This article describes how providing effective and timely feedback gives new life to student assessment. Such feedback enables students to become better problem solvers and assessors of their own work. Providing effective and informative feedback is a large part of the assessment process: a means not an end that exists to improve learning and…

Developed by educators in the Milwaukee, Wisconsin, public schools, this book shows ways to engage students in high quality work, reveal information about students that cannot be seen through standardized tests, and help students become responsible for their own academic growth. The Assessment Portfolios described are used in 21 Milwaukee schools…

A review of the literature on the use of portfolio assessment has revealed a variety of formats and functions across many disciplines. Reports reviewed for this paper were from professional schools in education, engineering, library science, school and public administration, and vocational studies. Across various programs of study, portfolios…

Generally speaking, a portfolio is a systematic collection of a variety of student projects or artifacts, collected over time, that reflect a student's developmental progress made in one or more areas. For the class, "Portfolio Development in Reading and Language Arts Courses" (EDUC 508 at Saint Joseph College), the portfolio will…

The Paraeducator Portfolio Assessment process is a method for paraeducators to meet the Title I requirements of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001. The Portfolio Assessment allows paraeducators to demonstrate their knowledge and skills in reading, writing, mathematics, and their ability to assist with instruction in the same areas,…

Professional literature extols the potential benefits of portfolios for teaching, learning, and assessment--particularly compared with traditional multiple-choice tests. Although initial findings favor portfolio assessments, the challenges lie in ensuring technical quality, equity, and feasibility for large-scale assessment purposes. Two major…

The Educational Development and Assessment System in a Dutch university's vocational education program involves student-directed, self-regulated evaluation methods and integrates assessment with instruction. Evaluation focuses on competencies and portfolio assessments. (Contains 29 references.) (SK)

To achieve cultural change in a business management/accounting department, annual peer review of faculty portfolios documenting teaching, advising, service, and scholarship was instituted. The process improved the department's alignment with the university's mission. Scholarly productivity quadrupled from 1998-2001. Portfolio assessment had little…

Argues that a portfolio process that encourages teachers in training to practice strategies that result in thoughtfulness will help them avoid entrenchment, and can facilitate and demonstrate professional growth. Describes how to organize and use such portfolios, showing how they contain evidence of thoughtful teaching and learning and make…

Discussion of the growing use of digital portfolios for student assessment focuses on a program at Iona College to develop a four-point rubric to evaluate students' Web-based digital portfolios. Considers form (design and aesthetics), function and usability (ease of use), and components (presence and communication of the required samples).…

Discusses why and how Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis created its electronic institutional portfolio. Describes the process and highlights missteps and insights. Focuses on how electronic institutional portfolios can become catalysts for change and institutional improvement, while also serving as multi-media self-studies for…

Describes how, compared to 1995 strategic planning, participation by Georgia State in the Urban Universities Portfolio Project enabled more informed, wider campus participation in shaping the plan. The portfolio also supported transitions to a semester calendar, new admissions practices, and revised approaches to program review and assessment of…

Reflects on how using the electronic medium for portfolio projects can influence institutional self-examination. By viewing the portfolio project as a continuation of a campus's commitment to approaching change as scholarly work, asserts that the electronic medium can lead to new ways of knowing and understanding higher education institutions. (EV)

Summarizes the lessons learned by the institutions participating in the Urban Universities Portfolio Project regarding the functional and technological requirements for creating and sustaining Web-based institutional portfolios. The most pressing issues were those of aligning technology resources with analytical, evaluative, academic, and design…

Describes lessons learned by California State University about developing electronic institutional portfolios, discussing how the campus made progress in strengthening program review and assessment processes and in building a campus "culture of evidence," trust, and engagement. (EV)