Initiating Portfolios in Your School

    

 

 

Table of Contents

 

1 Purpose

2 Curriculum

3 Requirements

4 Reviewer

5 Assessment

6 Organization

7 Storage

8 Implementation

 

 

 

 

This case study was contributed by the following ICT Summer Institute 2006 participants:

Debbie Bates, David Gingrich, Christine Hunewell, Pam Martin, Gerry Ryder, Linda Smart, Susan White

 

 

 

 

 

When making decisions, you might want to use this simple group decision making process…

 

Brainstorm - List as many ideas as the group can develop

Clarify Ask - questions about Ideas on the list for clarification and understanding

Combine - Lump similar ideas or strategies into categories

Rank - Place the newly formed categories of ideas in order to preference

Discuss - Narrow down the list to a few favorite ideas

Agree - Come to a consensus on the idea that best suits the team

 

Remember these important factors when considering ideas and solutions…

 

Educational - What is the pedagogy behind this idea?

Functional - How does this idea actually work?

Technical -  What technology or equipment is required for this idea to function properly?

Administrative - What are the policies, procedures, and budgets required for this idea to work?

 

 

Establish the purpose for the portfolio based on your district’s goals and mission.

 

Determine how existing school or district curriculum aligns with the ICT standards.

 

 

Determine the content requirements that will be placed in the portfolio.

 

 

Determine the reviewer process for assessing the portfolios.

 

 

Design the assessment rubrics to be used for assessing the portfolios.

 

 

Establish the portfolio organizational framework to be used when building the portfolios.

 

 

Establish the method for storage of the portfolio.

 

 

Implement the portfolio generation and assessment process in your school.

 

 

 

 

Purpose:

 

The ____  District is committed to providing a 21st century education for its students. It is the district’s belief that an interdisciplinary approach to technology facilitates learning that is challenging, engaging, and effective. To this end, we promote and support the integration of technology into core content areas of our curriculum as well as the creation of a digital portfolio for each child. A digital portfolio is a purposeful collection of student work using 21^st century tools* that assesses progress, illustrates effort, and demonstrates achievement in one or more content areas.  The portfolio will be a student-centered, formative portfolio.  Students will reflect on their growth over time, encouraging ownership, and promoting goal setting.

 

In envisioning effective technology integration we recommend:

1.    Hiring technology integration teachers at each elementary school and the middle school

2.    Integrating of technology into the curriculum throughout the district

3.    Providing the necessary tools for all students and staff to allow effective technology integration

4.    Providing professional development to enhance teaching and learning

5.    Facilitating and managing the learning environment for students, teachers, administrators, and support staff

 

* 21^st Century tools can include, but are not limited to: digital cameras, interactive white boards, blogs, graphing calculators, LCD projectors, etc. (Each district should define what 21^st Century tools look like for their district).

For more on Partnership for 21st Century Skills visit:  

http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/

 

 

Portfolio Creation

• The portfolio should provide students with a framework that enables them to access a common platform to create and continuously improve their learning. The portfolio will become a tool for students to demonstrate competency in technology skills and content areas. Students should be mindful that the portfolio needs to demonstrate these skills to a wide variety of audiences such as; teachers, parents, prospective evaluators (i.e. employers, college admissions) and peers.  

 

When will the ICT competencies to be demonstrated?

 

·    ICT (Information and Communication Technology) Competencies will be demonstrated (by a collection of artifacts and assessments) throughout all grade levels as they relate to content area Grade Level Expectations (GLEs).  

New Hampshire Department of Education Curriculum Frameworks and GLEs:

http://www.ed.state.nh.us/education/doe/organization/curriculum/CurriculumFrameworks/CurriculumFrameworks.htm  

ICT Standards:  

http://www.nheon.org/oet/standards/ICTLiteracy.htm

 

How does our current curriculum align with the ICT standards required for the portfolio?

 

Determine what you already do in your school that could be used as artifacts for evidence of meeting competency.

 

·       Our district has adopted an initiative that focuses on integrating technology into content specific areas.  Examples of artifacts can be viewed in our sample portfolio at:

http://www.dover.k12.nh.us/elementary/HorneStreet/ict/index.htm

·       Additional grade level artifacts can be viewed at:

http://nheon.org/ictliteracy/artifacts.htm

 

 

Are there curriculum activities which produce digital artifacts?

