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Paper Abstract: Analyzes effectiveness, objectives, methods & techniques of portfolio assessment of student performance. Paper Introduction: ASSESSMENT: EARLY-CHILDHOOD EDUCATION In the late-1980s, many professional educators reached a conclusion that standardized tests have serious limitations and that alternatives to traditional assessment procedures should be investigated. Standardized tests, it was believed, provide little information that “teachers can employ to help them use their talents to the fullest. Teachers need less information about percentile rankings and more information about students' performance. They need to be able to capture the moments when students are working at their best. Teachers can then use that information to create learning experiences to help students go even further. The use of portfolios is a serious attempt to do just that” (Abruscato, 1993, p. 474). Portfolio assessment is one alternative approach to the attempt to tr Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. (1993, February). The principal findings of the StateDepartment of Education were as follows: a. If the portfolioassessment movement is to succeed, it must have the support and involvementof a large and well-informed cadre of professional educators. The critical issue is theextent to which this movement proves acceptable to education's keystakeholders-legislators, school boards, parents, teachers, students, andassociations of professional educators. b. Eighth-graders also achieved best on the criteria of purposeand usage/mechanics/grammar. 476). All correlations, however, were very low."It is possible that the portfolio and the on-demand type of writingassessments sample different abilities, but, the correlations are so lowthat the abilities would have to be independent, which doesn't seem likely. The performance of students on mathematical forms(graphs, diagrams, tables) is poor. 5. Yet such internal self-criticismis rather scarce among proponents of alternative assessment, leading somethoughtful commentators to express concern about the one-sided nature ofthe current discourse on the topic. 2. Assessment: Early-Childhood Education In the late-198 s, many professional educators reached a conclusionthat standardized tests have serious limitations and that alternatives totraditional assessment procedures should be investigated. 12. 6. New assessment techniques must be ableto stand up to the same level of criticism given to traditional testsbecause at some point the honeymoon with performance assessment will end"(Nicoll, 1991, p. Fourth-graders were found to be particularly strong on thecriteria of purpose and usage/mechanics/grammar. 448). Many Vermont students write well; however, many Vermontstudents could write better. 12). The confidence intervals for scores, even if the scoringwere perfectly reliable, would be "large for many schools: the medianfourth-grade enrollment in Vermont schools is 24 pupils; the mean, 33. Proponents ofportfolio assessment, however, contend that procedures can be implementedthat assure that academic projects are graded objectively and uniformly(Proffer, 1994). The lowest achievement for eighth-graders was in voice/tone. They need to be able to capture the moments when students areworking at their best. d. 5. 5. As yet, there is too little coherenceto the concepts and language being used in both written and oral discourseabout portfolio assessment. "It is tooearly to be certain about the appropriateness of alternative assessment inhigh-stakes environments, but it is not too early to recognize this issueas pivotal" (Worthen, 1993, p. Bracey, G. c. 474). 451). Continuity and integration across educational systems. Questions persist, however, as towhether portfolio assessment necessarily requires the use of more complexcognitive processes by students. Thesereliability levels applied to both grades four and eight. Phi DeltaKappan, 76(8), 646-647. W. 62). (1994, February). The lowreliabilities also applied to each of the seven dimensions of the writingtasks and to each of the five dimensions of the mathematics tasks. Students' leisure-time reading habits correlated with theirwriting performance. They predict that, 'as we move to different modes ofassessment, the contest between idealized, universal descriptions ofprogress and differentiated but potentially divisive rubrics will befierce'" (p. Avoidance of monopolies. Putting it in perspective. Wolf, D. (Ed.). 3. 2. Phi Delta Kappan, 74(6), 444-453. Some positive effects of the alternative assessment process in Vermontalso were found (Koretz, Stecher, Klein, & McCaffrey, 1994). 4. These problem areas are as follows: 1. 6. The issue of which type of writing is more important can only be resolvedwith reference to some external criterion, and such referencing has notbeen done" (Koretz, Stecher, Klein, & McCaffrey, 1994, p. Use of technology. 8). Worthen, B. 17). Using the portfolioassessment approach, the student compiles a portfolio of writing samples,completed projects and other work products to be evaluated by the teacher.There is a potential in the portfolio assessment approach for theevaluation process to be highly subjective in character. With respect to mathematics performance, the mathematicsportfolios of students were "judged by the seven math criteria, four ofwhich dealt with problem solving and three with the ability to communicateresults" (Abruscato, 1993, p. Proffer, L. Eighth-grade girls were better writers than eighth-gradeboys. Sixty-five percent of students who read at least oncea week for their own pleasure reached the upper range, "whereas only 37% ofthose who read once a year or less for pleasure scored in the upper range"(Abruscato, 1993, p. 45 ). 7. A vision of competence. The Rand Corporation analyzed the portfolio assessmentprocess within the contexts of reliability and validity (Bracey, 1995).The Rand Corporation findings were somewhat of a blow to the proponents ofportfolio assessment, as the organization found that the reliabilities ofthe portfolios were low. (1991, October). Some Vermont educators noted thatthe program had caused even recalcitrant teachers to change theirinstruction. 63). On the criteria ofdetails and voice/tone, fourth-graders were the weakest. 7). R. The level of parental education was closely and positivelyrelated to a student's writing achievement. Educational Measurement: Issues andPractices, 64, 3-14. The majorfindings of the assessment report were as follows (Koretz, Stecher, Klein,& McCaffrey, 1994): 1. The reliability of the scores in the two years of the studyremained at approximately .4 in both writing and mathematics. 9. Support from well-informed educators. The low portfolio assessment reliabilities impeded thereporting of school-level scores that was one of the goals of the program. Standardizedtests, it was believed, provide little information that "teachers canemploy to help them use their talents to the fullest. e. The Vermont Portfolio Assessment Project also was evaluated by theRand Corporation. 477). Students are not adept at mathematical communication. Aquestion being asked is as follows: If a single assessment cannot or shouldnot be used to satisfy both instructional and accountability purposes, thenwhy not use two separate assessments? Most programs are "still right-answer driven, and fewstudents pause after solving a problem to ask themselves, So what? 45 ). "Thus the classroom teacher isthe gatekeeper of effective alternative assessment; indeed, it would behard to imagine a successful large-scale performance assessment takingplace without the cooperation of teachers" (Worthen, 1993, p. No one, "whether proponent or opponent of nontraditionalassessment, claims that alternative assessments are as inexpensive,efficient, or quick as machine scoring of multiple-choice answer sheets"(Worthen, 1993, p. Portfolio assessment is one alternative approach to the attempt to tryto get a truer picture of student performance. (1991). Most thoughtfulcommentators agree that, "if we want to pursue these new modes ofassessment, we cannot do so on the mere conviction that they are better.We cannot use the notion of developmental accomplishments or holisticscores to excuse us from developing rigorous standards and thoughtful rulesof evidence that will offer candid pictures of what students are learning"(Wolf, 1991, p. 7. Students understand problems, but they need much morework in building their repertoire of approaches and strategies. Many Vermont educators found the program to be a powerfuland positive influence on instruction. Worthen (1993) identified 12 problem areas associated with theportfolio assessment process. Lessthan one-third of fourth-graders and less than one-half of eighth-gradersassembled portfolios that were clear. 11. Technical quality and truthfulness. 477). The role that technology will have inportfolio assessment remains largely unresolved. (1993, February). Critical issues that will determinethe future of alternative assessment. Several approaches were used to assess the validity of theportfolio assessment process. Mechanisms for self-criticism. Nicoll, R. Appropriateness for high-stakes assessment. Teachers can then use that information to createlearning experiences to help students go even further. Teachers need lessinformation about percentile rankings and more information about students'performance. 3. Considerable confusion among writing raters about theinterpretation and application existed among the teachers evaluatingstudent portfolios. The use ofportfolios is a serious attempt to do just that" (Abruscato, 1993, p. The verynature of assessment alternatives (and one of their major strengths) istheir close connection with instruction. Slow and deliberate implementation,accompanied by careful and thorough quantitative program evaluation, thus,is the recommended way to proceed with portfolio assessment. Conceptual clarity. 8. "No reform movement shouldbe without skeptics among its supporters. Koretz, D., Stecher, B., Klein, S., & McCaffrey, D. Ability to assess complex thinking skills. Review of Research in Education.Washington: American Educational Research Association. Class, culture and achievement. Standardization of assessment judgments. (1995, April). 8. TheVermont Portfolio Assessment Project. A frequently debated issue is whetherportfolio assessment is feasible for large-scale efforts to assess studentperformance. Feasibility. 475). 6. One of the keyreasons for promoting portfolio assessment is the claim that it can measurecomplex, higher-order abilities that are difficult, if not impossible, toassess with traditional measures. Students who scored in the upper range of the writingportfolio assessment showed considerable variation with respect to theamount of television they watched. None ofthe fourth-graders and only 4% of the eighth-graders showed evidence ofextending their answers" (Abruscato, 1993, p. Perhaps the most telling sign of the positive regardeducators had for the program is that by the end of the first year ofimplementation, principals in roughly half of the sample schools reportedthat they had expanded the use of portfolios in some form beyond the gradesand subjects in the state assessment program. The Vermont State Department of Education assessed the results of thepilot year implementation of a portfolio assessment project in that state.The principal findings of this assessment were as follows (Abruscato,1993): 1. 4. Some proponents ofportfolio assessment are "excited by its potential to allow flexible,diverse assessment that is tailored to the individual student" (Worthen,1993, p. StateLegislatures, 2 (2), 12-16. 1 . 3. (1994, Fall). Thrust forEducational Leadership, (1 ), 15-17. Wolf (1991) has argued, however, that "scoring rubrics forperformance assessments, portfolios, and exhibitions often assumeerroneously that all students progress from novice to expert along the sameunidimensional scale. In Grant, G. "There is little sense in'reinventing the wheel' by having every school attempt to develop all ofits own performance assessment tools" (Worthen, 1993, p. Students do not present their results clearly. Koretz, Stecher, Klein, and McCaffrey (1994) concluded the RandCorporation assessment of the Vermont Portfolio Assessment Project with thefollowing statement: "Although the Vermont program has shown promisingeffects on instruction and modest improvement in measurement quality inmathematics, the basic lesson to be drawn from its experience is the needfor modest expectations, patience, and ongoing evaluation in our nationalexperimentation with innovative large-scale performance assessments as atool of educational reform" (p. To use their minds well: Investigating new forms ofstudent assessment. Thus, aunified approach to the development of a portfolio assessment procedure forapplication on a national basis has been suggested by some proponents ofportfolio assessment. Acceptability to stakeholders. Portfolios are not made up of test items that can be marked "correct"or "incorrect." Thus, it is not possible to simply count the number ofcorrect responses and reach a conclusion about a student's achievement.The "great strength of a portfolio is that it obliges us to face squarelythe very difficult question of what constitutes high-quality work"(Abruscato, 1993, p. 4. Early results and tentativeimplications from the Vermont Portfolio Project. Phi Delta Kappan, 74(6),474-477. 448). Thelow reliabilities mean that evidence for validity is hard to obtain"(Koretz, Stecher, Klein, & McCaffrey, 1994, p. References Abruscato, J. Their organizational skills, however, wereranked considerably higher than the corresponding skills of fourth-graders. 2. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.

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