GUIDELINES FOR PORTFOLIO ASSESSMENT IN TEACHING ENGLISH by Judy Kemp (kempi@netvision.netil) & Debby Toperoff (debbyo1@attalobal.net ) These guidelines have been prepared to accompany workshops for teachers on Portfolio assessment and not as a substitute for in-service teacher-training and support English Inspectorate Ministry of Education August 1998 TABLE OF CONTENTS Whatis a eonote! | Why Use Portfolio assesenendl _| Implementing Portfolio assessnen! _| Assessing the Skills through Portfoll [| sssesnasetegned _| Aurav/oral skills Reading skills Writing skills Supplement Process Writing "] Frequently Asked cussion’ _|Bibli xan Appendix 1 Portfolio |mplemetation eed | Appendix 2 Samples of Aural/Oral asseesment Tol Appendix 3_Samples of Readin assesement Tod Appendix 4_ Samples of Writin Asoosament Tot WHAT IS A PORTFOLIO? 'A purposeful collection of student work that the student's efforts, progress and achievements in ‘one or more areas, The collection must include student participation in selecting contents, the criteria for selection, the criteria for judging merit and evidence of student setf- reflection." (Pauison, Paulson, Meyer 1981) In this way a portfolio is a living, growing collection of a student's work - each addition is carefully selected by the student for a specific reason which s/he will explain, The overall purpose of the portfolio is to enable the student to demonstrate to others learning and progress. The greatest value of portfolios is that, in building them, students become active participants in the learning process and its assessment. Key Characteristics of Portfolio Assessment 1. A portfolio is a form of assessment that students do together with their teachers. 1. A portfolio is not just a collection of student work, but a selection - the student must be involved in choosing and justifying the pieces to be included.1. A portfolio provides samples of the student's work which show growth over time. By reflecting on their own learning (self-assessment), students begin to identify the strengths and weaknesses in their work These weaknesses then become improvement goals. 1. The criteria for selecting and assessing the portfolio contents must be clear to the teacher and the students at the outset of the process. 1. The entries inan EFL portfolio can demonstrate learning and growth in all language domains/skills, or can focus on a specific skill such as appreciation of literature, or writing, LI WHY USE PORTFOLIO ASSESSMENT? jack to Table of Contents Portfolio Assessment: + matches assessment to teaching. The produets that are assessed are mainly products of classwork, and are not divorced from class activities like test ites, + has clear goals. They are decided on at the beginning of instruction and are clear to teacher and students alike. + gives a profile of learner abilities. Depth: It enables students to show quality work, which is done without pressure and time constraints, and with the help ofresourees, reference materials and collaboration with others, Breadth: Awide range of skills can be demonstrated.Growth: It shows efforts to improve and develop, and demonstrates progress over time. is a tool for assessing a variety of skills. ‘Written as well as oral and graphic products can easily be included. develops awareness of own learning. Students have to reflect on their own progress and the quality oftheir work in relation to known goals. caters to individuals in the heterogeneous class. Since it is open-ended, students can show work on their ovm level. choice, it caters to different learning styles and allows expression of different strengths. ince there is develops social skills. Students are also assessed on work done together, in pairs or groups, on projects and assignments. develops independent and active learners. Students must select and justify portfolio choices; monitor progress and set learning goals. can improve motivation for learning and thus achievement. Empowerment of students to prove achieverent has been found to be motivating, is an efficient tool for demonstrating learning. Different kinds of products and records of progress fit conveniently into one package; changes over time are clearly shown provides opportunity for student-teacher dialogue.Enables the teacher to get to know each and every student, Promotes joint goal- setting and Lee to Table of Contents negotiation of grades, ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF THE PORTFOLIO Itis important to include all of the following: Cover Letter “About the author’ and ‘What my portfolio shows about my progress as a learner” (written at the end, but put at the beginning). The cover letter summarizes the evidence of a students learning and progress. Table of Contents with numbered pages. Entries - both core (items students have to include) and optional (items of student's choice). The core elements will be required for each student and will provide a common base from which to make decisions on assessment. The optional items will