Portfolio Assessment

1. Portfolio Assessment Jason Pecori ADO 520 Dr. O’toole

2. Introduction Recent emphasis in foreign language education in student performance has resulted in reevaluation of instruction and assessment approaches. In area of assessment teachers have turned to techniques that underscore student participation and progress Portfolio’s are one alternative assessment tool that teachers have adopted.

3. Potential benefits of portfolios Provide a portrait of what students know and what they can do. Offer multidimensional perspective of student progress over time Encourage student self-reflection and participation Link instruction and assessment

4. Potential benefits that satisfy needs of FL Education Language performance depends on purpose and context Portfolios are flexible tools that allow for frequent opportunities to practice and demonstrate authentic language use in relevant contexts for specific purposes. Development occurs at varying rates through a series of trials and errors. With well designed portfolios, students can document the process of trial and error in an area of language learning (i.e.-progress using a new language structure or rule) Language proficiency includes a complex set of thinking skills-; for example- When students read in a second language they actively process the contents of the passage, attend to interesting elements, relate new information to information they already know or understand from the text, infer the meaning of unknown words from the context and reflect on the text relative to their original purpose in reading. These thinking processes can be documents through self-assessment, goal-setting, and the kind of reflective statements typical of portfolio assignments. Language proficiency is holistic and focuses on communicative and functional language abilities as well as the attainment of discrete skills. A portfolio that includes both tests and classroom tools can determine student strengths and weaknesses.

5. Difficulties with portfolios Teachers encounter technical and logistical obstacles when using portfolios. (Managing time) Organization and assessment of portfolios. Achievement of reliability and validity of portfolios. There is also teacher uncertainty about the function and value of portfolio assessment

6. Role of portfolios Portfolios can assist teachers in monitoring student progress, however, teachers must understand the primary role of portfolios. Portfolio assessment is an ongoing, interactive assessment that involves both the teacher and the student in the process of learning. With recent shift from teacher centered instruction, focus now centers on learner capabilities. Portfolios are one means of development of a learner centered classroom. (Offers students opportunity to become actively involved in the learning process by contributing to planning and assessment.) Portfolios promote responsibility and ownership of learning.

7. Framework Overview • Framework for portfolio assessment consists of seven steps. planning assessment purpose, determining outcomes, matching tasks to outcomes, establishing criteria for assessment, organization, monitoring portfolios, and evaluating portfolio process. • This is a general sequence that can be modified to allow teachers to return to and reflect on each step to refine design. • Framework designed to meet needs of a broad range of foreign language teachers and students. • For teachers, the preparation (steps above) will encourage organization, which will result in less work to maintain portfolios. • For students- involvement will result in feelings of empowerment, motivation and ownership.(affective component of education)

8. Step 1: Planning A clearly stated purpose- one which explains what is being measured and why is an essential element of implementation. Purpose guides portfolio process- helps make students and teacher make purposeful decisions. A lucid purpose statement ensures that the process (portfolio) is a systematic undertaking and not just throwing things together. Assessment purpose establishes a link between portfolio and instruction; increases likelihood that assessment will inform instruction and improve learning.

9. Guiding questions in determining assessment purpose Who will be the audience? Who will use portfolio? What are important learning goals of the school or classroom? Can a portfolio be used to measure one of these goals? What is the teacher’s individual instructional focus? (I.E.- improving self-assessment of students)

10. Step Two- Determine Outcomes Once purpose is agreed on, teacher and students break down purpose into important and relevant outcomes. Outcomes provide focus for portfolio by describing what knowledge or skills learners should be able to demonstrate. (I.e. if a student needs to improve vocabulary- this might be an outcome) Outcomes should be limited and specific so as to make the portfolio process manageable and more likely to succeed.

11. Step 3: Match Tasks to Outcomes Classroom activities generate the products that become the students’ entries into their portfolios. Students need to create enough products during the time so that they have control over selecting entries, so portfolios show progress by containing several samples for each outcome. Teachers need to take an inventory of tasks in their curriculum to ensure that there are enough tasks to provide choice and show progress towards each outcome. Teachers can divide portfolio entries into two categories-artifacts (works produced by student) and attestations- (come from sources other than student; i.e.- a parent) Incorporating both artifacts and attestations as evidence provides multiple perspectives on students’ learning.

