UNIVERSITY OF CALOOCAN CITY

Biglang Awa St., Corner Catleya St., EDSA, Caloocan City

COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

ASSESSMENT IN LEARNING II
SUBJECT CODE: MS 114
TOPIC OR LESSON 8: Portfolio Assessment Methods
WEEK: 10
SUB-TOPIC/S:
1.1. Stages in Implementing Portfolio Assessment
1.2. Types of Portfolios
1.3. Assessing and Evaluating the Portfolios
1.4. Student-Teacher Conferences

OVERVIEW OF THE TOPIC

This module concentrates on the topic called portfolio assessment methods. It includes the stages in
implementing portfolio assessment, different types of portfolios, the manner of assessing and evaluating
the portfolios as well as the implication of student-teacher conference in relation with the use of portfolio
assessment method. Portfolio assessment is one of the several authentic and non-traditional assessment
techniques in education. The use of portfolio assessment that became popular in the early to late 1980’s
in response to the growing clamor for more “reasonable” and authentic means of assessing students’
growth and development in school.

LEARNING
OUTCOMES

Students are expected to create their own rating scale or rubrics in evaluating student’s portfolio.

LEARNING
OBJECTIVES
At the end of the lesson, students should be able to:

a. Identify and discuss the stages in implementing portfolio assessment.

b. Categorize the uses and functions of each type of portfolio – documentation, process, and
showcase.
c. Value the relevance of acquiring student-teacher conferences.

ENGAGE

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Do what is asked comprehensively.

1. What are the different features and principles of portfolio assessment? Explain each.
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2. Give at least five (5) purposes of portfolio assessment and explain how each one will help you and your
student throughout the process.
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3. Why is it important to consider all essential elements in making portfolio? How will you help your
students to make a good portfolio?
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EXPLORE
Share your own perspective on the quote below.
“Testing gives you a snapshot. Portfolios give you a movie.”- Dr. Helen Barrett

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EXPLAIN

STAGES IN IMPLEMENTING PORTFOLIO ASSESSMENT

The following constitute the stages in the implementation of portfolio assessment in classrooms:

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STAGE 1: IDENTIFYING TEACHING GOALS TO ASSESS THROUGH PORTFOLIO
The usual first step of organizing portfolio assessment is to establish the teaching goals. It is very
important at this stage to be very clear about what the teacher hopes to achieve in teaching. These goals
will guide the selection and assessment of students’ work for the portfolio. In order to do this, the teacher
should ask himself the question “What do I want 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 test or telling a story. The Enhanced Basic Education Curriculum (K to 12)
contains many examples of goals called benchmarks that show progress towards the overall standards of a
subject matter to be learned. It is often suggested that this stage be done together with the students asking
them what they want and what they need to learn in the particular subject matter.

STAGE 2: INTRODUCING THE IDEA OF PORTFOLIO ASSESSMENT TO YOUR CLASS

Portfolio assessment is a new thing for many students who are used to traditional testing. For this
reason, it is important for the teacher to introduce the concept to the class. Perhaps, he can start by
explaining the meaning of the word “portfolio” from “portare” or “carry” and “foglio” or “sheet of
paper”. If you can invite artists or architects to come and visit your class bringing with them their own set
of portfolios, then 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
existing portfolios prepared by other classes or by other students. If you have your own portfolio, then
this will also help in conveying the information to the students.
In order to convince your students that portfolio assessment is worth a try, ask them to enumerate
their problems with traditional testing. Tell them that portfolio assessment will assess them in a much
fairer way than traditional testing would. It is also important to inform the students how much weight the
portfolio will have in the computation of their final grades and just what is going to be replaced by the
portfolio.

STAGE 3: SPECIFICATION OF PORTFOLIO CONTENT

Specify what and how much have 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, etc.
STAGE 4: GIVING CLEAR AND DETAILED GUIDELINES FOR PORTFOLIO
PRESENTATION
There is a tendency for students to present as many evidence of learning as they can when left on
their own. The teacher must therefore set clear guidelines and detailed information on how the portfolios
will be presented. Explain the need for clear and attractive presentation, dated drafts, attached reflections
or comment cards. Moreover, it will help if the teacher explains how the portfolio will be graded and
when it needs to be ready (final and mid-way dates).

STAGE 5: INFORMING KEY SCHOOL OFFICIALS, PARENTS AND OTHER

STAKEHOLDERS
Do not attempt to use the portfolio assessment method without notifying your department head,
dean, or principal. This will serve as a precaution in case students will later complain about your new
assessment procedure.