allow the folder to represent the uniqueness of each student. Students can choose to include “best’ pieces of work, but also a piece of work which gave trouble or one that was less successful, and give reasons why. Dates on allentries, to facilitate proof of growth over time. Drafts of aural/oral and written products and revised versions; Le., first drafts and corrected/revised versions.6. Reflections can appear at different stages in the learning process (for formative and/or summative purposes.) and can be written in the mothertongue at the lower levels or by students who find it difficutt to express themselves in English. a. For each item - a brief rationale for choosing the item should be included. This can relate to students’ performance, to their feelings regarding their progress and/or themselves as learners. Students can choose to reflect upon some or all of the following: + What did | learn from it? + What did I do well? + Why (based on the agreed teacher-student assessment criteria) did | choose this item? + What do | want to improve in the item? + How do I feel about my performance? + What were the problem areas? b. For the whole portfolio (the cover letter - see above) STAGES IN IMPLEMENTING PORTFOLIO ASSESSMENT IDENTIFYING TEACHING GOALS TO ASSESS THROUGH THE PORTFOLIO The very first and most important part of organizing portfolio assessments to decide on the teaching goals. These goals will guide the selection and assessment of students’ work for the portfolio. To do this, ask yourself ‘What do | want the students to learn?” and choose several goals to focus on; for example, general goals such as improvement in fluency of speech or independent reading, and specific goals such as scanning a text or telling a story. The New Curriculum (Standards for Pupils of English) contains many examples of goals (called “benchmarks’) that show progress towards the overall standards of English to be learned. This stage is so important because teachers have to know what their goals are in terms of what the students will be able to do. Moreover, students have to know what they need to show evidence of in their portfolios.It is even better if you do this fixing of goals together with the students, asking them, for example, what they need and want to achieve in the different language domains and skills. They will usually show good understanding of goals (We need to understand the news.” ‘We should be able to correct our written mistakes.”) and hopefully these will then become common goals for teacher and class, Or you can give a list of goals (e.g., see section on assessing the different skills) for the students to rank, and use the results for establishing the criteria for assessment. (See also Appendix 1 1 for examples of goals fora Reading Portfolio) INTRODUCING THE IDEA OF PORTFOLIOS TO YOUR CLASS You will need to present the idea of a portfolio to your class. You can start by explaining the wor- from portare (carry) and fogtio (sheet of paper). If possible, ask an artist, or a student of art, architecture or design to bring in their portfolio; this will help convey the principle of a portfolio as a selection of a student's work, showing progress in different areas or skills. It is also a good idea to show the students examples of English portfolios prepared by other classes, and, ideally, even a portfolio of your own (showing, for example, the development of your work with the class). Itis worth directing students’ attention at this stage to the main aspect of portfolios, which is their use as an assessment tool. Try asking your students how they feel about tests, whether they always feel the test truly represents what they know and can do with the language (they invariably bring up plenty of problems with traditional tests), Then tell them you are going to assess them ina fairer way, which will show the many different skills, knowledge and ideas they have acquired. Inform the students how much weight the portfolio will have in their final grade and what it is going to replace (one or more of their tests, quizzes and/or projects). Other demands should be reduced accordingly Don't take on more than you can handle - start with one class, or even a few students in the class, then expand when you feel ready. (But be careful - portfolio assessment is addictive!) Don't encourage the students to put extra items into the portfolio - itis quality that counts, not quantity, and the main point of portfolio assessment is the thoughtful selection of evidence of learning. SPECIFYING PORTFOLIO CONTENT Specify what, and how much, has to be included in the portfolio - both core and options (it is important to include options as these enable self- expression and independence).Specify for each entry how it will be assessed. The students should be acquainted with the scoring guides/rating scales that will be used before performing the task Portfolio entries can take many forms - written, audio and video- recorded items, artifacts (e.g., a T-shirt, an