The Application of Student Portfolios in Primary-Intermediate and Self- Contained-Multiage Team Classroom Environments: Implications for Instruction,Learning, and Assessment |
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| Abstract: | Portfolios have gained wide acceptance as a learning and assessment tool. Yet, little research has been reported on the practices of teachers who are actually using portfolios within their classrooms and how those practices are moderated by contextual variables. This research examined the instructional, learning, and assessment roles of student portfolios and explored, from the perspective of the classroom teacher, variations in portfolio applications associated with teaching level (primary vs. intermediate) and classroom environment (self-contained vs. multiage-teaming). Kindergarten through Grade 5 teachers in 13 elementary schools completed a survey questionnaire regarding the instructional and assessment uses to which portfolios are put within their classrooms. To further examine for patterns of portfolio use, a subset of teachers was interviewed to explore the perceptions that teachers hold about the impact of student portfolios on themselves and on their students. The results suggest that Kindergarten through Grade 5 teachers make deliberate decisions regarding uses of their students' portfolios, decisions that appear heavily impacted by the maturity or skill level of the child, the purposes of the application, and the classroom environment within which the application occurs. They also depend on whether the portfolio product is in a formative state (working portfolio) or final state (performance portfolio). |
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