Using Student Portfolios As a Means of Standards-Based Assessment in the Middle School

Using Student Portfolios as a Means of Standards-Based Assessment in the Middle School

Prepared by Howard Miller, Ed. D.

Professor of Education

Mercy College

Dobbs Ferry, New York 10522

TYPES OF PORTFOLIOS

Team Portfolios

Includes work from the four core areas.

Can be sent from Grade 6 Team to Grade 7 Team and from Grade 7 Team to Grade 8 Team.

OR

Can be kept within the team for the year and cleaned out at the end of the year.

Inherent problems:

• Storage
• Required participation of all teams
• Role of all four teachers in evaluation

‘Whole Child’ Portfolios

Includes samples of work from core areas, explos, electives, extra-curricular activities

Can be sent from Grade 6 Team to Grade 7 Team and from Grade 7 Team to Grade 8 Team.

OR

Can be kept within the team for the year and cleaned out at the end of the year.

Inherent problems:

Storage

Evaluation

Subject area portfolios

Includes work from one content area.

Can be sent from 6 to 7 to 8 to 9

OR

Can be sent from 6 to 7 to 8 and be cleaned out at the end of 8th grade

OR

Can be kept within the team for the year and cleaned out at the end of the year.

Inherent problems:

Required participation of subject area teachers across grade levels

Agreement of guidelines among the teachers across grade levels

Suggestions

The last assignment done in grades 6, 7, and 8 becomes the first assignment worked on in grades 7, 8, and 9

Relate contents of portfolio to the Standards

Part of self-evaluation requires students to discuss/demonstrate how they have met

the Standards

ACTUAL INSTRUCTIONS PROVIDED TO 7TH GRADE STUDENTS

Portfolio Assignment

400 Points

As we approach the end of the first semester, it is very important that we take the time to think about where we have been and to make decisions about where we need to be heading.

The way we will do this is by taking a good honest look at your portfolio.

Your portfolio is a collection of your work designed to show your growth over time.

It is the single most valuable means of demonstrating what you have learned.

It is a way for you to reflect on your own strengths.

It is a way to show your teacher what you have accomplished; it is a way to share your work with your parents and any other interested persons.

Your portfolio will follow you to eighth grade and on into high school, and possibly beyond. It is your own personal time-line, a reflection of you as a student.

If your portfolio is going to be of any value to you, it must be well organized. That is what we are going to work on first.

Portfolio Assignment

Part I: Organization

1. Make sure you have a portfolio. It should be in the file cabinet filed under your name. If you don’t have one, see me and we’ll get you one.

2. A complete portfolio will have the following

items in it: (HERE YOU WOULD LIST THE CONTENTS THAT SHOULD BE INCLUDED)

I will expect you to come into class every day prepared to work on getting your portfolio ready.

Part II of this assignment will be a self-evaluation. I will give you the criteria for that later this week.

Part III of this assignment will require you to take your portfolio home, go over it with your parents, and bring back a written report of how your meeting went. Part IV of this assignment will require you to share your final results with me.

When you have completed all four parts, you will receive up to 400 points towards your grade.

Note: I will be here to help you with any problems you might have in getting your portfolio together. This will be our NUMBER 1 task.

Part II: Self-Evaluation

1. 1. Organize the material in your portfolio in a way that makes sense to you.

2. Write up a table of contents listing your assignments in the order that you put them in

your portfolio.

When you list each assignment, write a brief (1 or 2 sentences) description of what the assignment is about.

3.Write an introduction to your portfolio. In it,

explain:

a. What a portfolio is (a collection of work

showing growth over time).

b. How you have grown as a writer since

you started keeping your portfolio.

1. What is your most successful piece of

writing?

1. Why did you choose this as your

show-off piece?

1. What are your greatest strengths as a writer?

f. What do you feel you need to work on to

improve as a writer?

4. Take your portfolio home. Share it with your parents. They are to write a letter to you, and you need to include this letter in your portfolio.

5. Bring the portfolio back. Turn it in to me so I can grade it.

Part III: Sharing

Dear Parents,

As part of our work in language arts, the students have kept portfolios since sixth grade showing how they have grown as writers over time.

I asked them to bring home their portfolios and share their writing with you.

They should have written an introduction according to the following guidelines:

(Insert guidelines)

I have asked the students to sit down with their parents, talk about their portfolio, show you examples of their work, share the one special piece they selected as their show-off piece, and talk about what they think they need to work on to improve their writing.

After that, I would like you to take a few minutes to write a letter to your child and tell them how you feel about how they are doing.

I will be reading your letter, too, for I value your judgment, and no one knows your child better than you do.

Your letter will then become part of the portfolio and will go with them to eighth grade and into high school after that.

Thank you for helping your child with this assignment.

I believe it has been a very valuable experience for the students to take a look back over the first semester's work and to think about where they need to be heading during the second semester.