annotated drawing, a model), dialogue journals, ete. Itis recommended to request a limited number of portfolio entries, for example 4-7. See Appendix 1.2 and 1.7 for examples. GIVE CLEAR AND DETAILED GUIDELINES FOR PORTFOLIO PRESENTATION Explain the need for: clear and attractive presentation dated drafts attached reflections or comment cards (See Appendix 1.4, 1.5) Explain how the portfolio will be graded (see Appendix 1.6, 1,7 and 4.8) and when it needs to be ready (final and mid-way dates). Remember - unfamiliar ways of teaching and assessment are potentially threatening and confusing to students. It is important to present the portfolio guidelines clearly, and to go over the guidelines periodically. Although all the guidelines - goals, content, timetable, etc should be presented to the class orally, so that they can discuss the procedure and ask questions, there should also be written guidelines to back-up the points discussed and for reference while preparing the portfolio. It is helpful to prepare these guidelines in question-and- answer form (See Appendix 1.3). These can be written in the student's mother tongue if necessary, NOTIFY OTHER INTERESTED PARTIES Make sure that the school principal is aware of your new assessment procedures. It is also a good idea to inform parents about the portfolio assessment and allow them to comment on the work. (See also Appendix 1.9) PREPARATION PERIOD+ Support and encouragement are required by both teacher and students at this stage. The students will get it from the understanding teacher. Teachers will get it by doing portfolio assessment as teamwork in their staff or joining or initiating a support group to discuss questions with colleagues as they arise + Devote class-time to student-teacher conferences, to practicing reflection and self-assessment and to portfolio preparation, since these may be new skills for most students. Reflection and self-assessment do not come naturally to people who have had little practice in it, and require learner training. For example, encourage them to ask themselves: What did | learn from that activity? Which is my best piece? How can | improve this? This can be done by class brainstorming (what are some possible reasons for including an item in your portfolio?) or in pairs - "portfolio partners” - who help each other select samples of their work (written comments on their work from a peer can also be included in the portfolio). Teachers should start with more structured forms of reflection and slowly proceed to more: open reflective comments, This is training in a life-skill, and is well worth the time and effort spent in class. (See Appendix 1.10 for “Comment Card Sentence Starters” and Appendix 1.11.,: and 1.12. for other samples of guided and free reflection.) + Give guiding feedback. The finished portfolio may be due only at the end of the semester, but it is a good idea to set regular dates at which time several portfolio-ready items (i. with drafts and reflections) will be handed in, so that students know whether they are on the right track. Alternatively, you can have a portfolio project on a single unit of material so that both teacher and students will acquire experience in this kind of assessment over a shorter period of time. + Ownership: To ensure that the portfolio represents the student's own work, some items can be done completely in class. You might also decide to have a test (preferably with corrected version) included as a core item together with reflection on what the student learned from doing the test and revising it Furthermore, you may ask the students to explain in their reflections who helped them to improve their work (a peer, a parent, a spell-checker) and what they learned from revising their work. ASSESSING THE PORTFOLIOS AND GIVING FEEDBACK Each portfolio entry needs to be assessed with reference to its specific goal(s). Since the goals and weighting of the various portfolio components have been clearly fixed in advance, assessing the portfolios is not difficult. See Appendices 2,3 and 4 fora variety of assessment tools, such as rating scales and checklists for the different skills, Use these as they are, if they suit your goals, or adapt them according to your needs.Self and peer-assessent can be used too as a tool for formative evaluation, with the students having to justify their grade with reference to the goals and to specific pages in the portfolio. This actually makes the teacher's job of assessing the portfolio much simpler, because the pupil has done the groundwork of proving how far each goal is met in the portfolio. It takes some of the burden off the teacher and helps students to internalize criteria for quality work (See Appendix 1.13:.:). Students can even generate their own report cards based on their portfolios, After all the efforts that your students have invested in their portfolios, it is recommended that the teacher provides feedback on the portfolios that is more than just a grade. One possibility is to write