What+is+a+student+portfolio+?

= = = Interactive electronic and = = Eorepean Language = = portfolios of the class students = media type="custom" key="20996472" What is an e-Portfolio?

Getting Started, Ideas of what to include and Checklists
Getting started with Student Portfolios can help you as you work through creating your first student portfolio assignment. Following is a list of suggested and possible items that can be included in a student portfolios.


 * Letter to the reader discussing portfolio items
 * Reading log
 * Quotations the student especially likes
 * Graphic illustration of information - charts, concept diagrams, webs, timelines, photographs
 * Recording or video tapes of readings or performances
 * Sample Paragraphs showing various mastery of specific writing techniques
 * Sample Essays of various types - descriptive, narrative, explanatory, expository, persuasive, cause & effect, compare & contrast, defining terms, etc.
 * Writing from other classes - reports, speech outlines, essays, projects, etc.
 * Research related writing - description of procedures, instruments (ie. surveys), results and products
 * Explanation of literary terms using examples from reading
 * Creative writing - stories, poems, songs, scripts

Benefits of Portfolios:
One of the most important benefits of using portfolios is the enhancement of critical thinking skills which result from the need for students to:
 * Develop evaluation criteria
 * Use this criteria to evaluate their work
 * Engage in self-reflection about their progress.

Additionally:

 * Students are pleased to observe their personal growth,
 * They have better attitudes toward their work, and
 * They are more likely to think of themselves as writers.

The payoff for using portfolios is made concrete when students discover they can earn college credit and, in some cases, skip the freshman writing class by creating a top notch writing portfolio while they are still in high school. Before assigning a portfolio, it would be wise to to read Student Portfolios: Classroom Uses by the Office of Education Research to see what procedures enhance the success of a portfolio assignment.

The Working Portfolio:
A working portfolio, often a simple file folder containing all the student's work, is helpful when used in conjunction with the evaluation portfolio because can be started prior to your deciding what you will require in the evaluation portfolio and thus protect work from being lost. Arrangements must be made, however, to store folders in the classroom. Students at all levels generally become proud as they watch their work accumulate--even students who rarely work are amazed to see five or more assignments that they actually finished.

Getting Started With Student Portfolios:
There are three main factors that go into the development of a student portfolio assessment.
 * 1) First, you must decide the purpose of your portfolio. For example, the portfolios might be used to show student growth, to identify weak spots in student work, and/or to evaluate your own teaching methods.
 * 2) After deciding the purpose of the portfolio, you will need to determine how you are going to grade it. In other words, what would a student need in their portfolio for it to be considered a success and for them to earn a passing grade.
 * 3) The answer to the previous two questions helps form the answer to the third: What should be included in the portfolio? Are you going to have students put of all their work or only certain assignments? Who gets to choose?

By answering the above questions, you are able to start student portfolios off on the right foot. A big mistake some teachers make is to just jump into student portfolios without thinking through exactly how they are going to manage them. To help you answer these questions, you might find it helpful to review the Portfolio Planning Checklist below and Suggested Portfolio Items for each kind of portfolio students will keep.

Portfolio Planning Checklist:
Student Teacher Curriculum/program School
 * 1. Who or what is being evaluated?**

Display best work and current performance Display growth over time Determine whether learning goals have been met Determine quality of instruction
 * 2. What is the purpose of the evaluation?**

Improved attitude toward school work Learn to evaluate own performance __I__ncrease critical thinking skills by developing evaluative criteria and using it to select work to include Improve instruction To enjoy the academic area Improve or demonstrate mastery of specific academic skills
 * 3. What are additional purposes?**


 * (List)
 * To Learn Processes
 * The writing process,
 * Steps for attacking complex problems
 * The scientific method
 * How to write a research paper

Number of school years Number of subjects
 * 4. What is the breadth of work to be covered?**


 * (List)
 * __(List)__

Students' classroom teacher Another classroom teacher In school panel State appointed individuals Other
 * 5. Who is responsible for evaluating the portfolios?**

__http://bkeportfolio.wikispaces.com/Student+Portfolio+Informationbb__

What is a European Language Portfolio? It is a document in which those who are learning or have learned a language - whether at school or outside school - can record and reflect on their language learning and cultural experiences. The portfolio contains a language passport which its owner regularly updates. A grid is provided where his/her language competences can be described according to common criteria accepted throughout Europe and which can serve as a complement to customary certificates. The document also contains a detailed language biography describing the owner's experiences in each language and which is designed to guide the learner in planning and assessing progress. Finally, there is a dossier where examples of personal work can be kept to illustrate one's language competences. [|3 Parts of a Portfolio]

