What are the benefits of incorporating literacy portfolios ...
Sara Pons
Every year, educators are exposed to and required to learn a great deal about standardized testing. With the faults of these types of tests, these same educators are beginning to use assessments that are performance-based in order to get a more accurate picture of student achievement. Classroom teachers and even entire school systems have begun to adopt the use of portfolios for assessment in a variety of subject areas. Many teachers prefer this type of authentic assessment because it provides information on an individual student’s strengths and needs and allows students to play an active role in their learning. This technique is especially useful for students with disabilities who are often placed in a difficult situation when their achievement is measured with standardized tests. As a teacher frustrated with the emphasis on these types of standardized assessments, I am anxious to use portfolio assessments to help my students learn more about themselves and showcase their strengths and growth rather than the things they are unable to do. In order to implement this process effectively, though, I need to know the basics about portfolio assessment, how it will benefit my students, and if I will be able to implement a way to do these assessments effectively. Therefore, my question for research question #2 is:
What are the benefits of incorporating literacy portfolios into my classroom?
Boerum, Lisa J. (2000). Developing portfolios with learning disabled students. Reading & Writing Quarterly, 16, 211-239.
This article is the result of a year-long study involving a mixed group of sixth graders who were involved in portfolio assessments. Students were asked to be a part of the process which required them to reflect, self-evaluate, set goals, and create rubrics for grading. The purpose was to see how authentic assessments affected learning and performance among varying levels of students. Boerum was especially interested in finding ways to reach her special education students so that they would be motivated to learn and be involved in that process. Four students were studied closely during the year, 2 who were special education students, and 2 who were not. Culminating artifacts were accompanied by a Letter to the Reader that each student wrote for their pieces. These letters gave evidence of learning, but also communicate the processes students used to get to that point. Boerum was most encouraged by the fact that the portfolios showed student development and effort in addition to mastery of objectives.
This article is very reader friendly. The case study follows four very different students but demonstrates the ways in which portfolio assessment was extremely effective for each of them. The students were required to do a great deal of self-evaluation and reflection, but it made them better learners because they were constantly having to justify their choices and explain their methods. By allowing them the freedom to choose many different pieces, they were taking on a great deal of responsibility and ownership of their learning, which was very motivational for all of them. I was especially interested in the way the two EC students approached portfolio assessment. Boerum stated that the two students she chose were identified and were indeed below grade level, but that their motivation and work habits had a great deal to do with their deficits in academic areas. I see this all the time, and was very encouraged by the fact that these students were able to excel and do such a remarkable job with portfolios, which actually seem to take more student effort due to the reflection and organization required.
Chen, Y., & Martin, M. A. (2000). Using performance assessment and portfolio assessment together in the elementary classroom. Reading Improvement, 37(1), 32-8.
This article addresses the use of performance and portfolio assessment in elementary classrooms as a means of using authentic assessment. The authors state that these assessments allow teachers to examine not only a final product (a component to the portfolio), but also the processes each student uses to complete these products. For performance tasks, students are asked to complete tasks in order to show their knowledge in a particular area, usually in a content area. Teachers make observations throughout the task, or examine pieces completed in order to address a task. It is important to make sure observations and assessment of these tasks are objective, and this can be a difficult task for teachers. These authors view portfolio assessment as “the collection of materials which illustrate a child’s performance.” The authors state that the process should include not only the teacher and student, but the parent as well. This team approach is said to be the cornerstone of portfolio assessment which provides an authentic assessment of a child’s school performance.
Though this article tries to bridge performance and portfolio assessment, I was much more interested in the portfolio assessment sections. The authors talk a great deal about how the teacher and student need to collaborate, but give no guidelines for involving parents, despite their belief that parents should be heavily involved in this process. They give the impression that performance assessment is mainly observation of behaviors, but I believe that this can be accomplished through projects and written tasks and journals. They reiterate what many of these articles do, and that is that the use of portfolio assessment is motivational, highly effective, and provides an authentic view of what students are capable of.
Evans, Christine Sobray. (1993). When teachers look at student work. Educational
Leadership, 50, 71-73.
This article gives an overview of how Evans and other teachers in her California school have implemented a portfolio system. She discusses the shift from an objective-centered curriculum to one that is meaning-centered and focused on the student. She also discusses the importance of having models and rubrics available for students, and describes the process she used to develop rubrics. Parents were also involved in rubric training sessions so they could better understand the process.