a letter about the portfolio, which details strengths and weaknesses and generates a profile of a student's ability, which is then added to the portfolio. Another option is to prepare certificates which comment on the portfolio strengths and suggest future goals, (See Appendix 1.14) STUDENT-TEACHER CONFERENCES An important element of the portfolio philosophy of shared and active assessment is that the teacher should have short individual meetings with each pupil, in which progress is discussed and goals are set for a future meeting. Students and teachers should document these meetings and keep the goals in mind when choosing topics for future meetings. In this way student-teacher conferences play an important role in the formative evaluation of a student's progress. They can also be used for summative evaluation purposes when the student presents his final portfolio product and together with the teacher decides on a final grade. This is a student's chance to negotiate the portfolio grade using evidenceof achievement according to the agreed goals. (See also Appendix 15) Notes from these conferences can be included in the portfolio as they contain joint decisions about the individua's strengths and weaknesses. These conferences can be prepared for in pairs, where students practise presenting their portfolios. FOLLOW-UP After the portfolios are complete, itis a good idea to have an exhibition of portfolios and/or student-led parent-teacher conferences, in which students present their portfolios to their parents Lhe to Table of Contents ASSESSING LANGUAGE SKILLS THROUGH PORTFOLIOSASSESSING PERFORMANCE The following will explain the stages of one activity from beginning to end and show how assessment of performance can be implemented in the classroom: Portfolio Evidence Assessment Tools Goal A Sample Classroom Activity (Benchmark) Give and Giving and Pair-work Seltipeer follow simple | following cassette, assessment directions directions with with and map competed task | checklists, instructions (filled-in map) teacher's rating scale The goal of the activity planned for the class is for the students to be able to use a map in order to follow and give directions. The prerequisites for the activity are that students are aware of basic map-reading strategies and have studied expressions for giving directions such as “Walk straight’, “Turn leftiright’, and for asking for directions, such as ‘Where is the ...” or “Could you tell me where 2". These skills will have been taught or reviewed in class before the actual oralaural activity. For the classroom activity the students will work in pairs and give each other directions how to reach a certain place. For homework they may be asked to practice in pairs and record themselves. The audio recording will be put into their portfolios as evidence together with the correctly filled-in map (which shows that both members of the pair have reached their destination). Besides planning the activity and giving practice opportunities, the teacher will have to make clear both to herself and the students the criteria for assessing their performance. Which criteria will show that the students are able to give and follow directions? What will be evidence for students and teacher that students have successfully completed the task? It is not the product alone that will have to be assessed (Did the students reach their destination on the map? Did they use the vocabulary taught”), but also the process (Do students know how to work in pairs and take turns?). In addition, since this is an oral/aural activity, the students’ oral performance will be assessed as welll (Do students speak clearly and fluently? Are their questions accurate and appropriate?)With these criteria clarified, the teacher will be able to give the students an objective mark, The following rating scale shows the above mentioned criteria and their weights: RATING SCALE Areas Grade Fluency 5 10 16 20 25 Spoke Fairly fluent Spoke hesitantly, fluently read out answers Vocabulary 5 10 15 20 25 No Some All expressions expressions expressions used used used Product 5 10 15 20 25 Did not get Followed Got message part of message across: Did route across: not find Found place on place on map map Process 8 10 18 20 26 No Partially Took turns, evidence of took turns listened to cooperation each other Knowing these criteria in advance will enable the students to complete the task successfully and even to assess themselves. The following simple checklist, which checks the same criteria as the rating scale, will help them to prepare their cassette: ACHECKLISTACTIVITY YES 1/2 NO * We practiced before we putit on tape. * We spoke clearly and did not read out our answers « We used the expressions we learned in class. ‘* We found the places on the map '* We listened to each other and took turns. not so good excellent We give ourselvesa mark 1-2 3-4 5- 7-8 | 9-10 of 6 SAMPLES Here are some more samples of how to implement portfolio work in the classroom. We hope each