• Many digital artifacts are currently produced in our district through existing curriculum activities. Some examples include:

 

Grades K-2

·        Book Review for fiction and non-fiction--Reading and Language Arts

·        Short Animal Reports--Language Arts, Science

·        Arctic Animals and the Iditarod--Research and Picturing Writing--Language Arts, Science, Social Studies, Art

·        Dinosaur Project – Research, Poetry, Picturing Writing

·        Original poem - Writing

·        Patterns in math – Digital images

·        Graphing in math

 

Grades 3-5

·       Space--Language Arts, Science

·       Countries of Origin--Language Arts, Social Studies

·       Body Building Boosters--Health, Science, Language Arts

·       Famous People from NH -Reading, Writing, Art

 

Grades 6-8

·       Stars-Ursa Major--Science, Language Arts

·       Shackleton Timeline--Social Studies, Language Arts

·       Stock market--Math, Social Studies

·       Story ScrapBook--Reading, Language Arts

·       Play--Reading, Language Arts

 

Are these artifacts appropriate to use?

Yes, these digital artifacts are appropriate to use.   ICT Standards have been identified in each of the following artifacts.

 

 

 

Grades K-2

 

Book Review for fiction and non-fiction--Reading and Language Arts

·       Uses word processing

·       ICT Standards: 1, 2a, 2c, 3f, 4a, 4b, 4c

Short Animal Reports--Reading, Language Arts, Science

·       Uses Internet, digital research, word processing

·       ICT Standards: 1, 2a, 2c, 2d, 3f, 4b, 4c,

Arctic Animals and the Iditarod--research and Picture in Writing--Language Arts, Science, Social Studies, Art

·       Uses Internet, digital research, word processing, Picture in Writing, Internet to track Iditarod

·       ICT Standards: 1a, 2a, 2c, 2d, 2e, 2f, 3a, 3b, 3c, 3e, 3f, 4a, 4b, 4c, 4d,

Dinosaur Project – Research, Poetry, Picturing Writing

·        Uses Internet for research, word processing, scanning, iMovie

·        ICT Standards: 1, 2a, 2c, 2d, 2f, 3a, 3c, 3e, 3f, 4a, 4b, 4d

            Original Poem

·        Uses mapping software, word processing

·        ICT Standards: 2a, 2c, 3a, 3e, 3f, 4a, 4b, 4d

            Patterns in Math

·        Uses digital photography

·        ICT Standards: 1, 2b, 3a, 3b, 3e, 4a, 4b, 4d

            Graphing in Math

·        Uses graphing software

·        ICT Standards: 1, 2b, 3b, 3c, 3f, 4b

 

 

Grades 3-5

 

Space--Reading, Language Arts, Science, Arts

·       Uses Internet, digital research, word processing, digital camera, interactive white board, LCD (data) projector, PowerPoint (could use Open Source Impress)

·       ICT standards: 1a, 2a, 2c, 2d, 2e, 2f, 3a, 3b, 3c, 3e, 3f, 4a, 4b, 4c, 4d,

Countries of Origin--Reading, Language Arts, Social Studies

·       Uses Internet, digital research, word processing, digital camera, interactive white board, LCD (data) projector

·       ICT standards: 1a, 2a, 2c, 2d, 2e, 2f, 3a, 3b, 3c, 3e, 3f, 4a, 4b, 4c, 4d,

Body Building Boosters--Health, Science, Language Arts

·       Uses Internet, digital research, word processing, digital camera, interactive white board, LCD (data) projector, PowerPoint (could use Open Source Impress)

·       ICT standards: 1a, 2a, 2c, 2d, 2e, 2f, 3a, 3b, 3c, 3e, 3f, 4a, 4b, 4c, 4d,

Famous People from New Hampshire – Reading, Writing, Art

·        Uses Internet for research, word processing, PowerPoint, scanning

·        ICT Standards: 1, 2a, 2c, 2e, 2f, 3a, 3f, 4a, 4b, 4d

 

Grades 6-8

Stars-Ursa Major--Reading, Language Arts, Science,

·       Uses Internet, digital research, word processing,  projector, PowerPoint (could use Open Source Impress)

·       ICT standards: 1a, 2a, 2d, 3a, 3b, 3c, 3e, 3f, 4a, 4b, 4c, 4d,

Shackleton Timeline--Reading, Language Arts, Social Studies

·       Uses Internet, digital research, word processing,

·       ICT standards: 1a, 2a, 2b, 2c, 2e, 3a, 3b, 3c, 3e, 3f, 4a, 4b, 4c, 4d,

Stock market--Reading, Language Arts, Math, Social Studies

·       Uses Internet, digital research, word processing,  PowerPoint (could use Open Source Impress)

·       ICT standards: 1a, 2a, 2b, 2c, 2e, 3a, 3b, 3c, 3e, 3f, 4a, 4b, 4c, 4d,

Story Scrap Book--Reading, Language Arts, Arts

·       Uses Internet, digital research, word processing, PowerPoint (could use Open Source Impress)

·       ICT standards: 1a, 2a, 2c, 2e, 3a,  3c, 3e, 3f, 4a, 4b, 4c, 4d,

Play--Reading, Language Arts, Arts

·        Uses word processing

·        ICT Standards: 2a, 2c, 3a, 4b, 4d
 

Only ICT standards are listed because these lessons were developed within the context of state and local content standards.

