Progress Portfolios

Progress Portfolios are a powerful communication tool that several colleagues and I developed over the last few years.  They are a portable, living document of an individual's growth and achievement over the course of a school year.  Traditionally, teachers 1) send home tests and reports, they are put on the refrigerator, or lost in a backpack, or placed in a file at home; or 2) stash work samples in file folders at school.  In either scenario, it is difficult for the teacher, family, and student to gain perspective on growth, notice trends, or have a clear picture of how the child is doing.

Because the teacher files documents directly into the child's portfolio (in older grades, children may do this themselves, creating more ownership), and then regularly shares the portfolio with families, there is never any question about how a child is performing.

Here are some important guidelines and features:

 You cannot miss it.  Please look for it in homework folders/backpacks.  Also, it is a hard copy, with the ONLY written record of the assessments found inside.  I have written the scores down, but you hold in your hands the actual papers!  As such, I only have one Portfolio per child; please be sure to share with as many interested parties as needed.  Please do NOT remove anything from the Portfolio.  You are welcome to make as many copies/photos as you need. 

On the cover is a list of dates with abbreviations for each addition.  Please initial when you have looked at each item.

I will keep adding new work samples on top of old ones on the right, and adding new explanations on the left as needed.  Just like in geology, the Law of Superposition applies: the farther down the layer, the older it is.

 

There are three sections: Language Arts; Math; history and science and other.  On the left-hand side you will find explanations of Portfolio items.  On the right-hand side you will find your child's work. 

The explanations on the right will help you know what you are looking at:  

• Description of the assessment--what are you looking at?  When and how is it administered?
• Scoring--what do all the numbers mean?
• Possible concerns--any worries or arguments that I can think of.
• How we use results--how does this guide instruction in the classroom?
• HOW YOU CAN USE RESULTS AT HOME--what can you do to help your child?
   
  Part of the Portfolio coming home is for you and your child to celebrate and reflect on progress at home.  On the back are some conversation starters.  Please talk with your child about your child's growth, what can be improved, and how proud you are of them.  Another important part of feedback is changing something because of it: please help your child make any corrections on returned assessments.  This would be working through math problems again, re-reading a fluency passage, studying the seven continents on a map, discussing pluralization rules that showed up on an Orthography test, etc.  
  
  
  Thank you for taking the time to make this Progress Portfolio work!  If you have constructive feedback on how it could be improved or changed to meet the needs of families, I would love to hear from you!
  
  
  PLEASE REMEMBER:
  • Your child's portfolio is a living document: the sooner you send it back, the sooner you will get additions to it!
  •  You possess the only copies of work samples: please don't remove them or lose the Portfolio!
  • This is a tool for celebrations and to guide practice at home: if you need ideas on HOW to practice at home, let me know!