teacher and staf will develop further activities on these lines, adapted to the needs of the school population. L jack to Table of Contents AURAL/ORAL SKILLS (Speaking and Listening) Look for assessment opportunities within actual classroom tasks. Teachers who do not plan for oral assessment tend to overlook it. Assessment can be both individual and pair/group. Make sure pupils are really speaking and not memorizing from written notes. For samples of oral and listening assesment tools see appendix 2.1 - 4 Goal Sample Classroom Portfolio Activity Evidence (Benchmark)Ask and answer simple questions ¢ Interview in pairs to fill in ID card for partner. * Survey on chosen subject « Cassette of role- play (also ID card) « Filled-in form on survey Express likes, dislikes and feelings “Show and tell’ about your hobby in group/class Video clipicassette of presentation, multimedia presentation Give and follow simple directions Give and follow directions with map Pair-work cassette, Assessment Tools Selfipeer assessment with rating scales an advertisement. and instructions Completed task (filled-in map) Follow stages in Listen to instructions | Sequences of steps a process for making egg-rolls | (number the pictures) Describing Tellabout a book you Cassette, posters, events read Powerpoint presentation Presenting A recorded radio or TV. | Audio/video information, using "show", cassette prepared audio-visual aids by group (plan of production and stages) Checklist with criteria (such as: clear presentation, relevant. vocabulary, correct spelling/pronunciation), depending on the task Learning log Answer key Teacher/peer observation Guided reflection on the task Lee to Table of Contents READING SKILLSFor samples of reading asessinent tools see appendix 3.1 - 4 Goal Sample Portfolio Assessment Classroom Evidence Tools Activity Decode (basic Read simple | Word bank (list Individual reading skills texts of words progress for beginning mastered), report, peer orweak selected “texts! compliment, readers) can read’, self/peer- completed assessment reading tasks, __checkiists, reading on rating scales cassette Understand Read familiar Cassette of Setf/peer simple texts story story read, assessment (narratives, Practice reading checklists, expository scaning ads, | strategies rating scales, types) TV guide checklist, answer key Identify main completed points and reading task, detallsina | corrected test news report item Appreciate Semi- reading logs, seli/ peer literature extensive reading journal, | assessment (stories/poems reading book tasks, checklists read inclass), activities (ie. cassette, video eg, both guided clips, artwork understanding and character and independent theme reading) Reading for Sustained A logofbooks/ Teacher's pleasure silent reading | booklets/reading record of (extensive inclassas —_| cards/news student's reading) well as at articles read; reading home creative tasks + | Rating scale commentcards relating to content, presentation and languageUse simple © Work with # Dictionary information glossary, exercises: tools/resource table of alphabetizing, — » Appropriate materials contents, matching information dictionary definitions to (found/partially © Search words, found/not engines, synonyms, found) encyclopedias | antonyms, etc * Results of search, as partof project (+ comment card) [tanec WRITING SKILLS For samples of writing assessment tools see Appendix 4.1 - 5 @ Answer key Goal Sample Portfolio Assessment Classroom Evidence Tools Activity Correct | Transfer Handwriting Teacher/peer copying _ selected sample, compliment information | “a text | copied” from text Expressing Write © Project — * Rating scale, feelings caption me/my . andideas describing —_ family/neighbour- | Self/peeassessment favorite hood ete. (first | with revising/editing personor | draft, revised’ checklists object edited draft, final ° Write written product) about hobby, | ¢ Journal favorite person etc, + comment (why | like itther) * Dialogue journal entryTeacher's log (minimum/partial! maximum investment) Convey Write note/_| Written product Teacher's rating factual caption /ad/ | with first draft, | scale, message newspaper _revised/edited article draftand final | Selt/peer copy assessment with revising and editing checklists Review © Write © (Guided) Scale to assess and reflect guided commentcard | quality of reflection comment | ontask (Clearipartiavpoor cardontask |e Coverletter _ evidence of review © Explain and reflection) why favorite task was included ° Write cover letter jack to Table of Contents Supplement: Process writing Portfolio assessment and process writing are natural partners, since both show effort and development very clearly. This supplement will introduce you to some principles and techniques of process writing. Process writing is an approach to teaching writing which tries to simulate the process that many writers go through in their native language. In this way it does not only focus on the final product but also on the stages along