https://www.edutopia.org/article/standards-based-portfolio-assessment/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.edutopia.org/article/standards-based-portfolio-assessment/

The text gives an account of how teachers and educators can develop and implement portfolios as one of the alternative methods for evaluating learners.

First of all, the author states that the function of the portfolio is determined by the needs of the educator, institution, or educational system. Teachers need to consider the social environment of the community where they operate, the demands made by the state, and the goals they hope to achieve by introducing portfolios. In the case when portfolios are used as a substitute for other types of assessment, educators need to ask such questions as what the learners need to show, how portfolios will be evaluated, what will be considered excellent work, the degree of learners’ freedom, what will be required of learners to submit, and who will have access to portfolios.

Another important concept is backward design, which involves beginning with the success criteria before planning the learning activities. The teachers and school administrators need to first identify any learning gaps and then provide consistent training for the implementation of portfolios within the education system.

Additionally, there is the idea of co-construction of criteria. In essence, the learners should play an active role in goal-setting and criterion definition. This ensures that they can select appropriate work and become engaged with their learning process. It will help for the teacher to model the entire process through personal portfolios.

Portfolios are suggested as an alternative to standardized tests, which have been accused of being biased and representing only a small sample of student learning. Portfolios give students the chance to collect evidence, analyze it, and present their learning in various ways. The best case scenario is when portfolios are digital, start from the beginning of education, and are accessible to students, teachers, and parents.

Students will need to regularly choose their work, reflect on it with the help of standards-based vocabulary, and plan further learning goals. With time, they acquire skills to manage their own learning process. Learning presentations or defenses can also be incorporated into the portfolio format.

In general, the passage discusses how portfolios offer a more complex assessment strategy that allows monitoring of students' development through time.

Portfolio-Based Assessment: Evaluating Student Learning