This is a very reader-friendly article. Its plain language makes the process extremely accessible for those who are not familiar with portfolio assessment. This is one of the few articles I found which discusses the development of rubrics, and is very helpful in that sense. Rubrics make it easy and very clear for students when editing, reflecting, and revising their portfolio pieces. It doesn’t necessarily add more work for students; it gives them something to guide their work so that they are on the right track.
Ezell, D., & Klein, C. (2003). Impact of portfolio assessment on locus of control of students with and without disabilities. Education and Training in Developmental Disabilities, 38(2), 220-8.
The purpose of this study was to see if the use of portfolio assessment had an effect on students’ internal locus of control. Locus of control refers to “an individual’s perception of control over one’s own environment.” More specifically, the internal locus of control is what makes students “credit life’s successes and failures to their own ability and effort.” The study obviously focused on the self-evaluation and reflection components essential to portfolio assessment, and the students studied were from two public middle schools. 20 of the 90 students studied had mild disabilities, including learning disabilities and mild mental disabilities. Students were all given a locus of control scale (The Nowicki-Strickland Locus of Control Scale) in order to gain preliminary data, and those scales were given again at the end of the study. Overall, special education students had a higher external locus of control before the study. However, findings at the end of the study showed that special education students in the portfolio group had significantly higher internal locus of control scores than those students in the non-portfolio group. The nature of portfolio assessment was therefore determined to be what shaped these students’ beliefs about their own achievement, particularly because they spent so much time evaluating and reflecting on their work.
This article speaks directly to my question. I hadn’t thought about the way my students perceive their achievement, whether related to their own work or to outside forces beyond their control. Yet this study really shows how beneficial it is for students, particularly special education students, to spend time reflecting and analyzing their work, especially their strengths. One of the teachers involved in the study stated that all of her students benefited, but that it was the disabled students who grew the most because they had some ownership over their learning. Many of these students had a “learned helplessness” from so many experiences where they couldn’t compete with the rest of the group, that when given the opportunity to concentrate on their own goals and their own learning, they excelled. This is a wonderful benefit from the use of portfolio assessment.
Hebert, E. (2001). How does a child understand a standard? Educational Leadership, 59(1), 71-73.
Portfolios and the way they help teachers understand students’ ways of thinking are discussed in this article. The author states that in order to help students understand the standards and objectives they need to know, we should allow them opportunities to dialogue about the things they are doing in their classrooms, and make this a component of the portfolio process. The idea is that if students feel that they completely understand standards and the ways to demonstrate them, they will take ownership over their learning. The effective way to do this, according to Hebert, is to allow them to talk to each other and reflect on processes involved in learning new concepts.
This article was very brief, and did not go into a lot of elaboration about how to guide kids to this goal. There were examples of student conversations, but no information about how to facilitate these types of conversations. Ultimately, it stresses the importance of reflection and dialogue within the portfolio process as a way for kids to clearly understand the processes they use to come to distinct conclusions.
Hillyer, J., & Ley, T. C. (1996). Portfolios and second graders' self-assessments of their development as writers. Reading Improvement, 33, 148-159.
This article is the product of a year-long study of 2nd graders, and their feelings about themselves as writers. The study’s goal is to examine the way portfolio assessment can improve student perceptions. 32 2nd graders were chosen from two different classrooms within one school, and the researcher spent 2 days a week in each classroom. The researcher introduced the idea of portfolios to the students and started by interviewing students to gain information about their perceptions of their writing abilities. She then spent the next several weeks co teaching the language arts classes with the classroom teacher. Portfolio pieces were revised with the help of the teacher during student-teacher conferences, and also through a process of peer editing. Throughout the school year, with the help of the teacher/researcher, students became able to choose pieces for their portfolio based on strengths and weaknesses, and were able to reflect on what made those pieces good or bad. They were also able to see growth in their writing, and their perceptions of themselves changed as they focused on their strengths. Most students made positive comments about themselves as writers and the portfolio process impacted student perceptions greatly. At the beginning of the study, 12% of the students thought they were limited writers, 25% saw themselves as average writers, and 50% saw themselves as exceptional of above average writers. At the end of the study, 32% of students perceived themselves as average writers, and the rest saw themselves as above average writers.
This study was particularly useful because it addressed the way students feel about portfolio assessment. If students are not capable of being involved in a process such as this, then it can not work. These students were not only capable, they became very good at evaluating their writing and reflecting on it and their strengths. This shows how essential student reflection is within the portfolio process. If students aren’t at the center of the assessment, then it will not work, and it will not help to improve their skills. Because the students had not used portfolios before, it was particularly interesting that with proper guidance and support, the students could understand the process so that teachers could use it as an authentic assessment tool.