the way, such as gathering ideas, noting them down, reorganizing and rephrasing them and preparing a final, accurate Version. In other words, process writing marks a shift from exclusive emphasis on the products of writing to emphasis on the process of writing and on interactive learning between teachers and students and among students themselves. The five stages of the writing process can be referred to as: 1. PrewritingDrafting Revising Editing Publishing Prewriting Before students start on their writing task, it is important to define the three corner stones of any piece of writing: the audience, the purpose and the form. In real life, every piece of writing is influenced by who it is written for (its audience) and why it is being written (its purpose). It is helpful to reproduce this procedure in the classroom. For example, instead of telling the students “Write a composition about your holiday", the instructions could be "Write a postcard to a friend about how you are spending your holiday". Some examples: Audience Purpose Form a firm tocomplain abouta letter faulty item purchased your mother to inform about your | a note absence the general public to report an accident a newspaper article Prewrting 1. helps to stimulate student interest 2. develops concepts and ideas 3. gives students confidence Some prewriting activities: brainstorming 1 2. mapping 3. listing 4. outliningSamples of pre-writing tools. The tree outline can help prepare pupils in writing a description (e.g., My dog ‘Shushu), where the different branches represent the different paragraphs (e.9., his physical deseription, how I look after him, why love him so much) DraftingWriting the first draft enables the student to write freely and without frustration It is important that the student puts the message down as soon as possible after the prewriting stage without worrying about grammar, spelling or punctuation. Some guidelines for students: Write the draft immediately after the prewriting stage Write on every other line. Don't worry about mistakes at this stage. Complete the draft in class fee Revising and Editing Revision gives the student the opportunity to: Improve the content Improve the organization Improve the sentence structure Make vocabulary more exact Reduce sentences for conciseness or expand for clarification weeps Editing eliminates or reduces spelling, grammar and punctuation mistakes. During this stage teacher's feedback is important and valuable A few suggestions: 6. Make concrete suggestions for improvement in an encouraging way. Have students share their writing with a partner or small group. 8. Use a writing improvement checklist, such as the “Story Checklist” below. 9. Use a mechanics checklist, such as the “Self and Peer Eciting Checklist’ Samples of Revising/Editing Checklists Self Assessment Revising Checklist for Story Name Title Date Directions: Read the story to yourself. Then check your story foreach item below. Make any changes to make your story better.1 The ttle goes with my story. 2 like the beginning, 3 used good descriptive words to describe what | meant, 4 Each sentence makes sense | 5 The order is logical. 6 e the ending | Self and Peer Editing Checklist Author, Peer Title Date Carefully read your piece out loud. Then read each item below. Correct any mistakes you find, and tick off (v) the space next to the itern. Then give the piece to a friend to check. Author Peer Items to Check Check Check Each sentence starts with a capital letter. Names have capital letters Right and left margins are OK. Each sentence has a verb. checked for words left out I circled words I was not sure how to spell | found the spelling of these words (and explain how): I think | need help in Publishing/SharingWhile a diary, which is usually written for the writer's eyes only, does not need to be shared or published, most types of writing do have an audience. One way to motivate students to write is to present them with a good reason to write fora "real" audience. Some suggestions: a class/school magazine thank you letters letters to authors of books read letters to celebrities e-mail projects with other schools bulletin boards booklets for others to enjoy Lhe to Table of Contents FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT PORTFOLIO ASSESSMENT 1. Q: / like the idea of portfolio assessment but isn’t it a fot more work? A: It is hard work, but your efforts will be well rewarded by your students’ increased motivation and involvement in their learning, and, in many cases, by improved achievement. The challenge of portfolio assessment lies not so much in the amount of work as in the organisation of the whole endeavour. Effective portfolio assessment requires planning in advance and keeping records, These will quickly become a habit and result in more efficient, professional work. This booklet offers suggestions to help you plan and implement portfolio assessment systematically In addition, teamwork will greatly reduce the burden on you. Do not