Portfolio Assessment
Portfolio assessment is a way of evaluating a student’s progress by keeping samples of
the work he has accomplished in one place. It is, in fact, a form of a resume. The student
keeps ongoing work in folders and from time to time selects and transfers his best work to
another folder – the portfolio. The concept of a portfolio is very similar to the graphic art
portfolio where the artist keeps samples of his best work to show prospective clients. The
thoughtful portfolio provides a snapshot of a student’s capabilities and achievements at a
given time.
How to put together a portfolio
- Introduce the idea of a portfolio to your student, explaining why you think it is a good
idea to use this type of assessment. If your student agrees, go ahead. If not, don’t press
the issue.
- Once you and your student have decided to try putting together a portfolio, plan for it.
Working together, decide on the following:
- What will you collect for the portfolio? The materials you collect should reflect the
student’s learning goals and interests.
- How often are you going to select materials for the portfolio?
- What criteria are you going to use to determine what is to be selected? Remember the
portfolio is both a process and a product.
- Where will the portfolio be kept?
How to organize the materials
The material collected for the portfolio should be organized to fit the needs and interests
of your student. Here are some ideas on how to organize the material:
- Chronological order
The sample contains work organized from the earliest to the most recent. This can
prompt a good discussion on what progress has been made by the student and how best
to display this progress.
- Level of complexity
Start with work of less complexity and add work of greater complexity as the student
progresses. For example, for a beginning literacy student, you may begin to collect
examples of first attempts at writing sentences. As your student progresses, you can
include samples of more complex sentences, paragraphs, stories, etc.
- Talents, skills or areas of knowledge
These samples can be related to activities or accomplishments at work, at home, as part
of a hobby or a volunteer activity in the community. For example, if your student likes
fly fishing, include instructions of how to tie flies, examples of flies that the student has
tied, journal entries about fly fishing etc.
- Theme
Samples of work can be collected for such themes as personal growth, risk taking,
career development, etc.