GESS EuroSec Primary Student Portfolio Policy

“A portfolio is a record of students’ involvement in learning which is designed to demonstrate success, growth, higher-order thinking, creativity, assessment strategies and reflection.

A portfolio is a celebration of an active mind at work. It provides a picture of each student’s progress and development over a period of time, both as individual and group learners. It enables students to reflect with teachers, parents and peers in order to identify their strengths and growth as well as areas for improvement, and then to set individual goals and establish teaching and learning plans.

Evidence of learning in a portfolio should be from a range of experiences and curriculum areas. The portfolio is used to show the development of knowledge, conceptual understanding, trans-disciplinary skills, attitudes and the attributes of the learner profile over a period of time. It may also be used to document student action. Portfolio entries should document both the process of learning and the product, including images and evidence of students in the process of constructing meaning. It can be used as a tool for assessment and reporting purposes for students, parents, teachers and administrators.”

Making the PYP Happen 2007, page 50

At GESS European Section Primary, we have agreed to create and structure student portfolios according to the following guidelines.

The criteria for selecting pieces of work:

Some work is selected by teachers or by teachers in consultation with their students. For each unit of inquiry, the classroom teacher will select at least one piece of work from each of the following areas:

  • mathematics
  • language arts
  • unit-related summative project

Specialist teachers are responsible for selecting at least one piece of work per student per semester. These may, or may not, be unit-related.

Regardless of subject, work should be selected to reflect the individual student’s progress and self-expression. Photocopied work sheets or tests are not appropriate; rather, open-ended tasks are far more effective at showing a range of skills and ideas, as well as the student’s creativity, ideas and attitudes. Each piece of work should bear the stamp of the individual student.

In addition, over the course of the year, the pieces selected should cover a range of strands, tasks and approaches to learning.

  • In math, not only number, but also a range of strands, should be included.
  • In language arts, a range of text types should be exhibited. These will reflect the particular genres studied at each grade level.

Students will also select at least one piece of work per unit, for their portfolios for a total of at least six in the academic year. They are encouraged to select and reflect on their work, according to the following criteria:

  • Most improved
  • I’m especially proud of…
  • Showing collaboration with my peers
  • I learned the most from…
  • Reminds me of an important event…
  • Showing a lot about me...
  • Showing the Learner Profile attribute of…
  • Showing the PYP Attitude of…
  • Showing evidence of self-reflection on reading strategies (First Steps)
  • Especially challenging
  • Especially fun
  • Especially interesting
  • …. Other ideas….

Teachers may wish to make student reflection templates to guide students in this process.

Students may also write their own reflections on unit learning, which can be included in lieu of student-selected work.

What will accompany the selected pieces of work:

a)Each student portfolio must include:

  • Cover: Student name and class label (a photo is suggested)
  • Assessment and reporting explanation
  • Unit introduction page or parent letters to introduce each new unit
  • “Student Goal-Setting and Reflection” document (Semester 1/Semester 2)

b)Each unit-related summative projectwill be assessed with a rubric, to be included in the portfolio. Ideally, the rubric will be developed collaboratively with students before beginning the project, to ensure clear understanding of the purpose, to improve student ownership, success and opportunities for self/peer reflection.Rubrics will address understanding of the central idea and other key learning goals associated with the project.

c)All work must be annotated with the following information:

  1. Task description (including purpose)
  2. Subject and teacher’s name
  3. Date of work
  4. Trans-disciplinary theme and central idea, where relevant
  5. Subject-specific curriculum outcomes demonstrated
  6. Appropriate assessment

d)Rather than using the standard portfolio assessment box for every piece of work, teachers may choose to use: checklists, rubrics, teacher anecdotal observations orstudent- or peer reflections or assessments, in various formats instead.

Portfolios are to be used in the following ways:

  • They are sent home with students at the end of Semester One to be shared among family.
  • They (or selected pieces) are shared with parents during student-led conferencing to demonstrate learning and progress.
  • They are sent home with students at the end of Semester Two.

The portfolio format:

Portfolios are compiled in sturdy binders. Each piece of work is inserted in plastic pocket sleeve. Additional pocket sleeves may be added at the discretion of the teachers.

Storage:

Portfolios are to be stored in the classrooms. Specialists are responsible for providing annotated pieces by specified deadlines to classroom teachers, each semester.

Access:

Students and teachers have access to portfolios at any time during the school year. Parents have access during the winter holiday, at the three-way conferences, or by request to the classroom teacher.

Ownership:

The portfolio is the property of the student and his parents. At the end of the school year, it goes home with the student to keep.

  • Drafted by Sarah Thomas, 8 September, 2010, based on discussions among EuroSecPrimary teachers over the course of the 2009-2010 academic year.
  • This document has been reviewed and approved by the EuroSec Primary teachers on 15 September, 2010.

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