• What is Portfolio Assessment?
• Individualizing Curricula on the Basis of Portfolio Assessment
• Issues related to Interdisciplinary Assessment
• Ethical Issues
• The Student-Led Conference: an alternative to the traditional parent-teacher interview

Portfolio Assessment

"Ongoing assessments such as samples of children's writing, attitudes, reflections reports, and other work produced during the week provide authentic evidence of children's performance in the classroom."

Winograd, P., Paris, S., & Bridge,C.(1991).
Improving the assessment of reading.
The reading Teacher, 45, 108-116.

"Educators use the term authentic assessment to define the practice of realistic student involvement in evaluation of their own achievements. Authentic assessments are performance-based, realistic, and instructionally appropriate (Pett, 1990). One method of authentic assessment is to assemble and review a portfolio of the child's work.

During systematic observation, young children should be observed when they are playing alone, in small groups, in large groups, at various times of day and in various circumstances. Systematic observation must be objective, selective, unobtrusive, and carefully recorded (Bertrand & Cebula, 1980). Ideally, a portfolio includes observations in several or all of the following forms:

• Anecdotal records. Anecdotal records are factual, nonjudgmental notes of children's activity. They are most useful for recording spontaneous events. They should be cumulative, revealing insights about the child's progress when they are reviewed sequentially.
• Checklist or inventory. The checklist or inventory is one of the easiest tools for recording children's progress. It should be based on instructional objectives and the development associated with the acquisition of the skills being monitored. In general, observations should be based on regular activities, not on specially designed or contrived activities.
• Rating scales. Rating scales are appropriately used when the behavior to be observed has several aspects or components, such as a child's success at following directions in different situations.
• Questions and requests. One of the most effective and easiest means of gathering information is to ask direct, open-ended questions of individual children. Open-ended requests such as, "I'd like you to tell me about this," elicit samples of the child's expressive language ability. Asking children about their activities also often yields insights into why they behave as they do.
• Screening tests. Screening tests are used to help identify the skills and strengths that children already possess, so that teachers can plan meaningful learning experiences for their students. Findings of screening tests and developmental scales should be considered with work samples and other, more subjective, material that the teacher assembles in portfolios. The assessment information revealed by such instruments is not appropriately used for grading, labeling, grouping, or retaining children. "

Citation from:
Cathy Grace.
The portfolio and Its Use: Developing Appropriate Assessment of Young Children.

Additional References:

Pett, J. (1990).
What is Authentic Evaluation? Common Questions and Answers. Fair Test Examiner 4 : 8-9.

Bertrand, A., and Cebula, J. (1980).
Tests, Measurements, and Evaluation: A Developmental Approach.
Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley,.

Individualizing Curricula on the Basis of Portfolio Assessment

Advantages

learning experiences are tailored to the child's developmental level

the child's potential can be realized more effectively if the experience fits her / his precise learning needs

the child's learning style can be accommodated more easily

the child can progress at her own pace

there is less likelihood of student failure according the child's frame of reference

the child's self-esteem is more likely to lead to cross-curricula learning

individualizing is more likely to lead to cross-curricula learning

records are detailed and useful for determining future curriculum

a child's progress can be charted according to rubrics, checklists, outcomes and competencies

Disadvantages

teachers may find it time-consuming to individualize every element of the curriculum

teachers may find it difficult to keep track of different activities, projects and the progress of each student

accommodating different learning styles can lead to having to use more resources

offering classroom experiences at diverse levels is difficult

there may be greater diversity of performance level within any grade level

the teacher needs to ensure equitable time allocation for each student

managing interdisciplinary learning is challenging

record keeping takes time, skill training and commitment

this open-ended individualizing technique can provide a large amount of data that has to be sifted to reach the desired information

Issues related to Interdisciplinary Assessment

• teachers must have time to work out how they will team-teach and team assess
• integrated curriculum requires planning in delivery as well as assessment
• meeting time with the team of teachers is essential
• meeting time with each student is necessary
• roles and responsibilities must be identified
• essential that there is overlap of curriculum assessments areas
• children must not be able to 'pay off' one teachers against another
• use of a similar format rubric for assessment is likely to work
• both / all teachers can contribute to aspects of a developmental assessment (a checklist is helpful)
• joint project work can enable curriculum content to be merged successfully and meaningfully
• when both / all teachers agree on curriculum delivery methods, developmental appropriateness and individual program plans, they can work together 'on the floor'
• institutional support is essential
• resources are necessary for success

Sue Martin, (2000).
Portfolios: Philosophy, Problems and Practice

Ethical Issues

• privacy
• permissions
• access to information protocols
• passing the portfolio from teacher to teacher
• team-teaching situations
• the student's preferences
• agreements / disagreements about the content
• keeping the records up-to-date
• what happens when the child leaves / transfers
• interventions based on the portfolio data

Sue Martin, (2000).
Portfolios: Philosophy, Problems and Practice

The Student-Led Conference - an alternative to the traditional interview

Aim:

...to encourage students, parents and teachers to engage in open and honest dialogue; and to increase parent attendance at conferences. (Guyton & Fielstein, 1989; Hackman, 1996; Hackman, Kenworth & Nibbelink, 1995; Little & Allen, 1989)

The student-led conference is:

• child-centred
• personal
• parents are more involved and informed
• students, teachers, parents become partners in education
• positive influence on student success
• meaningful conference experienced by all parties
• students learn to have a central role in reporting their progress, strengths and goals
• students learn presentation skills for authentic reasons
• students learn to be organized
• students develop leadership skills
• students develop oral language skills
• students are encouraged to accept personal responsibility for their learning

Why move away from traditional parent-teacher interviews?

• student has a minimum active role, if any at all;
• parents and teachers can be apprehensive, uncomfortable;
• parents may feel that teachers do not offer suggestions to support the student's learning;
  
• this may be the only contact you have with some parents all year and it is focused on a report card, not the learning;
• could have negative feelings towards the report card;
• report cards can be jargon-filled, impersonal, vague;
• report cards offer little concrete information about the student's growth over a period of time;
• report cards do not demonstrate student knowledge, learning process, daily progress, needs, or experiences;
• parents may focus on the child's weaknesses rather than strengths;
• report cards often do not reflect teaching and learning that is taking place in the classroom;
• report cards do not take into account student self-evaluation, comments and reactions about their learning.