Portfolios and evaluation

1. Portfolios and evaluation James Rainville Just what are portfolios?

2. WHAT IS A PORTFOLIO ? • A portfolio as a kind of scrapbook or photo album that records the progress and activities of the program and its participants; • The portfolio contains actual pieces of student work showing the development of skills and talents over time.

3. How does it work in evaluation? • Portfolio assessment systems almost always ask for a number of different pieces submitted for a final single grade; most ask students.ca • to play a role in choosing the work to be evaluated, and some ask students to play a significant role in that evaluation. The idea is to emphasize process, revision, quantity, range, and student involvement (Tobin p.67). • This type of assessment fosters personal responsibility

4. What goes into a portfolio? • The portfolio contains actual pieces of student work showing the development over time. Portfolios also could contain photographs videos, or other documentation of actual work. Instead of test scores alone representing student achievement, effective portfolios show the strengths of the students, their growth, the competencies developed and student reflections on their work.

5. Portfolio Criteria For Success • Completeness • Neatness and Organization • Reflections

6. Completeness • All required items are present • Selections are made from a variety of different curriculum areas throughout the year • Selections demonstrate a variety of skills learned throughout the year • All selections are listed in the correct order in the Table of Contents • Portfolio has a "student-designed" cover telling about the student's interests/learning

7. Neatness and Organization • All selections are labelled • All selections are placed in the correct order • Reflection sheets are neatly handwritten

8. Reflections • Choice of items demonstrates the student's understanding of their strengths and areas of growth • Reflections are detailed, thoughtful, and insightful • Self-assessment is accurate and goal setting is realistic

9. Why use portfolios ? • They can motivate students, encourage parental participation, and provide direct evidence of student progress. • They offer a means to promote better teaching and to document teaching achievement. • They document teaching and its effectiveness • They provide an occasion for reflection on teacher-student relationships

10. Before using a portfolio approach to evaluation, the teacher should consider the following questions: • What are the applied tasks for which the portfolio will serve as a record? • What should be included in a portfolio? • In what ways should students be involved in the process of answering questions one and two?

11. How are they most effective? • Portfolios are most effective when criteria for item selection and preformance standards are carefully developed and documented together by teachers and students.

12. Your task this morning • Visit the following portfolio site: http://recitduroy.rtsq.qc.ca/portfolio.htm ; • Read about the portfolio information from the sites on the page; • Go to the www and create a Word document which will be a sort of a Internet reference bank for English portfolios, include a URL (http) and a short description of the site; • Sign the Word document in your name (s) and send it as an attached file to my UQTR @

13. Before you leave this AM please show me where are with … • Power Point presentation ; • Your final project, if you haven’t started it, I suggest you do this morning;

14. Remember … • We have evaluation grids to produce for Wednesday; • Be wise with this computer time…