The proliferation of standards developed at the national and state levels makes preparing a meaningful classroom curriculum a daunting task. This book was designed for teachers who seek a model and processes for designing standards-based units of study to use in their own classrooms. Chapter 1 discusses the purpose of standards and defines content…

Documentation, in the forms of observation of children and recordkeeping, has long been practiced in many early childhood programs, particularly in the preschools of Reggio Emilia, Italy. Documentation typically includes samples of children's work at several stages of completion; photographs showing work in progress; comments by teachers working…

This book attempts to portray the reality that teachers face when trying to use portfolios. It uses anecdotes and examples that help carry important messages about portfolio use and contains model conversations and interactions. The conversations between teachers and students demonstrate strategies for involving children in the assessment process…

Documentation and assessment are important elements in securing continuity, progress, and flexibility in the teaching and learning of young children. This article explores the first year of portfolio assessment in a kindergarten in Finland, asking such questions as: (1) What are portfolios and why are Taija (one particular student), her peers,…

The use of portfolio assessment by composition instructors in the Department of English at the University of Missouri-Kansas City is described. Based on a survey of instructors, conducted in the spring of 1994, the paper examines: (1) who determines what goes into the portfolio, (2) how students are assessed throughout the term, (3) features…

A study examined the effectiveness of showcase writing portfolios, a 9-week intervention strategy to improve 18 first-grade students' writing. Students (who were from Roseville, Michigan) selected most of the entries in their "showcase" portfolios. Subjects' writing was assessed on three measures: the quality of writing was assessed…

The English major at Missouri Western State College has five separate emphases. The English education and English literature emphases are traditional majors with required courses in literature, language and composition. The other emphases are technical communications, public relations, and writing. Since the state recently started requiring public…

Portfolio assessment is valuable for promoting reflective practice in student teachers. This paper describes how a university supervisor required her student teachers to select three professional goals at the beginning of their practicum and provide the proof that they achieved them by the end of the semester. The supervisor began by showing the…

National Board of Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) certification offers experienced teachers opportunities via written portfolios to match their practice to NBPTS standards. In creating standards and requiring teachers to argue in writing that they have realized the standards in their teaching, NBPTS offers a national discourse. However,…

Although portfolio evaluation is the key issue with which the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Missouri, Kansas City, currently struggles, the department has yet to develop a reliable quantitative method of assessing the portfolios. The department found itself ill-prepared to have the state immediately thrust it into new…

The Expressive Arts Outreach (EAO) project, housed at the Center for Best Practices in Early Childhood (the Center) at Western Illinois University, was funded in 2000 by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) as a 3-year outreach project. The target population was 3-8 year old children with a wide range of…

In this book, 11 teachers, from first through twelfth grades, take readers into their classrooms where students are assembling collections of their work. In honest, down-to-earth accounts in the book, these teachers describe the advantages and complexities of using portfolios as a way to evaluate and promote student achievement. In the portfolio…

The College of Engineering at the University of Washington conducted a portfolio evaluation project to better understand the nature and effects of its writing project. The project was implemented to address two needs: (1) the need expressed inside and outside the college for graduates with better communication skills; and (2) the need to…

This paper investigates the ability of portfolios to stimulate the acquisition of multicultural counseling competence within counselors-in-training. It also compares the efficacy of portfolios to case formulation, another method of competence development. Students (N=27) attending a required course on multicultural counseling at a large Midwestern…

This essay, written for mathematics educators, addresses a series of questions related to the development of curriculum in mathematics education. The case is made that mathematics curriculum must be evaluated continuously to stay abreast of recent research results and needed trends. Also addressed is the question of how much mathematics…