over-extend yourself at the beginning: limit the scope of your first portfolio project to allow enough time for essential features of the process, such as student-teacher conferences and practice in reflection. Use portfolio assessment for a semester in one of your classes or require a limited number of entries before deciding how to go on And don't forget, checking tests is laborious too, while the portfolios will save you some of that work 2. Q: /am used to assessing my students totally on my own. With portfolio assessment, | see that the assessment process also includes students’ evaiuiation of themselves and each other. How reliable are my students’ evaluations? A: Its true that students’ self- and peer-assessments may not be very reliable at first - that is why training in this vital life-skill is so important (see implementation section). With time and practice, and especially given clear assessment criteria and individual guidance, students will learn to becomebetter evaluators of their work. The main benefit of students’ assessments will be in deepening their understanding of their own learning in order to improve their achievements. It is important to train students in these skills and also to assess them, but be careful not to make them into a significant component of the students’ grades too soon. 3. Q: Is it fair to make everyone take part in portfolio assessment, especially when lam teaching a heterogeneous class? A: Portfolios are the ideal assessment tool for the heterogeneous class, for they are very open-ended tools that help the teacher draw a profile of each student's strengths and weaknesses and monitor their progress. The strongest individuals are challenged to surpass their own achievements, while those having difficulty are invited to demonstrate what they can do and show the efforts they make to improve. No two portfolios are alike, since each one is a direct expression of a particular student. 4. Q: In portfolio assessment students are given credit for effort and improvement. Won't that unrealistically inflate the grades of those weak students who try hard? A: Indeed, one of the strengths of portfolio assessment is that it enables students to be rewarded for efforts and progress, which traditional tests cannot do. However, this does not mean that a student who invests a lot of effort but performs poorly will get a high grade, since investment will be only one of the criteria for assessing the various tasks. These tasks will be assessed mainly on criteria relevant to their performance (for example, by rating scales). Weaker students will know that they always get credit for improvement, while remaining aware of the standards they are aiming for in the long run. 5. Q: How will portfolio assessment affect what ! do in the classroom? A: While tests are very different from activities in class, and thus may affect students’ performance on language tasks, portfolio assessment helps you assess what students can actually do under normal conditions. In this way your teaching can proceed as usual, though many of the activities students do in class will find their way into the portfolio, after undergoing revision. However, as we have suggested (see implementation section), you will need to devote class time to such worthwhile activities as developing students’ awareness of their own learning and improving their revision skills, in the context of whatever teaching content you have chosen 6. @: How do | know if / am doing a good job and that my students are progressing?A; You will see progress from a first draft to a revised version, and from comparing the level of earlier pieces of work to later ones. Moreover, your ‘students will show you evidence, in their comment cards ,cover letters and the conferences you conduct with them, of the progress they are making, ina way that will give you much satisfaction. 7. Q: How will | find time for student-teacher conferences? A: Try to integrate short talks with individual students into your working routine. It is impossible if you work only frontally, but is more feasible if you frequently activate the students individually and in pairs or groups for part of the lesson. Call on individuals while their peers are working on projects, reading etc Make use of occasions when part of the class is occupied with other activities (sport, rehearsals etc.) to have “learning conversations” with remaining students, 8. Q: Must I correct all the items in each portfolio? A: If you mean correcting all the mistakes, then the answer is a definite NO. Each assignment has its specific goals, and accuracy (ie. speaking/writing without mistakes) may not be one of them, as in book tasks or writing journal entries. In such cases assessment may focus on whether the task was completed and on criteria such as the student's investment or the insight shown in their response. In cases where accuracy is a goal, there are several possibilities: a. Selective checking by the teacher (comments which guide the student