Thanks, Thomas.
Hmmmmm, I know only from verbal feedback from teachers that there is
clearly an increase in both documented student gains and academic
persistence.  However, that doesn't give us any reliable data.  Let me
check with my Ohio colleagues and see if any study has been conducted in
that vein.  I'll be in touch!
Joyce



>>> "Suh, Thomas (DOE)" <Thomas.Suh at doe.virginia.gov> 5/7/2008 11:13 AM

>>>


Very interesting Joyce – thanks for sharing this!
Just wondering, has the portfolio process translated into an increase
in documented student gains or increased academic persistence? 
Thanks.
Tom
 

Thomas Suh
Virginia Department of Education
(804) 786-8367 


From:assessment-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:assessment-bounces at nifl.gov]
On Behalf Of Joyce Winters
Sent: Wednesday, May 07, 2008 10:29 AM
To: 'The Assessment Discussion List'
Subject: [Assessment 1302] Re: Student Self-Assessment

 

Good questions, Marie!  Thanks for your interest.    I'll attempt to
further explain each one:

 

The students are not involved in developing rubrics or scoring guides.
The guides are developed by instructors since they are intrinsically
familiar with Ohio's Standards, Components & Benchmarks. These guides
are written based on the Standards in an effort to help students
understand--without intensive training--the "what, how, and why" of
their learning process.  Once the scoring guides are explained to
students, they provide a structure for students to assess their own
progress and areas of strength/weakness, as well as which instructional
strategies are helpful.

 

The portfolio process is a collaborative effort between the student and
teacher. The key is for the student to take responsibility for selecting
the pieces and to think about the choices. The students initially select
the work that is maintained in the portfolio.  At a minimum of every 90
days, the teacher and student conference to review the portfolio, and at
that point some material may be removed or additional material included.
 Short-term goals are revisited at that time as well, and the instructor
identifies the next steps for helping the student reach his/her goals. 

 

Ultimately, the purpose of the portfolio process is to promote student
ownership of learning and to increase student and teacher collaboration.
 Portfolios are an important part of assessment since they provide a map
of a student's accomplishments and progress toward goals, and they are a
required component in every ABLE program in Ohio. However, only
standardized tests can be used to measure completion of an educational
functioning level and standardized tests are the only scores reported to
the State ABLE office.  

 

Our professional development trainings are developed based upon State
policy and input from stakeholders.  I provide regional trainings on the
portfolio process throughout Ohio, and will visit a program if the
need/desire exists.  This particular training has a strong focus on the
student assessment piece, with role plays on conferencing and activities
where teachers sort out suitable material for a student portfolio.
Additionally, I'm in the process of putting our handbook and
presentation materials online.  Hopefully, I'll have that completed this
summer.

 

I hope this provides the clarification you wanted.  If not, I'm only an
email or phone call away.  I'm also available to bring the Portfolio
Assessment Process presentation to others (providing travel costs are
worked out with my director).

 

 

Joyce Winters

Professional Development Specialist

NWRC/Owens Community College

PO Box10,000

Toledo, Ohio 43699

567-661-7675

joyce_winters at owens.edu



>>> "Marie Cora" <marie.cora at hotspurpartners.com> 5/7/2008 9:13 AM >>>


Hi Joyce,
 
Thanks so much for this, what a great process you have established!  
 
A couple questions for you – are the students involved in developing
the rubric at all?  And do they get to select pieces of work that they
feel best represent their abilities? Or is this a joint effort between
student and instructor?
 
Also, how do report to your funder?  Do you only report the
standardized test scores or do you also report on the student
portfolios?
 
Finally, I see you are a professional development specialist – so I
assume that you focus on helping the teachers and other staff to learn
and improve their own abilities in working with the process.  How do you
generally bring the professional development to the staff on the student
self assessment piece?
 
Thanks!!
 
Marie
 
 
 
Marie Cora
marie.cora at hotspurpartners.com
NIFL Assessment Discussion List Moderator
http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/assessment
 
 
 
 
 
 
-----Original Message-----
From: assessment-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:assessment-bounces at nifl.gov]
On Behalf Of Joyce Winters
Sent: Tuesday, May 06, 2008 11:10 AM
To: 'The Assessment Discussion List'
Subject: [Assessment 1300] Re: Student Self-Assessment
 

We use a form of student self-assessment in Ohio through the
standards-based Ohio Portfolio System.  Each student has two folders: 
one is an administrative folder containing sensitive, personal data
including standardized tests;  the other is a student folder containing
student work that demonstrates progress toward the student's goals. 
Assessment is focused on evaluating how the student has progressed by
comparing early work with later work to see changes over time.  Material
included in this folder is chosen by the student using specific criteria
and reviewed by the instructor. 

 

In a quick summary, the process begins with creating student work
following the initial diagnostic testing.  Instructors rely upon the
standards and diagnostic results to build the criteria for student work.
 During a student conference, a checklist, rubric, or other form of
scoring guide is given to the student to help the student assess his/her
progress so that the material isn't just a collection of assignments. 
The student reflects upon his/her work with guiding questions such as,
"What does this work show about what I've learned and can do?" and "I
will put this in my portfolio because it shows that I can..." The
student then judges his/her work to determine what he/she needs to learn
next to move closer to meeting the goal set during orientation.  During
regularly scheduled conferences, the instructor also judges student work
to determine what work should be assigned to extend the student's
learning or how instruction should be changed to help the student meet
the established goal.   

 

We've found this portfolio process to be enormously beneficial as it
provides a structured opportunity for students to reflect upon their
learning, their strengths and weaknesses and what adaptations are needed
to help remove barriers.  Students are now more aware of why they are
learning and how to apply knowledge to their lives, rather than just
focusing upon "what do I need to know to get my GED?"

 

 

 

Joyce Winters

Professional Development Specialist

NWRC/Owens Community College

PO Box10,000

Toledo, Ohio 43699

567-661-7675
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/assessment/attachments/20080507/7745f47a/attachment.html