products to document progress
toward the attainment of learning targets or show
evidence that a learning target has been achieved.
 Includes student participation in the selection and
student self-reflection.
 “A collection of artifacts accompanied by a reflective
narrative that not only helps the learner to
understand and extend learning, but invites the
reader of the portfolio to gain insight about learning
and the learner (Porter & Cleland, 1995)

5.
CHARACTERISTICS OF PORTFOLIO
ASSESSMENT
 Clearly defined purpose and learning targets
 Systematic and organized collection of student
products
 Preestablished guidelines for what will be included
 Student selection of some works that will be
included
 Student self-reflection and self-evaluation
 Progress documented with specific products and/or
evaluations
 Portfolio conferences between students and
teachers

6.
A PORTFOLIO IS:
 Purposeful
 Systematic and well-organized
 Prestablished guidelines are set-up
 Students are engaged in the selection of some
materials
 Clear and well-specified scoring criteria

7.
PURPOSE OF PORTFOLIO
 Showcase portfolio: Selection of best works.
Student chooses work, profile are accomplishments
and individual profile emerges.
 Documentation portfolio: Like a scrapbook of
information and examples. Inlcudes observations,
tests, checklists, and rating scales.
 Evaluation portfolio: More standardized. Assess
student learning with self-reflection. Examples are
selected by teachers and predetermined.

8.
ADVANTAGES OF PORTFOLIO
 Students are actively involved in self-evaluation and
self-reflection
 Involves collaborative assessment
 Ongoing process where students demonstrate
performance, evaluate , revise , and produce quality
work.
 Focus on self-improvement rather than comparison with
others
 Students become more engaged in learning because
both instruction and assessment shift from teacher
controlled to mix of internal and external control.
 Products help teachers diagnose learning difficulties
 clarify reasons for evaluation
 Flexible

9.
DISADVATNTAGES
 Scoring difficulties may lead to low reliability
 Teacher training needed
 Time-consuming to develop criteria, score and meet
students
 Students may not make good selections of which
of which material to include
 Sampling of student products may lead to weak
generalization
 Parents find the portfolio difficult to underdstand

10.
STEPS IN PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTING
PORTFOLIO ASSESSMENT
1. Determine the the purpose
2. Identify physical structure
3. Determine sources of content
4. Determine sources of content
5. Determine student reflective guidelines and scoring
criteria
6. Review with students
7. Portfolio content supplied by teacher and/or student
8. Student self-evaluation of contents
9. Teacher evaluation of content and student self-
evaluation
10. Student-teacher conference
11. Portfolios returned to students for school

11.
PURPOSE
 Based on specific learning targets
 Ideal for assessing product, skill, and reasoning targets
Uses:
 Showcase portfolio-to illustrate what students are
capable of doing
 Evaluation of portfolio-standardization of what to include
 For parents-what will make sense to parents
“Provide specific attention to purpose and corresponding
implications when implementing a portfolio.”

12.
PHYSICAL STRUCTURE
 What will it look like?
 How large will the portfolios be?
 Where are they stored so that students can easily
access them?
 Will it be in folders or scrap books?
 How will the works be arranged in the portfolio?
 What materials are needed to separate the works in
the portfolio?

13.
SOURCES OF CONTENT
 Work samples
 Student and teacher evaluations
Guidelines:
 Select categories that will allow you to meet the
pupose of the portfolio.
 Show improvement in the portfolio
 Provide feedback on the students on the
procedures they are putting together
 Provide indicator system

14.
SELF-REFLECTIVE GUIDELINES AND SCORING
 Establish guidelines for student self-reflection and
the scoring criteria
 Scoring guidelines are explained to the students
before they begin instruction

15.
IMPLEMENTING PORTFOLIO ASSESSMENT
 Review with students: Explain to students what is
involved in doing a portfolio.
 Begin with learning targets
 Show examples
 Give opportunities to ask questions
 Provide just enough structure so that they can get
started without telling them exactly what to do.
 Selection of content will depend on the age and
previos experience of students
 Students and teachers decide together what to
include with nonrestrictive guidelines

16.
SOME ORGANIZATION
 Include table of contents
 Brief description of activities
 Date produced
 Date submitted
 Date evaluated

17.
STUDENT SELF-ASSESSMENT
 Reflective and self-assessment activities need to be
taught.
 Some guide questions for students:
Can you tell me what you did?
What did you like best abut this sample of your writing?
What will you do next?
 Self-reflective questions:
What did you learn from writing this piece?
What would you have done differently if you had more time?
What are your greatest strengths and weaknesses in this
sample?
What would you do differently if you did this over?

18.
PEER ASSESSMENT
 Analysis and constructive, supportive criticism of
strategies, styles, and other concrete aspects of the
product.
 Can include comments or a review by parents
Teacher assessment:
 Checklist of content
 Portfolio structure assessment: selection of
samples, thoroughness, appearance, self-reflection,
and organization.
 Assessment of individual entries: use rubrics
 Assessment of entire content: use rubrics

19.
STUDENT-TEACHER CONFERENCES
 Conference is conducted with students before
returning the portfolio
 Scheduled throughout the school year; some have
it monthly
 Clarify purposes and procedure with students,
answer questions and establish trust
 Give guidelines to prepare for each conference
 Allow the students to do most of the talking
 Have students compare your reflections with theirs
 Weaknesses and areas for improvement need to be
communicated –show them what is possible for
progress

20.
STUDENT-TEACHER CONFERENCES
 At the end of the conference there is an action plan
for the future
 Limit the conference to no more than 10 minutes
 Students are encouraged to take notes
 Focus on one or two major areas of each
conference-helps to have a thoughtful discussion

21.
 Wrapping up on assessing student learning