STAGE 6: DEVELOPMENT OF THE PORTFOLIO

Both students and teacher need support and encouragement at this stage I the process of portfolio
development. The students particularly should get this from an understanding and patient teacher.
Teacher will get it by doing portfolio assessment as teamwork in their staff and joining or initiating a

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support group to discuss questions with colleagues as they arise. Some portion of the class-time can be
devoted to student-teacher dialogues and conferences with other teachers in relation to the task of
preparing the portfolio. It is necessary to stress the importance of reflection and self-assessment while
preparing the portfolio itself since these are essentially new skills for the students. Reflection and self-
assessment require practice. There are certain essential questions that the teachers can use to guide
students in reflections and self-assessment such as:
 What did I learn from that activity?
 Which is my best piece?
 How can I 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).
Initially, we advise teachers to begin with more guided and closed forms of reflection and slowly
proceed to more open reflective comments. Writing reflections is a life-skill which is very essential for
the students and is, therefore, time well spent for the teacher.
Finally, since portfolios are essentially done by the students outside of the regular class-time, we
need to ensure that indeed the portfolio represents the students’ work and accomplishment. In order to do
this, require that some items 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.

TYPES OF PORTFOLIOS
Different types of portfolios exist for assessing students’ performance. These differ from each
other depending on the purposes or objectives set for the overall classroom assessment program. As a
general rule, portfolio assessment is used where traditional testing would be inadequate to measure
desired skills and competencies. Essentially, three types of portfolios are normally cited in the literature
with appropriate variants for each:

1. Documentation portfolio As the name implies, this approach involves a collection of work over
time showing growth and improvement reflecting students’ learning of identified outcomes. This
portfolio is also called a “growth portfolio” in the literature. The documentation portfolio can
include everything from brainstorming activities to drafts to finished products. The collection
becomes meaningful when specific items are selected out to focus on particular educational
experiences or goals. It can include the best and weakest of student work. It is important to
realize here that even drafts and scratch papers should be included in the portfolio for they
actually demonstrate the growth process that the students have been through.
2. Process portfolio The process portfolio in contrast demonstrates all facets or phases of the
learning process. As such, these portfolios contain an extensive number of reflective journals,
think logs and other related forms of metacognitive processing. They are particularly useful in
documenting students’ overall learning process. It can show how students integrate specific
knowledge or skills and progress towards both basic and advanced mastery.
3. Showcase portfolio The showcase portfolio only shows the best of the student’s outputs and
products. As such, this type of portfolio is best used for summative evaluation of students’ very
best work, determined through a combination of student and teacher selection. Only completed
work should be included. In addition, this type of portfolio is especially compatible with audio-
visual artifact development, including photographs, videotapes, and electronic records of
students’ completed work. The showcase portfolio should also include written analysis and
reflections by the student upon the decision-making processes used to determine which works are
included.

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ASSESSING AND EVALUATING THE PORTFOLIOS
According the Paulson, Paulson and Meyer, (1991): “Portfolios offer a way of assessing student
learning that is different from the traditional methods. Portfolio assessment provides the teacher and
students an opportunity to observe students in a broader context: taking risks, developing creative
solutions, and learning to make judgments about their own performances.”
Detailed rating criteria may be evolved to evaluate the finished portfolio presented by students.
In general, however, they should include the following:

 Thoughtfulness (including evidence of students’ monitoring of their own comprehension,

metacognitive reflection, and productive habits of mind)
 Growth and development in relationship to key curriculum expectancies and indicators
 Understanding and application of key process
 Completeness, correctness and appropriateness of products and processes presented in the
portfolio
 Diversity of entries (e.g., use of multiple formats to demonstrate achievement of designated
performance standards)
In evolving the evaluation criteria, teachers and students must work together and agree on the
criteria to be applied to the portfolio. Such evaluative criteria need to be set and agreed prior to the
development of the portfolio. The criteria themselves will serve as guide to the students when they
actually prepare the portfolio requirement. Moreover, students and teachers work collaboratively to
determine grades or scores to be assigned. In this particular dimension, rubrics, rules and scoring keys
can be designed for a variety of portfolio components. In addition, letter grades might also be assigned,
where appropriate. It is especially recommended that for summative purposes, a panel of interviewers be
designated to evaluate the students’ portfolio based on the agreed set of criteria at the beginning. It is
important that the panel of interviewers understand the decision-making process that the student
underwent in selecting the items to be included in the finished portfolio.
Each portfolio entry needs to be assessed with reference to its specific goals. Since the goals and
weighting of the various portfolio components have been clearly fixed in advance, assessing the portfolios
is not difficult. Self and peer assessment 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 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. After all the efforts that your students
have invested in their portfolios, it is recommended that the teacher provide 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.
Finally, the teacher needs to give guiding feedback. The finished portfolio may be due only at the
end of the quarter, but it is a good idea to set regular dates at which time several portfolio-ready items (i.e.
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.

