Portfolios

Background

A portfolio, in its most general definition, is a collection of materials that demonstrate a group's or an individual's work over a period of time. Portfolios are generally accepted as an effective means of assessing student progress inside the classroom. Recently, however, portfolios have begun to appear outside the classroom as an alternative tool for assessing the work of educational leaders. Teaching portfolios are common across the country, but using portfolios to assess and develop effective administrators is less common. Analogous to the portfolios being used in many classrooms, professional portfolios serve as both a marker of development and a tool for reflection. Used reflectively, portfolios can give tangible form to themes and issues that are otherwise elusive.

Benefits

The distinct advantage of portfolio-based assessment for educational leaders is that it is not based on a single moment in time. This allows both evaluators and participants to garner a much deeper understanding of their strengths and weaknesses by documenting them over an extended period of time. A possible weakness of portfolio-based assessment is that the components of the portfolio will most likely have been chosen to highlight particular accomplishments and strengths, rather than any shortcomings. This may, in turn, not provide the most accurate overall picture of an administrator's performance.

Examples

Portfolios may be geared toward any number of functions including self-reflection, peer-assessment, professional development, and career advancement. Some portfolios trace a single project from conception to implementation, or may more generally represent a diverse body of work. There is no single format for professional portfolios to fit every need. One study suggests that a principal's portfolio might contain information such as a current resume, statement of educational beliefs, references, transcripts and personal reflections. However, specific contributions to portfolios must be dictated by the stated goal of the participants.

Related Links

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What Is It?

Designing a Teaching Portfolio

This article offers suggested readings on portfolios, particularly teaching portfolios, though relevant to anyone wanting to learn, and gets the reader started on putting together their own education-themed portfolio.

Using a Portfolio for Superintendent Evaluations

The superintendent portfolio evaluates the superintendent's activities and the ability to lead. It also provides the board with documentation of the activities of the organization and its growth. Details eight steps to implementing a portfolio-review process for school administrators.

What are Professional Portfolios?

Geared toward both teachers and administrators, this chapter from Giselle O. Martic-Kniep’s book, Capturing the Wisdom of Practice: Professional Portfolios for Educators, introduces professional portfolios as tools to enable educators to improve upon, portray, and assess their work. Portfolios are presented as collections of purposeful and specialized work, and she provides examples of items sometimes included in portfolios. To help people think of different types of portfolios, the author creates three different scenarios. Next, she addresses what portfolios look like and gives three specific examples of portfolio development.

What is a Professional Portfolio?

Although written for prospective teachers, this discussion of the professional portfolio as a record of goals, growth, achievement, and professional attributes developed over time and in collaboration with others, is equally as valuable for administrators. This website is particularly noteworthy for its table of contents which provides a number of links for those interested in reading more about compiling portfolios.
Tools & Resources

Improving Principal Evaluation

This is a new ERIC Digest that includes the key elements of effective evaluation and tells what instruments are currently available. The author notes that "by themselves, portfolios do not align principal evaluation with the need to improve student achievement. However, when focused on instructional goals, they provide an evidence-oriented process that spurs school leaders to think more deeply about the impact they have on student performance." (From Larry Lashway. ERIC Digest 172, October 2003.)
Model Programs
A Portfolio for Evaluation of School Superintendents
Published by the Center for Research on Educational Accountability and teacher Evaluation (CREATE), this guidebook contains a model portfolio that is designed for use by school boards in evaluating school superintendents. It can also be adapted to evaluate central-office administrators, principals, and other school-level administrators. The portfolio provides for both formative and summative evaluation. The assessment is keyed to the superintendent's defined role and to 11 generic duties of the superintendency. The evaluation process is based on the CIPP framework of Context, Input, Process, and Product:
1. evaluate the district context;
2. seek out alternative improvement strategies;
3. monitor and assess implementation of the plan; and
4. gather and assess the evidence on outcomes.
Portfolio Assessment for School Leaders

In collaboration with ETS, six states from the Consortium are funding and developing a portfolio assessment for school leaders based on the ISLLC Standards entitled Portfolio Assessment for School Leaders.

Professional Development Portfolio Template

This is an extremely handy template in PDF format for creating a school or district-wide portfolio. Developed for use by teachers, the step-by-step process outlined in this document can easily be adapted to suit the specific needs of a principal or other school administrator. The manual is composed of two sections. The first itemizes district professional development requirements and optional portfolio items. The second discusses the portfolio as a professional assessment tool.

The Professional Portfolio for Aspiring Principals

The authors outline how to create a professional portfolio for the aspiring school principal in this piece, beginning on page 15 of v24, n4 of The AASA Professor. This particular format is an example of the portfolio as a job-search tool, rather than an in-service assessment tool.
Selected Research & Articles

Credible Evaluation: Not Yet State-of-the-Art

This article covers a range of issues relating to both the practice and implementation of superintendent evaluations. The evaluation process can be a valuable tool in defining expectations, enhancing communication, identifying and prioritizing district goals, and holding the superintendent and the board of education accountable. AASA also hosts numerous links to publications covering such related issues as standards for the superintendency, and professional development.

Portfolios

This document provides an annotated bibliography of resources dealing with numerous issues related to portfolios. Topics relating to both professional staff portfolios and student portfolios are included. (From Biography of Assessment Alternatives, December 1996)

Principal Portfolios for Leadership and Learning

This article is a good starting point for principals interested in starting a portfolio based on the six standards from the ISLLC. This site provides tips for organizing a portfolio and involving others in the portfolio process.

Teaching Portfolios

The Introduction to Portfolios is a short guide to help those anxious to get started in creating their own portfolios. The Site Map lists (in directory format) the exercises for building a portfolio and commentary on its various components. Professional Reflection on the purposes, scope, and methods of one's teaching are considered foundational and provide the context for Getting Feedback and assessing the quality of one's work. Likewise, Professional Development aimed towards improving (and sharing) practice is regarded as central to being a good teacher.

Teaching Portfolios

Although there are no hard and fast rules for assembling teaching portfolios, the general principles outlined in this article can provide useful guidance. The format and content of a portfolio may vary considerably depending on a number of factors, including the purpose(s) it will serve. Thus, an obvious first step in creating a teaching portfolio is deciding what you hope to accomplish with it. However, the real secret in assembling a successful portfolio is knowing whom to ask for what. There is considerable agreement among the major proponents of teaching portfolios about the various places one can look for information and the kinds of information that can be used. (From Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching)

The Case for the Teacher Portfolio—Evaluation Tool Carries a Wealth of Professional Information

The purposeful and careful documentation of what teachers are doing in school encourages teachers to conduct ongoing self-evaluation and reflection, and provides them with information to guide future self-improvement and professional development. Portfolios also help teachers conduct meaningful peer evaluation, and can help a school's principal function as an education partner with teachers, not just as a judge or critic of their practice. Portfolios also capture the complexities of teaching, providing a flexible and versatile set of assessments for evaluators. And while they can't replace traditional methods of evaluation such as teacher tests, student grade profiles, and standardized test data, portfolios also can help educators monitor student achievement. (From Journal of Staff Development, Fall 1998)

Three Models for Portfolio Evaluation of Principals

This article is for superintendents interested in principal evaluation that goes beyond the cursory and that can initiate and sustain professional growth, encourage collegiality and reflective practice, portfolio evaluation is something they may want to consider. Written by Catherine Eggleston Hackney, it outlines three potential models of portfolios, the competency-based model, the targeted-competency model and the inquiry-based model.