towards improving specific aspects of the piece or correcting one type of mistake), As well as cutting down on the teacher's time spent checking, this is more effective than bombarding the student with comments on many types of mistakes at the same time. b. Coded marking (e.g. sp for spelling, gr for grammar) to guide students to cortect their own mistakes. ¢. Providing stuclents with tools for assessing their own or their peer’s work, which enable sharing of the responsibility for checking with the students themselves (see revising and editing checklists in Appendix 2.2 - 4) By the time you receive the student's portfolio, you will have already given feedback on most of the entries, and will only have to monitor the improvement made 9. Q: Now that | feel comfortable with portfolio assessment, should I give up tests? A; Traditional tests will probably remain part of the school system even when the benefits of alternatives in assessment have been firmly established.Therefore you will probably use portfolio assessment alongside traditional tests, and you may include tests as portfolio entries (corrected, of course) The English staff should draw up assessment plans (even better, do it with the students), which show the weighting of different assessment components (test, quiz, portfolio, project, extensive reading, homework, participation, etc.) and which instructional goals each tool assesses (see example in Appendix 1.16). In determining the part played by portfolio assessment, bear in mind that portfolio assessment is especially suited to showing achievement in oral skills, writing, extensive reading and literature. 10. Q: How do | know the porttotio is the student's own work? A; See also the section on Ownership, page 6. Your best insurance against unreasonable “help” or plagiarism is to a, require portfolio content to be based on work done in class. b, clarify that it is easy for the teacher to distinguish between a student's own work and an imported piece on an entirely different level. c. give clear guidelines to the students about the goals and criteria for excellence in a specific task. For example, downloading material, however Colorful, from the Internet does not in itself demonstrate language skills itis what the student can do with the source that counts (e.g. summarize, compare different points of view, adapt etc.) Lhe to Table of Contents De Fina, A. 1992. Portfolio Assessment: Getting Started. Scholastic. BIBLIOGRAPHY Grabe, W. & R. Kaplan. 1996. Theory and Practice of Writing. Addison Wesley, Longman, Hedge, T. 1988. Winting. Oxford University Press, Johnson, K.E, 1998. Portfolio assessment in second language teacher education, TESOL Journal, Volume 2 O'Malley, J.M. & L. Valdez Pierce. 1986. Authentic Assessment for English Language Learners. Addison-Wesley Publishing Company. Paulson F.L.. P.R. Paulson and C.A. Meyer. 1991. What makes a portfolio a portfolio? Educational Leadership. February.Publ, C.A. 1997. Develop, not judge: Continuous assessment in the ESL classroom. Forum 35.2. pp. 2-9. Santos, M.G. 1997. Portfolio assessment and the role of learner reflection. Forum 35:2, pp.10-16. Tiemey R.J., MA. Carter and L.E. Desai, 1991. Portfolio Assessment in the Reading- Writing Classroom, Norwood: Christopher Gordon Publishers. Toperoff, Debby. 1985. Portiolio Assessment in Literature Teaching. MA. Dissertation. Surrey University. ‘Wolf, K. & Y. Siu-Runyan. 1996. Portfoio purposes and possibilities. Journal of Adolescent & Adut Literacy 40:1. pp. 30-36. Lhe fo Table of Contents Appendices - this section is still under construction. Please note that the majority of these pages are scanned and may therefore take a while to load. Appendix 1 - Portfolio Implementation Tools 4.4 Suggested Goals for Reading Portfolio 1.2 Suggested Content for reading Portfolio 1.3 Sample of Portfolio Guidelines for Students 1.4 A Comment card for My Portfolio 1.5 Samples of Comment Cards 1.6 Sample of Rating Scale for Cover Letter 17 Portfolio Project Assessment Page 1.8 _ Sample Table of Contents 4.9 Involving Parents 4.10 Comment Card Sentence Starter 1.11 Feedback Forms 1.12 Summary & Foreword samples 1.13 Checklists for Seif Assessment 1.14 A Certificate 1.18 Student-Teacher Conference Form 1.16 Integrating Portfolios into Overall Semester Assessment Appendix 2 - Samples of Aural/Oral Assessment Tools 2.4 Holistic rating Scale 2.2 Self-Assessment of Oral language 2.3 Self-Assessment for an Oral Report 2.4 Peer feedback FormAppendix 3 - Samples of Reading Assessment Tools 3.1 Reading Strategies Assessment Tool 3.2__Book Tasks from TEECH 3.3 ESL Reading Rubric 3.4 Reading Skills Strategies Checklist 3.5 Story Map Appendix 4- Samples of Writing Assessment Tools, Developmental Writing Scale 42 Survey of Writing Interest and Awareness 43 Self-Assessment of Writing Strategies 44 Self Assessment of Writing Dimensions 45 _ Peer Evaluation and Editing Form for Writing Les to Table of Contents tack to National CALL Counsellors Homepage vicina To ETNI