goldsby, dianne. (2001) now that your students have created web-based digital portfolios, how do you evaluate them? journal of technology and teacher education. vol. 9, n. 4, p. 607.   summary of article describe the research topic, findings and discussion   this article discussed the using of digital portfolios as a way of monitoring student teachers rather than placing their competency as a teacher on a test score. students needed to determine the purpose, audience, nature and time span of the portfolio. from there rubrics were created to help score the portfolios. the students built their portfolio based of the rubric. the article suggests evaluating the portfolio on its form, function, and components. the students in this study included many items in their portfolio, including their philosophy of education and lesson plans. this article suggests that individual teacher-preparation programs may modify the requirements and rubrics to meet the needs of their individual state and school program. it goes on to discuss the importance of reflection in the portfolio.   your reaction to the article process the article through your own lens. some possibilities to consider are: 1) the relevance of article to your topic, 2) the strengths or weaknesses of study methodology, 3) your reflections of the findings and conclusions.               i liked this article because it is very relevant to new teachers. when i graduated from miami i had to compete a portfolio with many of the same items. however, i was not required to reflect on the entries and no scoring rubric was ever show to me.  when i worked at elmhurst college, the education students were overwhelmed with the portfolio they had to create. it ended up being everything they had done over four years. they students felt that it was no longer meaningful because it was so large. students were also hesitant to being their portfolios to interviews because it seemed so overwhelming.             i liked how this article included some samples of student work with the rubrics. this helped me see exactly how it was being scored. however, i thought this article had some weaknesses. for example i would like to have known more about the population that was studied. it also didn’t tell the time they had to create the portfolios.             overall, i found this article to be excellent for any new teacher who is making a professional portfolio. top  back to table of contents

julie dunham precis of a research article     article citation hewitt, geoff. (april 2001). the writing portfolio: assessment starts with a. clearing house; volume 74, issue 4, p. 187   summary of article describe the research topic, findings and discussion   this article discussed the process by which teachers assess students in vermont. it goes on to describe the demands on teachers to be accountable. the article suggested teachers spend hours assessing student portfolios and then the state believes the assessment is unreliable. the article then went on to describe how accountability is such a big factor for teachers and therefore multiple choice tests that accompany the portfolios must be consistent to be reliable.  in 1998, the state switched from analytic to holistic assessment in writing. in this new holistic system only one rubric was given for all types of writing with benchmarks for each type of writing. a criticism of this new rubric is that it offered little help in the teaching of a variety of types of writing.  some of the benefits of the new system are that it takes less time to score and the benchmarks serve as teaching guides. the article concluded on why portfolios work for assessment. a working portfolio is one for which the student has ongoing learning. the assessment portfolio contains materials specifically chosen for outsiders to evaluate. if the student assists in making the selections for the assessments the portfolio will help in encouraging reflection.     your reaction to the article process the article through your own lens. some possibilities to consider are: 1) the relevance of article to your topic, 2) the strengths or weaknesses of study methodology, 3) your reflections of the findings and conclusions.   this article was interesting. i liked how it described the assessment process for writing samples in vermont. i’m not sure i understood all of the new portfolio implications however, because i don’t believe that illinois requires portfolios. i did like how this article addressed the topic of the burden of portfolios on teachers, and their following frustrations when others didn’t understand the reasoning for the pieces of work included. i also liked the positive feedback this article gave on the importance of including portfolios as a means of balanced assessment.  top   back to table of contents

precis of a research article article citation curry, s. (2000) portfolio-based teacher assessment. thrust for educational leadership. jan/feb 2000, vol. 29, issue 3, p. 34.   summary of article describe the research topic, findings and discussion   this article examines the issue of teacher evaluation through portfolios. the portfolio should serve as a record of growth and achievement over a specific time period. “those strongly recommended in the literature are teaching philosophy, sample lesson plans. samples of student work, video/audio tapes, photographs, staff development experiences, student assessments, professional growth plans and written reflections.” some of the benefits included a more collaborative school environment. another benefit was the self-assessment and evaluation of teachers. from this, teachers can develop a professional growth plan. the findings suggested that through portfolios, teachers were able to learn a great de3al about their effectiveness. they were able to look at their strengths and weaknesses and then develop a growth plan.               your reaction to the article process the article through your own lens. some possibilities to consider are: 1) the relevance of article to your topic, 2) the strengths or weaknesses of study methodology, 3) your reflections of the findings and conclusions.   i thought that this article was very interesting. my previous school discussed using portfolios as an alternative form of evaluation for teachers who had five or more years of experience. after several discussions on the topic, most teachers felt that it would be an acceptable form of evaluation, however, most were reluctant to try this method because they felt that it was easier to have the principal come into the room and evaluate their teaching three times a year. the teachers felt that they should spend more time of differentiation of units and student portfolios. many teachers felt that they wanted to implement student portfolios before beginning a teacher portfolio.  i feel that developing a purposeful growth plan is very important. however, my district had me fill out a goals sheet at the beginning of the year, and then my goals were never discussed again. this method makes the growth plan have meaning and purpose.             overall, i thought that this article was easy to read and understand. i did wonder about the bias of the teachers because all had chosen to participate in the study and all did receive a stipend to take time and construct the portfolio. i think this article is relevant to this course because at the end of the 12 weeks we will have to construct our own portfolio and i would like to be able to build on it in the future. top   back to table of contents