 

 

Are there areas which deserve more curriculum development?

Yes, some areas deserve more curriculum development.  Those areas are:  Mathematics, Arts, World Languages, Social Studies, and Science.

 

 

Are there any areas of redundancy?

Through collaboration and vertical teaming of all grade levels we will be working on minimizing redundancy.

 

 

Once you have determined what you already do in your school that could be used as portfolio evidence…

 

What content requirements does your school want in the portfolio?

The first page of the digital portfolio will be a title page designed by the student. A Table of Contents page will follow that will direct the viewer through the portfolio.  The table of contents currently includes links to an Introduction page (students reflect about themselves, family life, goals, etc.), Interests page (what students like to do outside of school), School Years (This is where links to grade levels are located and the required digital artifacts (see below) comprise the major portion of the portfolio.), Co-curricular Activities (Band, Chorus, etc.), and Community Service. Additional links may be added to include a page for documenting standardized test scores or any other content required by the district.

 

How many artifacts are necessary and adequate?

Student portfolios will include artifacts that focus on integrating the ICT standards with the NH GLE's and frameworks associated with core subject areas. By the end of 8th grade, the student portfolios will include at least one artifact representative of each core subject area.

 

Kindergarten - Grade 2

·        At a minimum, one or two artifact(s) per year that focus on the core subject areas found within the ICT standards.

·         Reading and Language Arts

·         Mathematics

·        Examples of student work at various grade levels can be found at: 

·        http://www.nheon.org/ictliteracy/artifacts.htm

 

Grade 3 through Grade 5

·        At a minimum, one or two artifact(s) per year that focus on the core subject areas found within the ICT standards. The core areas include:

·         Reading

·         Mathematics

·         English and Language Arts

·         Science

·        Examples of student work at various grade levels can be found at:

·        http://www.nheon.org/ictliteracy/artifacts.htm

 

Grade 6 through Grade 8

·         At a minimum, one or two artifact(s) per year that focus on the core subject areas found within the ICT standards. The core areas include:

·         Reading

·         Mathematics

·         English and Language Arts

·         Science

·         Social Studies, including: civics, government, economics, history, and geography

·         Arts

·         World Languages

·         Examples of student work at various grade levels can be found at:

·         http://www.nheon.org/ictliteracy/artifacts.htm

 

High School Grades 9 - 12

·        At a minimum, one artifact that represents the core subject areas found within the ICT standards.  Artifacts may reflect work completed as part of a larger student project. The core areas include:

·         Reading

·         Mathematics

·         English and Language arts

·         Science

·         Social studies, including civics, government, economics, history, and geography

·         Arts

·         World languages

·       The high school portfolio should address the following components:

1.    Basic operations and concepts

2.    Social, ethical, and human issues

3.    Technology productivity tools

4.    Technology communications tools

5.    Technology research tools

6.    Technology problem solving and decision making tools

(Source:  NH ICT Literacy Standards for K-12 ED 306.42)

 

 

Now that you know the content that will be required in the portfolio…

 

Who will review the portfolios and how will the assessment be done?

 

The district Technology Coordinator and the Library Media Specialists will identify and work with technology leaders in each building to determine the expectations and roles of the portfolio assessors. Maintenance of and additions and deletions to student portfolios should require minimal teacher time. 

 

Determine protocols by which the portfolios will be reviewed and assessed.

 

Should the content teachers review the content artifacts?

 

Content area teachers will develop a brief rubric to direct and support each technology integrated task.

 

Should this be done at each grade level in a formative manner?

 

Yes, the formative review (portfolio checklist) will be completed annually for each grade level and include a reflective piece by each student.

 

How should these reviews be tracked?

 

A rubric will accompany each artifact.  There is also a portfolio checklist that will outline the ICT standards that are met in each content specific area.  This checklist must accompany the student's portfolio as they advance from year to year. 

 

 

 

 

Once the protocols for review have been established…

 

What criteria will be used to assess the completed portfolios?

 

Rubrics will be developed for use in assessing completed portfolios. The purpose of the rubric below is to evaluate a student’s portfolio at the end of 8^th grade. In addition to yearly reflection, at the end of 8th grade the student will write a cumulative reflection about his/her portfolio. The rubric can be modified for use at other grade levels. The district may choose a method (point system, color coding, letters, symbols) for the student and teacher to complete the rubric.

 

8th Grade Summative Electronic Portfolio Rubric 

 

Note:  It is suggested that the category names be selected by a student-led team so that these terms have true meaning to the school’s student body.