12. Determining Organization of Portfolio Three main tasks to organization of portfolio ; 1. Assessing materials and resources available, 2.- Determining how and where to store portfolios, 3.- planning for systematic collection of portfolio entries. Teacher must consider what types of materials will be used for portfolio products and whether materials are available. (i.e. teacher may want to include videotapes in portfolio on oral communication; have alternative plans if the equipment not available.) Teacher needs to determine how students will store portfolio materials.(each student will need 2 containers; one will hold possible works for portfolios, the other will contain portfolio itself)

13. Organization/Storage continued Some teachers require that students sore and transport portfolios- approach fosters responsibility, however increases likelihood of damage. Keeping portfolios in a common, easily accessible area maintains the connection between the portfolio and instruction; also facilitates management. Teachers and students must also collaborate on what to do with portfolio at end of process. (whether teacher keeps as example for next year, if students keeps it) recent shift from teacher centered instruction, focus now centers on learner capabilities

14. Organization continued Once materials and resources are determined; decision s can be made regarding organization of artifacts and attestations. Entries need to be dated and set in context. (Having students complete and attach an annotation form to each work guarantees that the piece will be meaningful.) Portfolios should be organized systematically so that their audience understands why individual pieces were chosen and can evaluate the portfolio as a whole. (One way to provide organization and student choice is use of a pre-established uniform table of contents) Teachers need to schedule time for students to select and organize entries throughout the year. (I.E.- Teachers need to decide whether students will place work in the portfolio once a month or twice a week) Students should understand that the purpose of the portfolio is to show progress toward an outcome, not necessarily mastery of the outcome. (Therefore, not every entry needs to be perfect)

15. Step 5: Establish Criteria for Assessment The portfolio measures progress toward goals by using a consistent system of assessments. Rubrics- detailed criteria combined with rating scales, provide consistency. Teachers along with students (or others involved) should develop criteria that will be used to assess portfolio entries. In second step- teachers set outcomes as a way to plan for instruction; at same time teachers should develop criteria to assess students’ progress towards the outcomes. Criteria should be clear and detailed so that the students and the teacher know what the learning goal is, and how progress toward goal will be assessed. Once criteria are established, the teacher should choose a rating scale to measure the extent to which a learner has met criteria (scales use descriptors like rarely/sometimes/often/always or numerical sequences such as 1-5) It is easier to reach agreement when there are fewer points because it is easier to agree that something is excellent, good or fair rather than excellent, very good, fair poor etc.) Teachers should involve students in rubric process; students who help create rubrics have a better understanding of hat is expected.

16. Step 6: Monitoring Portfolio Process Just as students monitor their own progress toward learning goals established in the portfolio, the teacher continually monitors instruction and assessment as portfolios are used in the classroom. Teachers must ensure that classroom activities give students an opportunity to produce contents that illustrate progress toward outcomes. Teacher also needs to ensure students have included a sufficient number of samples for raters to accurately evaluate progress. If teacher find that aspects of the portfolio are not working appropriately, he or she makes adjustments. (Portfolio is also a good reflection tool)

17. Step 7: Evaluate Portfolio Process Teacher should reflect on the assessment process at the end of each semester/year. To do this, the teacher determines whether the portfolios served the assessment goal and whether the evaluations were accurate and consistent. Teacher will want to identify weaknesses in the assessment and/or instruction and address them before the start of the next year/semester. Taking time to reflect leads to more efficient planning, more informed instruction, and more successful results for the next portfolio project.

18. Conclusion The framework for portfolio assessment serves two purposes: 1. it gives foreign language teachers a model for systematically designing and implementing assessment portfolios; 2. provides an assessment system that emphasizes validity and reliability so that the assessment is fair and appropriate for students. With the shifting in emphasis from teacher centered to student centered learning/student performance, the framework offers educators an important alternative assessment tool. Portfolio process is one of continuous evolution. Teachers need to adapt portfolios to their own situations and document the process so that systematic classroom research on successes and challenges of portfolios can be documented.

19. Works cited Delett, J. S., Barnhardt, S., & Kevorkian, J. A. (2001). A Framework for Portfolio Assessment in the Foreign Language Classroom. the Foreign Language Annals, 34(6), 559-568. doi:10.1111/j.1944-9720.2001.tb02103.x