precis of a research article   article citation bush, j., shapley, kelly. (1999) developing a valid and reliable portfolio assessment in the primary grades: building on practical experience. applied measurement in education. volume 12, issue 2, p. 111.   summary of article describe the research topic, findings and discussion this article examines the use of portfolio assessment as an optional assessment for students in pre-k through second grade in dallas public schools. specifically, this article examined the use of portfolios in title 1 education.             according to the article, “the challenge of using portfolios is to develop an assessment that is adequately reliable and valid for both instructional and informational purposes.  technical standards need to be more rigorous for high-stakes student-,  teacher-, and school level decisions that for low-stakes use of results such as providing information about the status of the educational system (linn, 1994).”             for the purposes of this study, portfolios were the ongoing documentation of students’ progress. this progress included meeting state standards and improving instruction for students. specifically, the study addressed “(a) the reliability of the portfolio assessment scores, (b) the evidence that supported the validity of inference made from portfolio scores, and (c) the implications for further development and refinement of the portfolio assessment.” to do this, two different people rated the portfolio. the first rater was the classroom teacher and the second rater was a teacher who had attended portfolio-training sessions and had implement portfolios in their classrooms. the raters used a scoring rubric to assess the portfolios.             the findings were that reliability was low for portfolio scores because interrater reliability was low. the second rater consistently scored the portfolio lower than the classroom teacher.  this discrepancy may be due to teacher bias, or insufficient evidence in the portfolio.    your reaction to the article process the article through your own lens. some possibilities to consider are: 1) the relevance of article to your topic, 2) the strengths or weaknesses of study methodology, 3) your reflections of the findings and conclusions.             i was very interested in this article because i know that within my group of teachers, we are all concerned about accountability with portfolio assessment. i am comfortable using the standards to back up my scoring and rubrics, but after reading this article i was a bit concerned.  the teachers in this study went to multiple training sessions in which they learned to implement portfolios effectively. however, many teachers failed to follow the assessment guidelines. i thought that this was a difficult article to read because of all the tables. however, the researchers did a good job of explaining it in the article. i feel that after reading this article, it just reinforced that portfolios cannot be the only for of assessment. i should use a balanced assessment, such as journals, performance tasks, and tests. this will give me a overall view of my students work throughout the year. top   back to table of contents

julie dunham precis of a research article   article citation     summary of article describe the research topic, findings and discussion   this article examines the effectiveness of portfolio in vermont and kentucky. the emphasis of this article was on portfolio use in math, however, other subjects were addressed.  according to the article, benefits of using portfolios include greater consistency with state standards. in addition, teachers’ attitudes and beliefs changed in relationship to curriculum and instruction.  teachers reported spending more time on problem solving and communication. also, teachers have adopted new teaching strategies for their lessons. students are spending more time in pairs and small groups as well as being more heterogeneously grouped.  students also felt as if the teachers had higher expectations of them. however, burdens of portfolios include additional demands placed on teacher and student.  there must be time spent on staff development. teachers must also learn how to score the portfolios.  the students maintaining the portfolios and documenting what is included in the portfolios will require class time.  also, in many cases, time must be taken away from other areas to work on the portfolios.             your reaction to the article process the article through your own lens. some possibilities to consider are: 1) the relevance of article to your topic, 2) the strengths or weaknesses of study methodology, 3) your reflections of the findings and conclusions.               i thought this article was very relevant to this class. i specifically searched for an article that would address positive and negative aspects of portfolios. generally, i was not surprised by the research findings. i agree that there are many benefits of using portfolios, and each day i plan a bit more about how to most effectively use them in my classroom.  this article reinforced that i want to make sure i focus my portfolio on state standards. however, i realize that it will be very time consuming for me. and each year, i will have to spend a lot of time modeling what i want from my students.  i was a bit discouraged to read that teachers didn’t feel that managing the portfolios got easier with time.  i wonder how my new school will react to my use of portfolios. will they see it as an unnecessary extra in my class? after reading this article, i wondered about the long-term effects of this study. for example, how did these students do over a period of years? did the next teacher continue to add to the portfolio? stecher, brian. (1998). the local benefits and burdens of large-scale portfolio assessment. assessment in education: principles, policy &practice. volume 5, issue 3, p. 335.     top   back to table of contents

portfolio