Aims and functions of a European Language Portfolio The European Language Portfolio project has two main aims: a) to motivate learners by acknowledging their efforts to extend and diversify their language skills at all levels; b) to provide a record of the linguistic and cultural skills they have acquired (to be consulted, for example, when they are moving to a higher learning level or seeking employment at home or abroad). Points a) and b) refer to the two basic functions of the European Language Portfolio: a) The pedagogic function - to improve their ability to communicative in different languages
 * Enhance the motivation of the learners

- to learn additional languages

- to seek new intercultural experiences - reflect their objectives, ways of learning and success in language learning
 * Incite and help learners to

- plan their learning

- learn autonomously - contacts and visits
 * Encourage learners to enhance their plurilingual and intercultural experience, for example through

- reading

- use of the media

- projects b) The documentation and reporting function The European Language Portfolio aims to document its holder's plurilingual language proficiency and experiences in other languages in a comprehensive, informative, transparent and reliable way. The instruments contained in the ELP help learners to take stock of the levels of competence they have reached in their learning of one or several foreign languages in order to enable them to inform others in a detailed and internationally comparable manner. There are many occasions to present a Language Portfolio which is up to date, for example a transfer to another school, change to a higher educational sector, the beginning of a language course, a meeting with a career advisor, or an application for a new post. In these cases the ELP is addressed to persons who have a role in decisions which are important for the owner of the Language Portfolio. A learner may also be interested in having such documentation for him-/herself.

Principles All competence is valued, regardless whether gained inside or outside of formal education. - The European Language Portfolio is the property of the learner.

- It is linked to the Common European Framework of reference for Languages.

- A set of common principles ad guidelines have been agreed for all Portfolios.

The Ministers of Education of all the member States of the Council of Europe have recommended that governments, in keeping with their education policy, support the introduction of a European Language Portfolio.
 * Recommendation N° R (98) 6** of the Committee of Ministers to Member States concerning Modern Languages recommends among other measures the development and use by learners of a personal document (European Language Portfolio) to record their qualifications and other significant linguistic and cultural experiences in an internationally transparent manner as part of an effort to extend and diversify language learning at all levels in a lifelong perspective.
 * Resolution on the European Language Portfolio** (adopted at the 20th Session of the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education of the Council of Europe, Cracow, Poland, 15-17 October 2000)

The European Ministers of Education, meeting in Cracow for the 20th session of their Standing Conference, CONSIDERING: - the conclusions and recommendations of the 19th Session of the Standing Conference of the European Ministers of Education;

- Recommendation No. R (98) 6 of the Committee of Ministers to Member States concerning Modern Languages;

- Recommendation 1383 (1998) of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on Linguistic Diversification;

- the encouraging results of the PILOT PROJECTS conducted in 15 member States in an initial pilot phase (1998 to 2000) in order to explore the practical potential, feasibility and effects of a European Language Portfolio. RECOMMEND THAT: The Governments of member states, in harmony with their education policies: 1. implement or create conditions favorable for the implementation and wide use of the ELP according to the Principles and Guidelines laid down by the Education Committee;

2. Where it is decided to introduce the ELP, they:

2.1. ask a competent body (such as a national committee) to examine ELP models for compulsory education, to establish whether they meet the agreed criteria, and to forward them with a recommendation to the European Validation Committee;

2.2. ask the competent body to monitor compliance with the Principles and Guidelines at the national, regional, local level;

2.3. create conditions to enable learners to use ELPs throughout formal and informal education;

2.4. assist teachers in the effective use of the ELP through appropriate training programmes and support;

2.5. take steps to ensure that an ELP is acknowledged as a valid record of competence regardless of its country, region, sector or institution of origin;

2.6. facilitate co-operation between education institutions and other relevant agencies at all levels, be they public or private, with a view to the harmonious development and implementation of ELPs;

2.7. monitor the dissemination and impact of the ELP and report the findings to the Council of Europe regularly, and at least once every three years.

Future goals Different models are being or will be developed in Council of Europe member States depending on the age of learners and national contexts. However, all models must conform to the agreed principles and be approved by the European Validation Committee in order to use the Council of Europe logo. The Council of Europe organised a series of seminars in 2001 to help member States which did not take part in the pilot scheme to develop and introduce their own portfolios. A number of International NGOs are also developing Portfolios for higher and adult education.

http://www.coe.int/t/DG4/Portfolio/?L=E&M=/main_pages/introduction.html