Irwin-DeVitis, L. (1996). Teachers' voices: literacy portfolios in the classroom and beyond. Reading Research and Instruction, 35, 223-236.
This article examines the beliefs of 3 teachers who use portfolio assessment in their classrooms for literacy. The teachers all advocate the use of portfolios as authentic assessment centering around students and their choices for the portfolio. Each teacher had specific examples of how their students were able to choose artifacts, justify their importance and express the ways in which pieces demonstrated their growth in literacy. One of the teachers interviewed expressed how important the portfolio had become for planning and developing the IEP for disabled students, stating that this form of authentic assessment was much more useful for measuring progress than a standardized test. Upon learning that their district wanted to adopt portfolio assessment on a large scale, the teachers were very excited. However, they quickly had doubts as to its effectiveness, largely because it would mandate the types of piece student portfolios would include, thereby taking away the self-evaluation and independent learning elements of the portfolio.
These teachers use portfolios in ways which empower students. By giving students the freedom to include a wide variety of pieces, the teachers can see literacy development in many areas, some of which are quite unexpected. I agree that one of the necessary components of the portfolio is student evaluation, and I like the way the teachers have their students include written justifications for their choices. This helps the students to reflect on their own learning, which is something they often don’t get the opportunity to do. As a special education teacher, I can also see how wonderful it would be to take that portfolio to an IEP in order to influence planning for that student and rate progress of IEP objectives. Standardized tests just don’t help in that area. For the purpose of my question, the idea of large scale assessment doesn’t really relate, but I must say that I think it would still be better than depending on one sample from one day out of the entire school year. Students can still flex their creative muscles with proper guidance, even if a certain piece is required.
Jochum, Julie, Curran, Christina, & Reetz, Linda. (1998). Creating individual
education portfolios in written language. Reading & Writing Quarterly, 14,
283-307.
This article focuses on the use of portfolios with disabled children for writing. The authors believe that with more and more special education students being integrated into the regular classroom, traditional methods of assessment do not give an accurate picture of achievement. Because ideas of what a portfolio can be vary, the authors describe the writing portfolio as a “process of recording learning that focuses on a learner's work in a given area of study and his or her reflection on that work.” They describe a team approach which involves the student foremost, as well as the parent, teacher, and peers. Methods of evaluation include rubrics, checklists, benchmarks, and comparison to IEP goals. Self-reflection is also a valuable component to the process, because it allows the student to understand processes and objectives that have been mastered. Overall, the article describes the use of the portfolio as an authentic assessment which can be used in conjunction with the IEP to show achievement among students with disabilities.
I liked that this article focused on children with disabilities, because it applies specifically to me. While the focus of the article was writing, the same principles could be used for any content area. The idea of creating the IEP while using the portfolio as a guide is very appealing, and is certainly a great way to have authentic goals for each student. The article also includes some sample rubrics, which are very helpful to use as a guide. It is important that the rubrics are clear, able to be changed if necessary, and user-friendly for students. If possible, it would be nice to have students add their input and help develop the rubrics. With all of the examples of different types of portfolios, I would like to use goal based portfolios, and incorporate the elements of the reflective portfolio in order to gain student insight. In addition, I like the idea of a showcase portfolio because it allows students to present the pieces they feel the best about while demonstrating their knowledge and progress so that they can feel successful.
Juniewicz, K. (2003). Student portfolios with a purpose: student led conferences. The Clearing House, 77(2), 73-77.
This study examined the way student-led conferences were used with portfolio assessment at a middle school in Portland, Maine. Teachers received grant money to study alternative assessment, and decided to incorporate portfolios into their classrooms as a means of assessment. The purpose was to see how teachers, parents, and students viewed the effectiveness of student-led conferences as part of the portfolio process. Subjects were surveyed and interviewed, and the researcher observed actual student-led conferences. Results indicated that most of the people involved believed that the use of student-led conferences was “effective in promoting the real world skills of responsibility, reflection, self-assessment, and goal setting.” In addition, administrators strongly encouraged the use of portfolios in conjunction with student-led conferences. However, parents who had objections to the process argued that they sometimes needed to meet with the teacher without their child present, and some students believed that the process took too much time and effort.