The focus for the second half of the course will be on editing, revising, and polishing their writing--including grammar, spelling, and punctuation--and writing for publication.

Authentic Assessment in an Age of Accountability

AMLE Conference – Oct. 2016 – Austin, TX.

Prepared by Jordan Jay, Ph.D.

Lincoln University

Jefferson City, MO. 65102

Geography activity

Choose any city in the world you would like to visit.

Construct an electronic travel brochure on the city based on the 5 Themes of Geography.

Present the information to the class in the form of an informative/ persuasive speech.

After choosing a city, the student will conduct research using multiple types of resources to gather information regarding the city related to the 5 Themes of Geography.

Resources will be analyzed based on the 5 Themes of Geography. They are location, place, interactions and/or relationships within places, regions and movement.

After researching, the student will construct an electronic travel brochure of the city based on the 5 Themes of Geography. The brochure will include a map, pictures representing place, interactions/relationships within places, regions and movement. Written descriptions and titles should be included for each of the 5 Themes of Geography. The brochure will serve as the basis for the persuasive presentation.

The persuasive presentation will be presented as if the student were a tourist guide trying to convince individuals to visit their chosen city. The presentation will include information based on the research conducted and the 5 Themes of Geography. The electronic travel brochure will serve as a visual for the presentation.

While each presentation is give, the audience will complete a study guide based on the 5 Themes of Geography. After all presentations are completed, each student will use their study guide to construct a list that ranks the cities in order of their preference for visitation.

Elements to be included on the electronic travel brochure, the persuasive speech, and the student’s rankings are outlined in the scoring guides for each of the activities.

This activity meets the following Missouri and NCSS C3 standards(bold and underlined):

Social Studies

Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

In Social Studies, students in Missouri public schools will acquire a solid foundation which includes knowledge of

1. principles expressed in the documents shaping

constitutional democracy in the United States

2. continuity and change in the history of Missouri, the

United States and the world

3. principles and processes of governance systems

4. economic concepts (including productivity and the

market system) and principles (including the laws of

supply and demand)

5. the major elements of geographical study and

analysis (such as location, place, movement, regions)

and their relationships to changes in society and

environment

6. relationships of the individual and groups to

institutions and cultural traditions

7. the use of tools of social science inquiry (such as

surveys, statistics, maps, documents)

National Council for the Social Studies C3 Framework Organization

Dimension 1: Developing Questions and Planning Inquiries / Dimension 2: Applying Disciplinary Tools and Concepts / Dimension 3: Evaluating Sources and Using Evidence / Dimension 4: Communicating Conclusions and Taking Informed Action
Developing Questions and Planning Inquiries / Civics / Gathering and Evaluating Sources / Communicating and Critiquing Conclusions
Economics
Geography / Developing Claims and Using Evidence / Taking Informed Action
History

FIVE THEMES OF GEOGRAPHY

1)LOCATION

WHERE THE COUNTRY IS LOCATED

1. EXACT LOCATION

LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE

1. RELATIVE LOCATION

RELATED TO ANOTHER LOCATION-DISTANCE AND DIRECTION

2)PLACE

DESCRIBES THE COUNTRY IN REGARD TO

1. CLIMATE
2. MAJOR PHYSICAL FEATURES
3. MAJOR POINTS OF INTEREST
4. THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE THERE
5. SIMILARITIES TO THE STUDENT’S WORLD

F.SIZE AND SHAPE

3)INTERACTIONS/RELATIONSHIPS WITHIN PLACES

DESCRIBES HOW AND WHY WE MODIFY THE ENVIRONMENT

1. HOW THE LAND IS USED
2. HOW PEOPLE CHANGE THE LAND
3. WHERE PEOPLE LIVE
4. URBAN/RURAL POPULATION DENSITY
5. RESOURCES
6. WHY PEOPLE SETTLED THERE
7. MODIFICATIONS TO THE ENVIRONMENT

4)MOVEMENT (GOODS, SERVICES, PEOPLE, IDEAS)

1. HOW PEOPLE TRAVEL
2. IMPORTS/EXPORTS
3. MAIN TRADING PARTNERS
4. WHY PEOPLE MOVE TO OR LEAVE THE COUNTRY
5. HOW PEOPLE INTERACT WITH EACH OTHER

5)REGIONS (MAY HAVE NO DISTINCT BORDERS)

1. WHAT LANGUAGES ARE SPOKEN
2. VEGETATION REGIONS
3. POLITICAL DIVISIONS
4. HOW THE COUNTRY IS SIMILAR TO ITS’ NEIGHBORS

Five Themes of Geography Content Scoring Guide

Scores / Above Average
10 Points / Average
8Points / Below Average
6 Points
Location
Score: / Exact location included specific latitude and longitude of capitol
Relative included specific distance and direction from school / Latitude and longitude included were correct but not specific
Distance and direction included / Components of exact and relative location were missing
Place
Score: / DESCRIBES THE COUNTRY IN REGARD TO:
*Size and shape
*Climate
*Major physical features
*Major points of interest
*The people who live there
*Similarities to the student’s world