STUDENT-TEACHER CONFERENCES
The main philosophy embedded in portfolio assessment is “shared and active assessment.” To
this end, the teacher should have short individual meetings with each student, in which progress is
discussed and goals are set for a future meeting. Throughout the process, the student and the teacher keep
careful documentation of the meetings noting the significant agreements and findings in each individual

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session. Through meetings of this kind, the formative evaluation process for portfolio assessment is
facilitated. Indeed, the use of portfolio assessment takes time but in the end, the gains are well worth the
time and effort expanded by teacher.
Finally, student-teacher conferences can also be used for summative evaluation purposes when
the student presents his final portfolio product and where final grades are determined together with the
teacher. Even at this stage of the process, students can negotiate for the appropriate grade to be given
using as evidence the minutes of the regular student-teacher conferences. It is for this reason that notes
from these conferences have to be included in the portfolio as they contain joint decisions about the
individual’s strengths and weaknesses. These conferences can be prepared for in pairs, when students
practice presenting their portfolios.

ELABORA
TE
Do what is asked.
1. Enumerate and discuss the various types of portfolios.
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2. What is the importance of student-teacher conferences? Discuss its importance in light of portfolio
assessment.
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3. How does portfolio assessment differ from traditional testing and from other authentic assessment
methods?
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EVALUAT
E
For each of the following main elements of a portfolio, construct a rating scale or rubrics for
evaluating students’ portfolio on the topic: “The Matter and Me.” (Science Grade 2)

1. Cover letter
2. Table of Contents and Introduction
3. Entries
4. Reflections

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 5. Summative statements
6. Appendices and Dates of Drafts

SCOR
RUBRIC FOR EVALUATION E
3– The explanation is 2 – The explanation 1– The explanation is 0.5 – The 0–
RELEVAN

directly relevant to is relevant to the quite relevant to the explanation is not Has no
the topic. Every detail topic. Most of the topic. Only few of the clear and has a very explanation
CE

points toward the details contribute to details contribute to rough transition of

topic. the development of the development of the idea. The details are
the topic. topic. not relevant to the
topic.
3– The explanation 2– The explanation 1– The explanation 0.5 – The 0–
EVIDEN

ARGUM

shows at least 9 shows at least 6 to 8 shows at 3 to 5 explanation shows at Has no

CE/

correct/valid correct/valid correct/valid evidences most 2 correct/valid explanation

evidences to support evidences to support to support his/her evidences to support
his/her answer. his/her answer. answer. his/her answer.

2– The explanation is 1.5 – The 1– The explanation is 0.5 – The 0–

CLARITY

clear, has a very good explanation is clear, somewhat clear and explanation is not Has no
flow of discussion, has a good transition, has a rough transition clear and has a very explanation
every detail is most of the details from one idea to rough transition of
connected to each are connected to each another. ideas.
other. other.
2– The explanation 1.5 – The 1– The explanation 1.5 – The 0–
TECHNI-
CALITY

has no error in explanation has 1 to has 3 to 4 errors in explanation has at Has no

grammar, spelling, 2 errors in grammar, grammar, spelling, and least 5 errors in explanation
and punctuations. spelling, and punctuations. grammar, spelling,
punctuations. and punctuations.

OVERALL SCORE:

REFERENC
ES
Rosita L. Navarro, Ph.D., Rosita De Guzman-Santos, Ph.D (2013) Authentic Assessment of Student Learning
Outcomes- Assessment of Learning 2 (2nd Edition)

Rosita De Guzman-Santos, Ph.D. (2007) Advanced Methods in Educational Assessment and Evaluation-
Assessment of Learning 2

Paulson F.L., P.R. Paulson and C.A. Meyer. (1991) “What makes a portfolio a portfolio?” Educational Leadership.
February

Mindful School: Portfolio connection, Burke, Fogetry, IRI/Skylight Publishing (1994)

ADDITIONAL
MATERIALS

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The Complete Guide to Student’s Portfolio Assessment
https://campuspress.com/student-digital-portfolios-guide/

PREPARED BY:

Ms. Desiree S. Isidro Ms. Liezl Baja Ms. Monique Patal

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