It makes sense to me that students be involved in conferences if their work is being examined. The author did not go into a whole lot of detail about how the conferences were conducted, though, and that is a major weakness of the article. I agree that giving students the responsibility of leading the conference prepares them for real world situations and involves them in every aspect of the learning process. This is a wonderful benefit to using portfolio assessment. Parents who participated in the study agreed; rather than being given a series of number grades that don’t mean a whole lot, they are able to hear their children explain processes and present their products with confidence.
Kleinert, H., Green, P., & Hurte, M. (2002). Creating and using meaningful alternate assessments. Teaching Exceptional Children, 34(4), 40-7.
This article addresses the use of portfolios for exceptional children involved in alternate assessment programs for their state. It includes useful information on how to incorporate IEPs with the assessments and discusses the ways teachers and students have integrated these assessments with the standard course of study.
This is an excellent article which reinforces the importance of using portfolio assessments for students with disabilities. However, it doesn’t apply directly to our state, especially because we are discouraged from using alternate assessments with our mildly disabled students because it is impossible for them to make above a Level 2, and Level 3 is considered proficient. I do agree that these alternate assessments should be in place, but it is very misleading to let readers believe that these assessments truly take the place of the standardized assessments.
Manning, M. M., & Manning, G. L. (1995). Portfolios in reading and writing. Teaching PreK-8, 25, 94-5.
This article examines the use of literacy portfolios for reading and writing classes. It tackles two of the biggest dilemmas facing teachers who want to use portfolios: grading and time. The grading issue is addressed through the use of rubrics and student evaluations, and the authors emphasize that portfolios are just one piece of the reading/ language arts class. Some teachers are even using the assessment rubrics in place of their grades, after their principals have seen the benefits of portfolio assessment. Suggestions for how to make time to do portfolio assessment include meeting with at least two students per day to examine their portfolios, rather than saving them until the end of a grading period. In addition, teachers can include checklists and anecdotal notes on sticky notes to help with evaluation within the portfolio. Finally, having students involved in the evaluation will help with time issues, especially when students are writing their thoughts and ideas in journals to accompany the portfolios.
I would have to say that I would be one of the teachers reluctant to try portfolio assessment due to the amount of time involved. However, this article addresses that and simply makes it an issue of prioritizing. The authors note that portfolio assessment is an effective strategy and that it can be incorporated just as easily as anything else. Organization is a key element to making this work. I like the idea of using rubrics and scales for grading rather than letter and number grades. If a student includes pieces in his portfolio that he is proud of and can justify, I think he should be graded accordingly. This would help improve grades and motivation levels, and I think it would help erase some of the stigma attached to report cards, especially for my struggling students. By having the students more invested in their learning, they are going to perform better and have better grades.
Murphy, Sandra M. (1998). Reflection—in portfolios and beyond. Clearing House, 72,7-10.
In this article, Murphy examines the role of reflection within the portfolio process. She advocates the use of reflection as a tool for teachers to see the ways in which students are learning. By asking students to reflect on their writing, their learning, or any other content, teachers are essentially asking students to explain their ideas and show the ways they were able to come to certain conclusions. Murphy also believes the process is very valuable because it forces the student to be actively involved in his/her learning. She stresses that reflection does not have to be written; it can come in many different forms, including conferences, dialogue among peers, and other products.
I think that student reflection is an essential component to portfolio assessment. When students are simply answering questions or doing homework/classwork without talking about it and explaining their decisions or growth, it doesn’t tell the teacher a whole lot about what that student actually learned, or how he came to get his answers. If students are reflecting on assignments or growth over the course of a semester, it helps them to see what they can do, or what they achieved, rather than all the things they are failing. Reflection is not a new idea, but as a component to portfolio assessment, it is a very powerful one which helps students to be more involved in the learning process.
Penta, M. (2002). Student portfolios in a standardized world. Kappa Delta Pi Record, 38(2), 77-81.
This article examines the successes and difficulties the Wake County Public School System in Raleigh, NC had when it implemented student portfolio programs in the midst of a high stakes testing era. The electronic portfolios were extremely useful for integrating technology, and improved student and teacher skills in this area. In addition, students were able to express themselves in many different formats while demonstrating competency in subject areas. Portfolios were also used within magnet schools’ innovative programs, and were successful as well. However, students did not perform as well on end of grade multiple choice tests, and though the portfolio program had been seen as successful, many teachers stopped putting as much effort into this form of assessment, especially when they did not receive bonuses based on test scores. This article advocates the use of portfolio assessment and centers on its benefits, yet states that in a world of high stakes testing, it seems almost impossible to use portfolios effectively.
