Portfolio Assessment

Portfolio Assessment

Portfolios have become more and more popular as more and more
educator advocate the use of authentic assessment. Arter and Spandel (1992)
as cited by Cunningham (1998) offer the following definition for portfolios:

“A purposeful collection of student work that tells a story of the student’s efforts,
progress or achievement in (a) given area(s). This collection must include
student participation in the selection of portfolio content; the guidelines for
selection; the criteria for judging merit; and evidence of student self-reflection.”

The content of portfolios may vary depending on the nature of the subject
area. In general, a good portfolio should include the designation of a purpose;
the provision of a plan for the selection of content; a provision for student
ownership; an indication of student progress; an opportunity for self-reflection;
decision rules about ownership; appropriate structure and other relevant
information.

The portfolio as an assessment tool can be categorized as non-objective

but its being non-objective can be compensated by a clear assessment plan. It
must be clear whether the portfolio would serve the formative or the summative
role of assessment. Another thing that needs to be considered when
implementing portfolio assessment is the nature of the students in the class.
Portfolio assessment works best when the students are independent, which
means that they are responsible for how much they learn. A sense of
responsibility as well as honesty is very important since students in todays’
world are more exposed to a variety of information through internet and
computers which make it harder for teachers to evaluate the authenticity of the
students work.
In the context of competency assessment in Technical Vocational
Education and Training or TVET, certification that an individual possess certain
competencies can be based partly on portfolio evidences. In this case,
evidences presented must relate to the elements, performance criteria, range
statement and evidence guide of the relevant unit(s) of competency for a
particular course/program (e.g. consumer electronics, computer hardware
servicing, etc). On the part of the assessor, it is his responsibility to verify and
evaluate the portfolio. The following table shows some examples of portfolio
materials.
 Examples of Portfolio Materials
Forms of Evidence Application
Transcripts of records, Provides evidence of prior education
certificates or training completed on or off-the-
job
Assessment feedback or Provides evidence of on-the-job
completed checklists performance, observers’ comments
and future action as a result of
assessment
Written statements or references Provides evidence of the candidate’s
job performance, responsibilities,
achievements and skills levels.
Job descriptions Provides evidence of prior work
experience
Work journals Provides evidence of tasks, activities
or other achievements accomplished
by the candidate in the course of
days or weeks at the workplace or in
a community/volunteer role
Work samples Provides evidence of the candidate’s
ability to do part or whole of work
tasks or processes
Finished products Provides evidence of candidate’s
ability to produce a product or
service.
Product descriptions or Provides evidence that the candidate
specifications is aware of the inputs, outputs or
standards required to produce a
product or provide a service
Statutory declarations Provides evidence that work
samples are the candidate’s own
work

Types of Portfolio
• Danielson and Abrutyn (1997) identify three major types of portfolios:
• working portfolios,
• a project “in the works”
• serves as a holding tank for work that may be selected
later
• display portfolios, and
 • to demonstrate the highest level of achievement attained
by the student
• assessment portfolios
• to document what a student has learned
• demonstrate students’ mastery of the curriculum
objectives
• Seely (1996) identifies four types of portfolios:
• Showcase (same with display)
• Documentation
• highlights the development and improvement of
student learning during a given period of time
• Evaluation,
• to document achievement for grading purposes
• to place students appropriately
• Process
• documents student growth from novice to master
• Rolheiser, Bower and Stevahn (2000) simplified the classifications into
two:
• Best work portfolio
• Similar to display portfolio
• Growth (development) portfolio
• similar to documentation portfolio