**Specific examples are given for each

/ DESCRIBES THE COUNTRY IN REGARD TO:
*Size and shape
*Climate
*Major physical features
*Major points of interest
*The people who live there
*Similarities to the student’s world
**General descriptions are given / DESCRIBES THE COUNTRY IN REGARD TO:
General description is given but not all categories are included
Interactions within Places
Score: / DESCRIBES:
*How the land is used
*How people modified the environment
*Where the people live
*Urban/rural population
*Natural resources
*Why people settled there / DESCRIBES:
At least 5 of the 6 categories / DESCRIBES:
4 or less categories
Movement
Score: / DESCRIBES SPECIFIC EXAMPLES OF:
*How people travel
*Transportation networks
*Major imports and exports
*Main trading partners
*Why people move to or from the place
*Ways people interact / DESCRIBES:
All the categories but does not provide specific examples for each / DESCRIBES:
General description of the categories but does not provide specific examples and/or does not include all the categories
Regions
Score: / DESCRIBES THE FOLLOWING TYPES OF REGIONS:
*Agricultural
*Industrial
*Political
*Language
*Religious
**Location of the region is included / DESCRIBES THE FOLLOWING TYPES OF REGIONS:
*Agricultural
*Industrial
*Political
*Language
*Religious
**Location of region is not included and/or one region is not included / DESCRIBES THE FOLLOWING TYPES OF REGIONS:
*Agricultural
*Industrial
*Political
*Language
*Religious
**Location of region is not included and/or more than one region is not included

Audience Information Sheet Presenter’s Name______

Location / Exact Location:
Relative Location:
Place / Size and shape:
Climate:
Major physical features:
Major points of interest:
The people who live there:
Similarities to the student’s world:
Interactions Within Places / How the land is used:
How people modified the environment:
Where the people live:
Urban/rural population:
Natural resources:
Why people settled there:
Movement / How people travel:
Transportation networks:
Major imports and exports:
Main trading partners:
Why people move to or from the place:
Ways people interact:
Regions / Agricultural:
Industrial:
Political:
Language:
Religious:

Electronic Presentation Scoring Guide

Score / Above Average
10 points / Average
8 points / Below Average
6 points
Intro / Included
*Title
*Name of presenter
*Background picture that is unique to that place
*All components were easy to see / Included
*Title
*Name of presenter
*Background picture that represents that place
*Some components were easy to see / Included
*Title
*Name of presenter
*Background picture does not represent that place
*Not very easy to see
Location / Includes
*One map showing exact location and lists the correct latitude and longitude of capitol
*One map showing relative location to our school listing the correct distance and direction
*Title on each map
*Maps, words and numbers are easily seen / Includes
*One map showing exact location and lists latitude and longitude of capitol
*One map showing relative location to our school listing a distance and direction
*Title on each map
*Some components of the maps, words and numbers are easily seen / Includes
*One map showing exact location and does not list latitude and longitude of capitol or is incorrect
*One map showing relative location to our school listing incorrect distance and direction
*Title on each map
*Maps, words and numbers are not easily seen
Place / Includes slides that identify the following components with a title, specific pictures and word descriptions:
*Size and shape
*Climate
*Major physical features
*Major points of interest
*The people who live there
*Similarities to the student’s world

**Specific examples are given for each and all components are included

**All components are easily seen

/ Includes slides that identify the following components with a title, specific pictures and word descriptions:
*Size and shape
*Climate
*Major physical features
*Major points of interest
*The people who live there
*Similarities to the student’s world
**General descriptions are given, and 1 or 2 components are missing
**Most components are easily seen / Includes slides that identify the following components with a title, specific pictures and word descriptions:
*Size and shape
*Climate
*Major physical features
*Major points of interest
*The people who live there
*Similarities to the student’s world
**Little description is given, and 3 or more components are missing
**Not easily seen
Interactions within Places / Includes all the following components
*How the land is used
*How people modified the environment
*Where the people live
*Urban/rural population
*Natural resources
*Why people settled there

**Specific examples are given for each and all components are included

**All components are easily seen / Included most the following components
*How the land is used
*How people modified the environment
*Where the people live
*Urban/rural population
*Natural resources
*Why people settled there
**General descriptions are given, and 1 or 2 components are missing
**Most components are easily seen / Included some the following components
*How the land is used
*How people modified the environment
*Where the people live
*Urban/rural population
*Natural resources
*Why people settled there
**Little description is given, and 3 or more components are missing
**Not easily seen
Movement / Included all the following components
*How people travel
*Transportation networks
*Major imports and exports
*Main trading partners
*Why people move to or from the place
*Ways people interact

**Specific examples are given for each and all components are included

**All components are easily seen

/ Included most the following components