This is a huge dilemma for teachers. The author states that portfolios require a great deal of “housekeeping.” This is definitely true, but the benefits for students, and even for future teachers can be tremendous. While my students are involved in standardized testing, I feel like I’m at an advantage that the teachers in the article don’t have. I can use portfolios more effectively because I am trying to address goals on each student’s individual plan, and can use their portfolios as evidence of this. Sometimes these goals are related to the standard course of study, but I have a little more flexibility with the types of assessment that I choose to implement as evidence of goal achievement. I can sympathize with the teachers in this article; it would be extremely disheartening to spend so much time and effort doing something truly worthwhile, only to find out that your students didn’t perform well on a test they have to pass to go to the next grade. It just adds more to the debate that standardized tests can not measure growth or achievement for individual students, and that portfolio assessment gives a more authentic picture of student learning.
Smith, J. D., Brewer, D. M., & Heffner T. (2003). Using portfolio assessments with young children who are at risk for school failure. Preventing School Failure, 48(1), 38-40.
This article discusses the use of portfolios with children who are labeled developmentally delayed. In this context, student portfolios contained drawings, writing, audio recordings, and objective-related work samples in order to determine school readiness among rising kindergartners. Progress notes, anecdotal records, and checklists were also included to supplement student work. The areas that were assessed included gross and fine motor skills, literacy, numeracy, and social skills. Students’ best work was chosen for the portfolios, and unlike other studies, the students were not involved in choosing pieces, mainly because of their age and experience. The portfolios were shared with parents and were used to show strengths and progress. The authors preferred this approach because it looked at each child individually without comparing him/her to an entire group, which often tends to discourage parents, particularly when the student is developmentally delayed.
There were many positive things I gained from this article. When a child enters kindergarten and already has the developmentally delayed label, they seem to be unable to do anything. They often have significant difficulty with tasks other children have no problems with. These tasks include holding their pencils, recognizing or writing their names, knowing colors, numbers, etc. It is very discouraging for both teachers and parents. I currently serve 4 students who are developmentally delayed, and with the use of portfolio assessment as outlined in this article, would be able to show many more of the positive aspects of these kids’ school careers. I agree with the authors that this is extremely important for parents, mainly because they too hear way too often about all of the things their child can’t do. Another interesting part of this article was the fact that the students weren’t involved in choosing pieces for their portfolios. I can understand this because these children simply don’t have the ability to make justifications for artifacts, but can still be proud of the finished product. This positive approach follows the same basic ideas of portfolio assessment, but has been fine tuned to work with younger learners in order to showcase their strengths.
Walther-Thomas, C. & Brownell, M.T. (2001). An interview with Bonnie Jones: using student portfolios effectively. Intervention in School and Clinic, 36(4), 225-9.
This article was an interview with Dr. Bonnie Jones, an expert in portfolio assessment who has worked specifically with special education students. She discusses the uses of portfolio assessment, the essential components to the portfolio, how to overcome possible problems with portfolios, and ways to involve families in the portfolio process. Jones states that the four essential components to a portfolio are alignment to content standards, student input (in the form of reflection or self-evaluation), multiple products as evidence towards the mastery of goals, and conference time with students.
This was a very basic article which gave an overview of portfolio assessment. Because Dr. Jones has worked so extensively with disabled children, her input on the use of portfolios with these students was very useful. She gave a great deal of information on how to incorporate the portfolios into the IEP and use them as evidence towards IEP progress, as well as how to involve parents by making them knowledgeable about the portfolio process. Jones also stresses the importance of collaboration between special and general education teachers in an age of inclusion, something with which I am already involved.
With all of the research that went into answering my question, there were many different ideas and opinions about the best way to use portfolio assessment. It is a time-consuming task, but when done in an organized way, can lead to many benefits for students and teachers. It is indeed an effective tool and an authentic assessment which gives insight to student strengths, needs, and learning processes.
