Lessons Learned About Student Portfolios.

Abstract

The idea of going beyond test scores to collect more substantive evidence of a school's curriculum and teaching initiatives seemed innovative to faculty members at Crow Island School a decade ago, Ms. Hebert notes. What they didn't know then was that the process of selecting samples of work and assembling them into a portfolio is profoundly important to children. A decade ago we began a project with student portfolios at Crow Island School in Winnetka, Illinois. Influenced by Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences, our faculty explored the many learning experiences of our students and decided to encourage the children to gather their work over time so that they themselves could see evidence of their learning. During the past 10 years we have learned so much more than we imagined. We now know quite a bit about what a portfolio is and probably more about what a portfolio is not. But what continues to energize our thinking after all this time is what a portfolio can be. When we started this project, we didn't fully understand the possibilities that portfolios could offer. The notion that there could be some child-centered, qualitative supplement to the single-number characterizations of learning emphasized by our testing culture seemed reason enough to organize our efforts and those of our students. The idea of collecting more substantive evidence of our curriculum and teaching initiatives to counteract narrowly defined test scores seemed innovative at the time. What we didn't know then was that the process of selecting samples of one's own work and assembling them into a portfolio is profoundly important to children. We also learned that all children have a natural ability and desire to tell their story through the contents of the portfolio. Even now, we remain excited about capturing the individual voices of our students through portfolio collections. Over the past 10 years we've discussed and rethought many aspects of our understanding of portfolios. Here are some of the lessons we've taken to heart: * Don't get too focused on delineating the contents of the portfolio. In the early years of our work, we were far too concerned about the specific contents of the portfolios. Looking back, I believe that discussing this matter is a natural way to explore the purposes of portfolios; however, it's important not to become rigid about what goes into a portfolio. I'm always reminded of the wonderful definition offered by staff developers Pearl Paulsen and Leon Paulsen: Portfolios tell a . . . Put in anything that helps to tell the story. The real contents of a portfolio are the child's thoughts and his or her reasons for selecting a particular entry. That selection process reflects the interests and metacognitive maturity of the child and the inspiration and influence offered by the teachers. When teachers first get involved with portfolios, they tend to have different ideas and suggestions about what to put on the portfolio must list. Fortunately, we never committed ourselves to making such a list, and I suspect that is why, in part, we are still so fascinated with this topic. After 10 years we realize that there is no best notion of what goes into a portfolio; rather, portfolios serve as a metaphor for our continued belief in the idea that children can play a major role in the assessment of their own learning. This perspective, rather than a predetermined list of curriculum samples, should be the guideline for placing particular items into a portfolio. * The container issue. Initially, most teachers gathered children's work in a wide variety of containers. Hanging file folders became a popular organizing tool. The issue of what work was sent home and what work stayed in the classroom was important in the early years. It took time to establish the expectation that most of the children's work would stay at school. Faculty members spent many hours discussing details: the type and color of containers, the location and labeling of the intermediate gathering folders, the importance of dating all student work, and the directions we would give to the students about selections. …