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III. ACTION PLAN:    A. Technology Access    B. ICT Literacy    C. Professional Development    D. Community Involvement     [Data]

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2. Research
3. Case Studies
4. ePortfolio Support
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Initiating Portfolios in Your School

 

Case Study #6 

 

The school for Case Study 6 is one of 7 elementary schools in their district.  It's a large district with approximately 4000 students in K-12.  The school has a computer lab which is shared with an adjoining middle school.  Both schools also share a technology integrator for middle/elementary school, and there is a technology coordinator for the district.  The school has high speed internet access, and new computers and software in the technology labs.  

 

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: Deborah Boatwright, Jannine Farrar, Kathy Olsen, Pam Ross, Jane Ryan, