A Professional Development Plan for Hilliard Bradley High School

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Standards-Aligned Portfolio Assessment

• A Professional Development Plan for Hilliard
  Bradley High School

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Hilliard Bradley High School
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What is a Portfolio?

• A systematic collection of student work and
  related material that depicts a student's
  activities, accomplishments, and achievements in
  one or more school subjects. The collection
  should include evidence of student reflection and
  self-evaluation, guidelines for selecting the
  portfolio contents, and criteria for judging the
  quality of the work. The goal is to help students
  assemble portfolios that illustrate their
  talents, represent their writing capabilities,
  and tell their stories of school achievement.
  (Venn, 2000, pp. 530-531)

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Two Types of Portfolios

• Process portfolio documents the stages of
  learning and provides a progressive record of
  student growth. Teachers use process portfolios
  to help students identify learning goals,
  document progress over time, and demonstrate
  learning mastery.
• Product portfolio demonstrates mastery of a
  learning task or a set of learning objectives and
  contains only the best work.

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Tests or Portfolios?Performance assessments
fill the void that is left by standardized tests
they provide a more complete picture of the whole
learner.

• Traditional Assessment

• Performance Assessment

• Perceived as objective
• Provide ease of grading and consequently more
  data
• Provide only a snapshots of a students ability.
• No single instrument can measure all that
  students know about a concept or issue.
• Not every student will be up to giving their best
  performance on any specific occasion.

• Can measure the important element of growth over
  time which cannot be assessed with a single
  measurement.
• Authentic assessment of the range of a students
  knowledge and skills.
• Student Centered due to a process which includes
  the student in goal writing, reflecting and
  evaluating.

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Advantages of Portfolio Assessment

• Promoting student self-evaluation, reflection,
  and critical thinking.
• Measuring performance based on genuine samples of
  student work.
• Providing flexibility in measuring how students
  accomplish their learning goals.
• Enabling teachers and students to share the
  responsibility for setting learning goals and for
  evaluating progress toward meeting those goals.
• Giving students the opportunity to have extensive
  input into the learning process.
• Facilitating cooperative learning activities,
  including peer evaluation and tutoring,
  cooperative learning groups, and peer
  conferencing.
• Providing a process for structuring learning in
  stages.
• Providing opportunities for students and teachers
  to discuss learning goals and the progress toward
  those goals in structured and unstructured
  conferences.
• Enabling measurement of multiple dimensions of
  student progress by including different types of
  data and materials. (Venn, 2000, p. 538)

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Disadvantages of Portfolio Assessment

• Requiring extra time to plan an assessment system
  and conduct the assessment.
• Gathering all of the necessary data and work
  samples can make portfolios bulky and difficult
  to manage.
• Developing a systematic and deliberate management
  system is difficult, but this step is necessary
  in order to make portfolios more than a random
  collection of student work.
• Scoring portfolios involves the extensive use of
  subjective evaluation procedures such as rating
  scales and professional judgment, and this limits
  reliability.
• Scheduling individual portfolio conferences is
  difficulty and the length of each conference may
  interfere with other instructional activities.
  (Venn, 2000, p. 538)

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1990-93 Vermont Assessment Program

• Two Goals
• 1) To provide high quality data
• 2) To induce improvement of instruction.
• There was a clear tension between these two
  goals.
• Conclusion A compromise needs to be made
  between improved quality of data and improved
  instruction to students. For this type of large
  scale performance assessment, there is a need
  for modest expectations, patience, and on-going
  evaluation.

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In Vermont

• Writing and Math grade 4 and 8
• Bottom up approach, no constraints, student
  centered
• Portfolios done alongside standardized
  assessments (example essay prompts all on the
  same topic)
• Not graded by classroom teacher, graded during
  regional meetings

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Vermont Findings

• Mathematics teachers reported devoting more time
  to problem solving and communication.
• -1/2 report more time spent in exploration of
  math problems
• -3/4 report more time spent more applying math
  to new situations
• -70 report more time spent making charts,
  graphs, and diagrams
• -70 report more time spent writing reports
  about mathematics
• Program caused even recalcitrant teachers to
  change their instruction.
• Teachers and principals of the Vermont program
  generally characterized it as a worthwhile
  burden.

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• A 1990 study by the Center for Research on
  Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing at the
  University of California Los Angeles concluded
  that
• Nearly half of state testing programs either had
  performance assessments in place, were planning
  to implement them, or were actively exploring the
  idea.

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• I think that the best thing to do is have the
  students show you what they know. Now, its
  harder to grade, but it gives you a much better
  idea of what the person actually knows. Instead
  of saying to students, Heres a question, do you
  know it? Now Im saying Tell me what you know
  about this topic.
• -Chemistry Teacher
• (Journal of Chemical Education, 1997)

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• I think (the portfolio) is a good way to show
  what we have learned but it is a lot of work to
  try to get everything right. Id rather do a
  portfolio than take a major test, because if Im
  not feeling well the day of a major test I
  probably wont do well. The portfolio is a
  project that doesnt grade you on one day but
  your work over a long period of time.
• -Student Response

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Portfolio Assessment at Bradley

• Improving student learning by improving assessment

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Overview

• Departments will decide on framework for
  department (how many and what types of portfolio
  entries will be graded)
• Grade level/data teams will decide on specifics
  of portfolio entries, align standards, create
  descriptions and rubrics
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Portfolios graded at semester and end of year
• Portfolios to be a combination of
  teacher-assigned and student choice
• Portfolios will be collectively graded by
  department to increase reliability

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Portfolio Planning Chart
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Timeline for Planning

• May 9 - Department Meeting Begin discussing
  what types and numbers of portfolio entries (4-6
  entries) are appropriate for department
• May 16- Department Meeting Make final decisions
  about numbers, types and descriptions/titles for
  entries
• (examples interview, lab report, research paper,
  timed writing, resume, student choice)
• May 23- Data Team Meeting Fill in Portfolio
  Planning Chart by grade level, Align Standards
• May 25- Department Meeting Share-out what grade
  levels entries will be, share/collaborate on
  descriptions and rubrics.
• Aug 22- Data Team Meeting Finalize portfolio
  descriptions and rubrics

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Resume and Interview Portfolio Assignment
Description
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(No Transcript)
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Portfolio Related PD for 2013-2014

• Speaker from Vermont Department of Education
• Speaker on Portfolio/Performance Assessment
• Lunch and Learns will focus on using
  performance assessment more effectively
• Time during data team meetings for portfolio
  planning and grading
• Early release time to be scheduled before and
  during exam week each semester for collective,
  departmental grading of portfolios

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Portfolio Assessment in Other Contexts

• From preschool to grad school, portfolio
  assessment provides a more clear picture of the
  learning that is taking place

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Information to Include in Speech and Language
Portfolios

• Referral form
• Language Samples
• Story Retell Samples
• Observation Notes
• Work Samples
• Teacher Interviews
• Parent Interview
• Linder, Toni W. (1993), Transdiciplinary
  Play-Based Assessment A Functional Approach to
  Working with Young Children (Revised Edition).
  Baltimore Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co.

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SUGGESTED ITEMS TO CONSIDER FORMATHEMATICS
PORTFOLIOS

• Open-ended questions.
• A report of group project.
• Work from another subject area.
• Problems posed by student.
• Art projects.
• A book review.
• Excerpts from a student's daily journal.
• A table of contents.
• Draft, revised, and final versions of student
  work on a complex mathematical problem.
• A description by the teacher of a student
  activity that displayed understanding of a
• mathematical concept.

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MORE SUGGESTED MATH ITEMS

• A letter from the student to the reader of the
  portfolio, explaining each item.
• Audio tapes of student-teacher interview.
• A photo or sketch made by student of student's
  work with manipulatives.
• Papers that show the student's correction of
  errors or misconceptions.
• Notes from an interview by the teacher or another
  student.
• Sample journal entries.
• Work in the student's primary language.
• Videotapes of student's work.
• A mathematical autobiography.
• Mathematical research.

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EXAMPLE Fitness Portfolio

• Purpose
• to demonstrate your ability to assess and
  evaluate your fitness level, set appropriate
  personal fitness goals, and design a personal
  fitness program to meet those goals over the
  course of the semester.
• What is to be included
• An assessment of personal fitness in all 5 HRPF
  dimensions and identification of which methods
  you used to assess that aspect of fitness.
• A presentation of your judgment about the
  meaning of the fitness scores
• A presentation of your goals based on the data
  you have collected
• Evidence of what you have done to meet those
  goals and your level of success with those goals.
• Assessment of the Portfolio
• Includes evidence supporting the above 4
  dimensions
• The evidence supplied is accurate
• The evidence is adequate to support your ideas
• The evidence supplied communicates clearly
• https//peandhealtharkansas.wikispaces.com/.../PED
  393Authentic...

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Teacher Preparation Portfolio

• Teacher background.
• Class description time, grade and content.
• Written examinations National Teacher's Exam,
  State licensure tests.
• A personal statement of teaching philosophy and
  goals.
• Documentation of effort to improve one's
  teaching seminars, programs, etc.
• Implemented lesson plans, handouts and notes.
• Graded student work such as tests, quizzes and
  class projects.
• Video/audio tape of classroom lessons.
• Colleague observation records.
• Written reflections on teaching.
• Photographs of bulletin boards, chalkboards or
  projects.

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In Conclusion

• Portfolio Assessment has been shown to improve
  both teaching and learning. It is shown to be a
  better assessment tool than traditional exams.
  To the teachers of Bradley, we are here to
  support you in every way possible. Thank you for
  making portfolio assessment an integral part of
  your curriculum design and bringing our kids
  center-stage in the process. They deserve it.

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Works Cited

• Trovato, Marlene C., B.S. An Investigation of
  Portfolio Assessment Implementation within the
  Limits and Constraints of a Traditional Classroom
  Setting. Thesis. Otterbein University, 1983. n.d.
  Print.
• Friedlander, Steven. "Lessons of Secondary School
  Experience Using Math Portfolios in an Algebra
  Classroom." Portfolio Assessment A Handbook for
  Educators. Ed. James Barton. N.p. Dale Seymour
  Publications, n.d. N. pag. Print.
• Banta, T.W. Portfolio Assessment Uses Cases,
  Scoring and Impact. John Wiley Sons Inc.
  2003.
• Ares, Linda. Portfolio Assessment. Thesis.
  University of Dayton, 1993. Print.
• Venn, J. J. (2000). Assessing students with
  special needs (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ
  Merrill.