Explores how a portfolio assessment project in the University of Cape Town's Chemistry Department developed (within staff) new understandings of the role of writing as a vehicle for learning, which resulted in a reexamination of the relationship of the written assignments to the existing curriculum. Discusses challenges of designing assessment…

Applies to the reading of student texts in a college composition portfolio assessment the notion that evaluations of text vary because readings take place in specific contexts and are shaped by cultural and historical exigencies. Concludes that in every reading of a text, readers posit an "implied author" that can strongly influence the reader's…

Details the three major forms of evaluative authority (administrator, teacher, outside instructor) in the portfolio program at a large, urban, Midwestern university. Documents and theorizes the rhetorical and political dynamics by which the three forms of authority interact. Explores and maps the contested borders of authority among outside…

In a program on creative thinking and technology, 56 low-achieving Israeli 10th graders constructed portfolios of project work. The Creative Thinking Assessment Scale was developed to evaluate awareness of thinking, observation of thinking, strategy, and reflection. (SK)

When carefully conceived, portfolios can significantly advance a teacher's professional growth and preserve evidence of exemplary teaching. More than a scrapbook or steamer trunk of eye-catching materials, a teaching portfolio is an ongoing, collaborative process that carefully and thoughtfully documents a set of accomplishments attained over an…

Discusses how the use of prior learning assessment, especially with portfolios, can enable workers to take greater responsibility for their career development and shift emphasis from employment to employability. (Contains 31 references.) (SK)

Studied how students used feedback information provided them in distinctly framed portfolios of dossier, reflective, and learning-oriented types. Results with 137 college students support a view of portfolio construction in which the individual benefits from feedback were closely linked to the intentions present during collection of the portfolio…

Outlines seven shortcomings of portfolios for purposes of teacher evaluation and discusses the advantages of teacher dossiers, which are easier to judge, demonstrably reliable, and cost effective. Dossiers are more compact, processed, and usable for judges of teacher quality. (SLD)

Reviews the purposes of student teacher assessment, professional association standards, and assessment problems. Describes a process used at Central Missouri State University, which includes observations by supervisors and cooperating teachers, assessment of portfolios, videotaped lessons, and four on-campus seminars. (SK)

Analyzed the assessments of 53 portfolios used to evaluate participants in a development course for higher education teachers at the United Kingdom's Open University. Findings included a high reliability in assessment at the level of course outcomes, and that cumulation of component assessments is very likely to reduce the reliability of overall…

Reports the reliability in assessment of a series of portfolios assembled by a cohort of participants attending a course for prospective general practice trainers. Compares initial individual assessment with open discussion between random pairs of assessors to produce paired composite scores, and analyzes using kappa statistics. Includes 22…

Interviews with staff of institutions that received an award for meeting quality standards in adult guidance identified the impact on practice and on organizations. Results raised questions about the nature of guidance covered by the standards, the adequacy of assessment procedures, and the need for ownership of standards and related processes by…

Presents three fictional scenarios each based on very different kinds of facts: the very clear data of test scores, the ambiguous data of behaviors, and the concrete but infinitely interpretable data of portfolios. Notes that the data represented by the portfolio is much more appropriate to assessing language competencies than is data represented…

Traditionally, portfolios have been used as a visual arts tool showcasing an artist's accomplishments and personally favored works. Today, maintaining a portfolio in the classroom has been found to have many uses both to the teacher and the student. And the contents are just as diverse as the students who create them. A folder--paper or…

Simple checklists, one-shot interviews, brief site visits and narrative evaluations remain widespread as the tools of assessment. In many school districts, the evaluation includes little or no face-to-face contact, and the principal simply gets his or her evaluation in the mail, leading one researcher to describe them as "infrequent, late,…