Portfolio Components
Portfolios have typically come to be known as a collection of work samples. However, when portfolios are used as an assessment tool, they must encompass much more than just the written products. In addition to the work, portfolios should include written observations and notes from the teacher and parents (if possible). Portfolios should also contain student rationales that explain why a certain piece was included as a good or bad work. Finally, portfolios need to have some kind of rubric or checklist for students and teachers to go by. This is essential because it becomes the basis by which all works are graded. (Manning 1995)
Student Reflection in Portfolios
One of the essential components to the portfolio is the reflection done by the student. In these reflections, students explain their learning processes and expand on their purposes and goals. Reflection is integral to portfolio assessment because it engages students in the learning process. This reflection can be done through self-evaluation, conferencing, or dialogue among small groups of students. (Murphy, 1998) Murphy also argues that when students have a voice in choosing the content for the portfolio, evaluating the content, and helping to set the guidelines for grading, they are engaging in the reflective process. (1998) When reflection is done in written form, there are many alternatives. Students may write journal entries, letters, or narratives reflecting on their works. For younger students, this may be more difficult, so some teachers could have their students use graphic organizers to help with organization and brainstorming. Reflection in whatever form is necessary when using portfolios for assessment because it helps the student to learn more about themselves as learners so they may set achievable goals and make progress.
Benefits of Portfolio Assessment
Portfolio assessment is an excellent tool to use in the classroom because it encourages growth through higher level thinking skills that can’t always be assessed by standardized tests. Portfolios make learning more individualized, which helps teachers shift towards a “meaning-centered curriculum”, thus allowing for a more student-centered classroom. Published materials often make the decisions about what material to cover and how to assess it. When teachers use portfolios, they are able to stop using these materials and focus on a process which puts their students’ needs first. (Evans, 1993) The standardized assessments that we as educators have come to know give very little information about individual student needs. Rather, they give statistical information about large groups that is extremely ineffective for planning or instruction. By using portfolios, educators and students are evaluating—“describing, analyzing, and reflecting on the data”. In other words, the use of portfolios allows educators to “use developmentally appropriate assessment techniques, and to evaluate students’ growth and development.” (Manning, 1995) The key here is that the assessment is developmentally appropriate. It is not state-mandated or assessed on a certain grade level. It adjusts to meet a student’s cognitive level without adding unnecessary frustration.
Portfolios for Students with Disabilities
Students who have disabilities are often at a huge disadvantage when it comes to assessment. When standardized tests are the basis by which disabled students are measured, it often looks as though these students aren’t learning anything. In fact, when these students are asked about their achievements and abilities, they express their inadequacies and often fall further behind as the school year progresses. Portfolios work especially well for these students because they focus on development over time and give a “multi-dimensional view of students’ effort, development, and achievement.” (Boerum, 2000) Rather than dwelling on all of a student’s shortcomings, portfolio assessment allows students to see what they do well, what they need to improve on, and helps them to set achievable goals. While this is a student-centered form of assessment, it does not have to be done independently. Students with disabilities need guidance when it comes to planning, organizing, and even reflecting. Yet when given the opportunity, disabled students can see their own growth, which boosts their academic skills and their self-esteem.
As more special education students are exposed to inclusion settings, portfolios can become a part of their Individualized Education Plans (IEPs). With the strict guidelines governing the use of IEPs, it is very difficult to find ways to show evidence of goal achievement. Portfolios are an excellent way to show documentation for IEPs while not compromising the learning process. (Jochum, Curran, & Reetz, 1998) The annual review of the IEP requires that teachers and parents (as well as students if applicable) develop goals specific for the student. However, the team also has to do a present level of performance, which addresses the student’s strengths and needs. Jochum (1998) argues that standardized assessment does not “identify strengths in a useful format”. Portfolios provide work samples and reflections, which make it much easier to understand what the student does well, as well as what they perceive is difficult.
Implications for Learning
Whether adapted for large scale or classroom use, portfolios give more information about student ability than a standardized test can give on a single day. Those who support portfolio assessment favor it because they believe that classroom performance is more accurate for measuring student ability. Portfolio assessment is truly authentic because it is achieved through a process which is shown through the student’s own work and reflections. Though portfolio assessment is time-consuming and seemingly difficult, the benefits far outweigh the limitations. Portfolios provide teachers with an opportunity to communicate with students individually. Portfolios urge students to take responsibility for their learning and allow them to see their progress throughout the school year. Students can take ownership of their work and learn to evaluate its strengths and weaknesses in a supportive environment. By learning to reflect on their work, students are able to evaluate and engage in higher-order thinking skills. Portfolios build students’ confidence by addressing goals designed specifically for them. In this aspect, portfolios are especially useful for kids who struggle in the classroom, whether they have identified disabilities or are simply ‘slow learners’. Portfolios are definitely an effective way to guide student learning while assessing their progress at the same time.
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