Why Are Portfolio Assessments the Best Tools to Use in Education? Literature Review

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performance assessments. There will be a determination concerning how it assists in attaining educational goals. Educational assessment background will be presented and information on the way performance assessments are made use of in achieving goals will be analyzed.

Assessing Student Performance

The effect professional development has on improving mathematics instruction was examined in a few studies. The first study was carried out and involved thirty-six teachers who took up professional development for 3 years. The fidelity in learning the professional development hugely affected judgment accuracy (Thieda, et al., 2015). The second study was done with sixty-four teachers drawn from eight schools that had been randomly selected to serve as controls or get professional development. Judgment accuracy was higher in teachers who received professional development and those with better ability to perceive computational skills of students than those teachers who didn't.

For instance, field education is widely appreciated as a key tool in the incorporation of theoretical know-how with practice in the real world. Furthermore, field education is the signature pedagogy for the Council Social Work Education (CSWE). Signature pedagogy of a profession, according to Shulman, is the mode of learning and teaching in an organization (Tapp, Macke and McLendone, 2012). Signature pedagogy examples include doing medical rounds in the field of medicine as well as student teaching as in teacher education. Three facets of professional practice are incorporated in the pedagogical approach: 1) Thinking, e.g. employment of professional knowledge, 2) utilization of occupational skills 3) integrity - operationalization of ethics and values in the field. Field education is a key way of learning and teaching and the students are socialized through social work education to do the job of a practitioner (Tapp, Macke and McLendone, 2012).

Educational Goal Assessment Background

Assessment involves evaluating and testing students so as to get a picture of the progress they have made towards the goals set for the program. It is valuable in any training process as it aids those involved to gauge their performance and how close they are to performance metrics to be attained. In physical education, quality assessment models would incorporate (New Hampshire Physical Education):

1. Formally stated instructional objectives (psychomotor, affective, cognitive)

2. Pre-assessment of the learners

3. Measuring attainment of objectives through reliable and valid tests in the course of and after delivering the right instructional activities

4. Evaluating the progress of students towards the desired results

A quality assessment models is grounded on the following principles (New Hampshire Physical Education):

1. Put up the right instructional goals by the use of local, state and national guidelines and standards.

2. Selecting/using the right measures in determining the progress of students in meeting the goals set. Assessment can be in several forms. Informal or formal tools can be utilized.

3. Developing an evaluation scheme which is a reflection of achievement of instructional objectives. Grading ought not be the only result in an evaluation scheme.

Purposes of assessment:

1. Student learning: educators use assessment to gauge the progress made by their students. They find out the strengths of their methods and the areas they need to grow in. Various tests like mid-terms and post tests can be used. The assessment may be unit-based or cover the whole school year.

2. Improvement of Teaching: Teachers make use of assessments in determining what in the teaching methods they employ are effective. What works is noted and the areas that need improvement are also worked upon. Various assessment tools may be made use of so as to determine the kinds of instruction most useful in meeting the students' needs.

3. Communication: Assessments should be utilized as a means to communicate between students, educators, parents and administrators. Students and parents always look at assessments to get a picture of the what and the how as far as learning is concerned. Educators make use of assessments in evaluating teaching methods and establish the gaps present in a curriculum (New Hampshire Physical Education).

4. Program Evaluation: Assessments can be a good way of gauging the effectiveness of a program and give pointers as to what needs changing so as to optimize the program to aid in the attainment of desired objectives.

5. Program Support: Consistent assessment may be utilized in validating a program. The data gotten may be objective and can evidence if the objectives or goals set are being attained by students and teachers. A good measure of the program can be done when clear data is available.

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Portfolio Assessment

General performance is a reflection of the ability of a student to transfer skills and knowledge to different situations of learning by applying activity formats as well as instructional approaches, including the instructional elements below (2015 Educators Manual):

• Media as well as other materials (e.g., written material, computer, art materials)

• Activity formats (e.g., group discussions, experiments, classroom projects and paired research)

• Response methods (e.g., oral, visual, word-processed, handwritten)

• Format of presentation (multimedia, oral, written)

• Skills application in a community setting (e.g., in the grocery store)

Scorers who have been trained and qualified examine very portfolio strand and make use of the criteria below to score every rubric area, given the evidence the portfolio presents (2015 Educators Manual):

• Portfolio material completeness

• Complexity level where the student meets the curriculum frameworks standards in the subject in question

• The student's accuracy in responding to questions, or in performing various tasks

• The independence the student demonstrates as they respond to the questions or in performing the tasks

• Self-evaluation in the course of each activity or task (e.g. self-correcting, reflection, goal setting).

• Generalized execution of any skill in various settings and contexts using various response methods and materials.

Why Portfolio Assessments are the Preferred Method

Portfolio assessments give a comprehensive picture of the performance of a student. The evaluation of portfolio assessment enables a person to get an idea of the general picture of the capability of the student and also bring to light their strengths and the areas that need improving. Identifying the student's weaknesses gives him/her the opportunity to focus on those areas so as to make progress. Because it is a continuing process which needs continuous review and monitoring, collaboration between the teacher and the student is vital. In portfolio assessment, the student seeks to improve continually and so being more responsible (The Pros and Cons of Assessing Students). Critical thinking skills, selectivity, reflective analysis and creative assessment are improved as well. The anxiety that comes with doing examinations is also done away with. Further, particular information as regards the experiences of the students, work satisfaction and participation can also be established. This ensures that the various aspects of the curriculum are evaluated. Also, learning portfolios acknowledge individual learning styles. In this way, an approach that appreciates the individualistic styles of learning are instituted and so allowing learning to be more effective. Moreover, curriculum goals and objectives, enhancement of faculties and feedback development are made better through learning portfolios as timely evaluation of student effectiveness and learning is measured (The Pros and Cons of Assessing Students).

Two new circumstances have made portfolio management quite valuable in the current mid-size to large districts. First, the students in a majority of metropolitan settings have varied learning needs which cannot be served by a one-size-fits-all school. The districts must find ways of getting schools to redesign, personalize and specialize. The districts ought to encourage teacher innovation, give schools permission to come up with strong teams, and put their energies in the creation of conditions that ensure that strong schools are the norm and not the exception. Second, choice remains a weighty factor in most districts (Campbell, 2015). There is need to ensure that even the most vulnerable of students can access schools of high quality and that the parents are knowledgeable about the options available to them. School districts that find themselves faced with these realities can remain limited in the portion of institutions they run or they can be more innovative and collaborate in order to help the students. The portfolio approach is a good way of having districts become leaders in the field (Campbell, 2015).

Regular innovation and iteration, committing to implementing ideas as well as caution to not be comfortable with the status quo are the measures of good portfolio systems. Such actions separate the districts that are successful from those that are unsuccessful. For instance, California and Oakland began implementing their portfolio strategy in 2003; and the school system progressed dramatically over the years as low-performing schools were closed down, new smaller schools opened and principals given autonomy (Campbell, 2015). A few years later, the gains were halted as new leadership eroded the empowerment of the principals. The district is continually sliding back in test scores.

If evaluation of a student was to be done based on the work in this portfolio (like getting admitted to college), then the.....

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