Implementing Portfolios and Student-Led Conferences

This middle school teacher devised an assessment strategy that caught on with teachers of all subject areas.

by Jennifer Williams, Science Teacher, Eden Prairie, Minnesota

Learning about alternative assessment methods during graduate school inspired me to implement portfolios in my classroom. There are many different kinds of portfolios that are appropriate for use with K-12 students; just a few are listed in the box Potpourri of Portfolios.

In my work with my own students, I decided that portfolios would be a collection of student work or artifacts that is self-evaluated and reflects the learner's skills and thinking. I emphasize to students that their portfolio should show growth in their learning. Building portfolios invites students to communicate with teachers, peers, and parents while increasing their confidence and self-esteem. Students grow as they take responsibility for evaluating their own learning.

Preparing for Portfolios

As I committed myself to using portfolios with my students, I realized that I had much to learn. I contacted teachers and area education consultants who had experience using portfolios. I gathered research articles that I would later share with other staff members and parents. (See Suggested Readings)

A four-drawer filing cabinet and three-ring binders for 100 students were donated so that I could organize and store my students' work. As part of their weekly or bi-weekly classroom routine, my students collected graded assignments and stored them in a "work-in-progress" manila folder. These folders were kept in the filing cabinet where they were easily accessible to students.

Initially, I assumed students would be able to reflect on and evaluate their own work with little effort. I was quickly proven wrong. Self-evaluation is a skill that must be taught.

To help them get started, I developed Guidelines for Portfolio Reflection. (See box ) Using the questions and start-up phrases, students write their reflections on half-sheets of notebook paper or on sticky notes that they attach to their work. Once several pieces have been reflected upon, students organize this work in their binders, turning them into portfolios to showcase to teachers, peers, and parents.

Sharing Portfolios

One way for students to showcase their work is to conduct student-led parent conferences. During the conferences, students share their portfolios. Students are held accountable for their learning and have evidence to support the grades they have earned. Each student's strengths, areas for improvement, and future goals become integrated throughout the child's dialog with his or her parents. Work samples also provide evidence that the child is making progress toward meeting state graduation standards.

Typically during teacher-parent conferences, the teacher does almost all the talking. Often, the student is not present. But in student-led conferences, the teacher is there to support and encourage the child. It is gratifying to hear the students describe their work, acknowledging their growth and learning.

Changing from the traditional to an innovative conference style takes time and practice. Before the first conference, I allow students to practice with their peers.

I also have learned to educate parents early about the rationale of portfolios and student-led conferences. Clear explanations--a letter combined with informational portfolio sessions early in the school year--help them accept this process and encourage their child.

I have found that parents want their child to be accountable for the grades they earn. I am so pleased when parents direct their conversation toward their child during the conference. Parents know that they are welcome to sign up for a separate conference without their child, but these are seldom necessary.

After the parent conference, the portfolio is taken home for further review. The students and I develop questions they would like their parents to respond to regarding their portfolios and conferences. Parents include their answers in a follow-up letter addressed to the child. (See the sample of a real letter one of my students received.)

In my classroom, student-led conferences are conducted twice per year, once in October and again in March. At the end of the year, we hold a portfolio fair. Students become more confident and proud of their portfolios as the school year progresses.

A Contagious Idea

Implementing portfolios and student-led conferences is a gradual process, but once these ideas are in place, they are contagious. Once one teacher or team begins, others will follow.

I started using portfolios four years ago. At first, the idea was confined to my team of students; now the entire school uses portfolios. To support the process, three-inch binders with the school name and mascot on the cover were purchased for every child. This year, for the first time, the portfolios have been passed on to the next grade level.

Student assessment often is a negative experience for all involved. Our school's experience with portfolios shows it does not have to be that way. Allowing students time to reflect on their progress and to communicate what they have learned is a step in the right direction.

References and Suggested Readings

Barton, J. & Collins, A. (1997). Portfolio Assessment. New York: Addison-Wesley.

Bernick, R. & McDonald, C. (Winter, 1995). Planning for Portfolio Assessment. Portfolio News, 10-12.

Collins, A. (1992). Portfolios for Science Education: Issues in Purpose, Structure and Authenticity. Science Education. 76 (4), 451-463.

Farr, R. & Tone. B. (1994). Portfolio and Performance Assessment. New York: Harcourt Brace.

Gardner, H. (1983). Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences. New York : Basic Books.

Garner, R. (1987). Metacognition and Reading Comprehension. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.

McCallister, C. (Winter, 1995). Using Portfolios to Highlight Metacognitive Awareness. Portfolio News, 2-4.

Mills-Courts, K. & Amiran, M.R. (1991). Portfolios, Process and Product. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Mullen, M. & Newman, B. (Spring, 1995). Portfolio Presentations. Portfolio News, 3-4.

Nicholson-Nelso, K. (1998). Developing Students' Multiple Intelligences. New York: Scholastic, 148.

Paulson, F.L., Paulson P., & Mayer, C. (1991). What Makes a Portfolio a Portfolio? Educational Leadership. 43(3), 30-33.

Reckase, Mark. (Spring, 1995). Portfolios Assessment: A Theoretical Estimate of Score Reliability. Education Measurement: Issues & Practice. 12-14.

Salend, S. (Nov/Dec 1998). Using Portfolios to Assess Student Performance. Teaching Exceptional Children.

Swang, J. (Fall, 1994). Ensuring Success in Science with Portfolios. Portfolio News, 18-19.

Additional Print and Electronic Resources for Classroom Portfolios

Print Resources

Adamchik, C. F., Jr. (1996). The Design and Assessment of Chemistry Portfolios. Journal of Chemical Education, 73 (6) 528-531 .

Barrett, H. C. (1998). Strategic Questions. Learning and Leading With Technology, 26 (2) 6-13 .