Note: The rubric and checklists should be completed by the classroom/content teacher along with the student and technology teacher and/or media specialist.

 

 

ICT and Content Checklists  (End of the Year)

 

These sample checklists are intended to be used each school year to track a student's progress.  They are grouped together in the following format: Grades K-2, Grades 3-5 and Grades 6-8. These checklists connect the Content Areas with the ICT Standards.  The name of an artifact will be listed at the top of a column. A check mark will be placed under the title in all areas where an artifact meets a criterion.  The note section is reserved for comments or additional information (ie. new to district, see IEP, etc.) These checklists can be completed throughout the year as artifacts are collected and assessed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now that the assessment rubrics have been developed…

 

What kind of organization system will be used to generate the portfolios?

 

Decide on the best way to organize and present these portfolios for your school.

 

How will the portfolios be organized?

 

·       Each student will have a folder on the school server that follows them through each grade level.  Folders will be organized using a hierarchal model. Example:

0     Student Folder

0     Kindergarten

0     Reading

0     Math

0     Grade One

0     Reading

0     Math

As portfolios require other content areas at the higher grade levels, additional folders will be added to this model.  Students will have all artifacts available to them as they create their portfolios.  If PowerPoint is used to create the portfolio (as we have used in this scenario) it will be imperative for students to have all necessary files in one location.

 

What other organization elements should be considered?

 

·       It is recommended that the school district look at Moodle as it becomes more readily available.

·       The portfolios can be organized as individual documents.

·       The portfolios can be organized using software specific to portfolio generation.

·         The portfolio should have the capacity to accommodate multiple forms of electronic multimedia: static text and graphic displays, databases, audio bites, video clips, panoramic files, 3D files, virtual reality and more. 

 

·       The portfolios can be organized using software not specifically designed to generate portfolios.

·         Open Access applications

·         Adobe Acrobat

·         MS Word

·         MS PowerPoint

·         HTML editors

 

The student and teacher will determine the means for construction of the electronic portfolio based on the 21^st Century tools available to students in the district.

 

 

 

When the organizing framework for the portfolios have been established…

 

How will the student portfolios be stored by your school?

 

Student portfolios will be stored on school district servers while under construction.  Once portfolios are completed, students will have the option to save their portfolio to CD, Thumbdrive (Sandisc, etc.), or other portable storage devices that become available.  Storage may take place online if or when that option becomes available to the district.

 

**Please note that some areas of a student portfolio should be password protected.

(ie: Standardized test scores, etc.)

 

Other thoughts taken into consideration:

 

·       The electronic portfolio will accommodate easy storage and retrieval.  

·       The portfolio will be easily portable via storage device or electronic transfer. 

·       The portfolio will be cross-platform (Macintosh/Windows).  

·       The portfolio will permit automatic updating of records (such as student transcripts). 

·       The electronic portfolio will be user friendly.  

·       The electronic portfolio platform will support the integration of existing software files representative of individual capacities and assets. 

 

Develop possible methods for storing the portfolios created by students.

 

Which level of storage is appropriate for your school?

 

·       Level 1 Each student’s files are stored on a separate CD.

·       Level 2 Each student’s files are stored in a separate folder on the school server. The portfolio can be created as a folder within the student’s larger folder.

·       Level 3 Each student has a login to an online portfolio management system.

 

 

8 Implement the portfolio generation and assessment process in your school.

 

Now that you’ve got the portfolio process solved…

 

When should we start using the portfolio program in our school?

 

Think about a timeline that makes sense for your school. And who in your school can help you get the ball rolling!

 

Before the first day of school:

Organize a large group presentation during one of the in-service days to:

·        Inform staff members about student electronic portfolio implementation

·        Discuss professional development opportunities that will be offered throughout the year to help staff members begin implementation

·        After school workshops – Tech Tuesdays or Thursdays

·        Workshops on early release days

·        Workshops on teacher workshop days during the school year

·        Courses offered on-site through local colleges and universities – Intel Teach to the Future, Masters Degree in Technology Education, Connected University

 

Once the school year begins:

• Identify staff members in each building who have expertise in specific software applications

(ie: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Open Source applications, HTML)

• Establish peer mentors to work one-on-one with staff members who are uncomfortable with and reluctant to use technology
• Offer incentives to those interested in serving as building mentors (Stipends, Use of a laptop for a year, Funding to attend a technology conference, etc.)
• Schedule workshops for staff members
• Locate sources of grant money for hardware, software and professional development
• Remind staff members of district’s promise to replace old technology equipment with 21^st Century tools

 

Next summer:

• Offer computer camp for teachers
• Schedule on-site courses through local colleges and universities – Intel Teach to the Future, Masters Degree in Technology Education, Connected University

 

 

 

Good luck!