The Purpose of Building a Portfolio Assessment

A portfolio assessment is a collection of student works that are associated with standards you are required to learn. This collection of work is often gathered over a long period of time to reflect what you have been taught as well as what you have learned.

Each piece in the portfolio is selected because it is an authentic representation of what you have learned and is meant to demonstrate your current knowledge and skills. A portfolio by nature is a storybook capturing a student's progression of learning as they move through the year.

A portfolio can include classwork, artistic pieces, photographs, and a variety of other media all demonstrating the concepts that you have mastered. Each item that is selected to go in the portfolio is chosen within the parameters of the purpose of the portfolio itself.

The Purpose of Developing a Portfolio

A portfolio assessment is often deemed an authentic form of assessment because it includes authentic samples of a student's work. Many advocates of the portfolio assessment argue that this makes it a superior assessment tool because it is demonstrates learning and growth over an extended period of time.

They believe it is more indicative of what a student's true abilities especially when you compare it to a standardized test that provides a snapshot of what a student can do on a particular day. Ultimately, the teacher guiding the portfolio process helps determine the purpose of the final portfolio.

The portfolio may be used to show growth over time, it may be used to promote a student's abilities, or it may be used to evaluate a student's learning within a specific course. Its purpose may also be a combination of all three areas.