Buschman, L. (1993). Portfolios: Windows on Learning. Taking an Integrated Approach. Learning, 21 (5) 22-25 .

Bushweller, K. (July 1995). The High-Tech Portfolio. The Executive Educator, 19-22.

Countryman, L. & Schroeder, M. (1996). When Students Lead Parent-Teacher Conferences. Educational Leadership, 53 (7) 64-68.

Goldman, J. P. (1989). Student Portfolios Already Proven in Some Schools. School Administrator, 46 (11) 11 .

Guyton, J. M. & Fielstein, L. L. (1989). Student-Led Parent Conferences: Model for Teaching Responsibility. Elementary School Guidance and Counseling, 24 (2), 169-172 .

Hackmann, D. G. (1996). Student-Led Conferences at the Middle Level: Promoting Student Responsibility. NASSP Bulletin, 80 (578) 31-36.

Hunter, B., Bagley, C., & Bagley, R. (Summer 1993). Technology in the Classroom, Schools in the Middle. 3-6.

Lenski, Susan Davis, et.al. (1996). Honoring Student Self-Evaluation in the Classroom Community. Primary Voices K-6, 4 (2 ) 24-32 .

Lumsden, L. (1996). Motivating Today's Students: The Same Old Stuff Just Doesn't Work. Portraits of Success, 1 (2 ).

Milone, M. N. (October 1995). Electronic Portfolios: Who's Doing Them and How? Technology and Learning, 28-36.

Mohnsen, B. (April 1997). Authentic Assessment in Physical Education. Learning and Leading with Technology, 30-33.

Robinson, D. (1998). Student Portfolios in Mathematics. Mathematics Teacher, 91 (4) 318-325 .

Santa, C. M. (1995). Assessment: Students Lead Their Own Parent Conferences. Teaching PreK-8, 25 (7) 92,94 .

Shannon, K. C. (1997). Student-Led Conferences: A Twist on Tradition. Schools in the Middle, v6 (3) 47-49.

Tiedemann, D. (October, 1996). New Florida School Celebrates Education and Technology. Techtrends, 14-18.

Vizyak, L. (Dec-Jan 1994-95). Student Portfolios: Building Self-Reflection in a First-Grade Classroom. Reading Teacher, 48 (4) 362-364.

Wiedmer, T. L. (April, 1998). Digital Portfolio, Phi Delta Kappan, 586-589.

Wolf, D. P. (1989). Portfolio Assessment: Sampling Student Work. Educational Leadership. 46: 35-39.

Web Sites

Lankes, Anna Marie. Electronic Portfolios: A New Idea in Assessment, Eric Digest: http://www.enc.org/redirect/0,1366,0,0.shtm?Url=http://ericir.syr.edu/ithome/digests/portfolio.html, December 1995.

Dr. Helen Barrett's Favorite Links and Alternative Assessment & Electronic Portfolios: http://www.enc.org/redirect/0,1366,0,0.shtm?Url=http://transition.alaska.edu/www/portfolios/bookmarks.html

Commercial Electronic Portfolio Resources

Aurbach_&_Associates: http://www.enc.org/redirect/0,1366,0,0.shtm?Url=http://www.aurbach.com
The home page for the developers of The Grady Profile. Download demos and get lots of information about alternative assessment and electronic portfolios. Online demo available to download for Macintosh.

IBM's SchoolVista Assessment Suite http://www.enc.org/redirect/0,1366,0,0.shtm?Url=http://www.solutions.ibm.com/k12
Traditional assessment (standardized test simulation) and authentic assessment tools available for Windows.

LearningQuest's Electronic Portfolio
http://www.enc.org/redirect/0,1366,0,0.shtm?Url=http://www.learning-quest.com/ephome.html
Online demo available to download for Macintosh.

Stardata's InfoTracker Portfolio Builder
http://www.enc.org/redirect/0,1366,0,0.shtm?Url=http://www.stardata-usa.com/
Online demo for Windows version available to download.

Sunburst: Learner Profile http://www.enc.org/redirect/0,1366,0,0.shtm?Url=http://www.sunburstonline.com:80/lplobby.html
Information about the first software for classroom observations, using either bar codes or Newton for Macintosh or Windows.

Superschool Software's Portfolio Assessment Kit http://www.enc.org/redirect/0,1366,0,0.shtm?Url=http://www.superschoolsoftware.com/

Guidelines for Portfolio Reflection Sentence completion: I think I did a better job on this work because... This piece shows that I had to solve a problem by ... Looking at everything in my portfolio, this is my favorite piece because... This is my worst piece because... This piece was easy to complete because... This piece shows my research skills by... On a scale from 1-10, I give this piece a _______ because... This piece could win an award for ________ because... The next time I write something like this, I will improve it by... This piece was the most frustrating because... This piece shows my creativity because... This piece shows that I need to practice... This piece may surprise people because... The next time I write something like this, I will... Questions: What future goals do you have for this course? What do you want to tell me about this piece? How did you think of your idea for this project? How did others help you with this project? If you could redo this work what would you change? What would make this a complete piece? Choose a piece that- was really hard and tell why. shows something you can do now that you could not do well before. you would want to look at in the year 2005 and tell why. shows your organizational abilities. reflects your problem-solving skills. shows your personal best. demonstrates your self-evaluation skills. shows how you evaluated someone else's work. illustrates change in your skills: reading, writing, observation, mathematics. was most interesting to you. shows your ability to work together with others. you did not do very well on. shows particular areas or skills you need to work on. went beyond the expectations of the assignment. shows how you solved a problem using more than one strategy. you revised.

A Letter from Home

Jennifer Williams currently teaches science at Central Middle School in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. She has presented her ideas about using portfolios and student-led conferences at regional and national meetings.