Student Portfolios
Knowing how to build an impressive portfolio and set realistic goals is a necessary skill in the business world. The better the portfolio is the better the opportunity for advancement.
What is a portfolio?
A portfolio is a means of communication between the teacher and the student. It provides an opportunity for the student to provide knowledge not requested or required by the teacher. A portfolio is a collection of work that reflects a student's capabilities and goals over a period of time or a unit of work.
Portfolios are a valuable classroom tool benefiting both teachers and students. Experiment with portfolios. Keep what works best for you and modify the rest. Share your successes with other teachers. Some schools require a portfolio from each student for all subjects. Some school districts continue that same portfolio from year to year. Some states now require a portfolio from each student for each subject.
Why portfolios?
The student learns to set and work towards goals. The portfolio also provides opportunities for the student to evaluate the course work. At the same time, the teacher learns the level the student is working on and the level of success the student expects to achieve. Portfolios may reveal student attitudes, student learning styles, and personal interests and talents otherwise hard to detect. Portfolios provide feedback that can be used as a means of teacher evaluation, or as a tool in parent–teacher conferences.
What goes into a portfolio?
A portfolio can include:
- Tests
- Projects
- Class work
- Homework
- Research
- Journal entries
This is not an all-inclusive list. Portfolios can include virtually anything students do that relates to the goals. A portfolio does not necessarily include whole pieces of work. It might include one problem from one homework assignment or only one aspect of a project. It may include a paragraph comparing or relating more than one work.
What are portfolio goals?
Goals can be set for individuals or for the entire class. They can be set by the teacher, by the students as a class, or by each individual student. Goals can be personal goals or can relate to content.
Examples of personal goals
- Write legibly
- Complete homework assignments on time
- Improve one's attitude
- Remember to bring textbook to every class
Examples of content goals
- Describe how the government regulates business
- Describe how to promote a business using various advertising methods
- Explain the steps of market research
For content goals, provide a list of specific goals from which students can choose. Also consider requiring certain specific content goals. The more control students have in setting the goals, the more success they may have in achieving them. Encourage your students not only to maintain goals throughout the year but also to develop new goals regularly.
Either you or the student can set the number of goals required. You may first want to consider how many portfolio reviews you will require during the school year.
How should a portfolio be organized?
A portfolio should be organized so that you can review its contents quickly and accurately. The student should provide a table of contents and at least one sample of work for each goal.
The number of samples for each goal depends on the goal. For example, if the goal is to show improvement in a skill, several samples over a period of time should be included for that goal. If the goal is new, only one sample might be included.
Each sample of work should be attached to a Portfolio Item Self-Assessment form that identifies the sample, indicates the goal represented, and tells why the sample is included. This form is designed to save you time in reviewing the portfolio.
How should portfolios be graded?
Grade the portfolio on how well the student meets expectations according to the student's capabilities. Specifically avoid comparing one student's portfolio to another's. Assess the student goals and portfolio organization. Use the Portfolio Item Self-Assessment form to determine the appropriateness of each sample of work. When reviewing samples, focus on ways to compliment and encourage the students' efforts to represent the goal.
When should portfolios be graded?
Some teachers do not grade portfolios, while others do. Portfolios provide opportunities for students to work in their own learning styles, which can result in stronger grades. The portfolio can be graded once a school year, semester, quarter, month, or by chapter or unit. Students should know when portfolios will be graded.
What to tell the student
Provide a written description of the portfolio, including answers to the following questions.
- Who reviews the portfolio?
- What is the purpose of the portfolio?
- What goes in the portfolio?
- Who sets the goals? How many goals?
- Will everyone be working on the same goals?
- How should the portfolio be organized?
- What forms will be used, and how should the portfolio be filled out?
- When will the portfolio be reviewed?
- Will the portfolio be graded?
- What counts toward the grade?
A final note
Set reasonable goals for yourself. If you have never worked with portfolios, you might want to scale down the procedure until you are comfortable with it. Design your portfolio assignment so you can review or grade it in about the same amount of time you take to grade a test. If you think portfolios are too tedious to manage, you may decide to eliminate them. But if you do, you could miss out on one of the most rewarding experiences of your teaching career. Ideally, portfolios will help students to become better students and teachers to become better teachers.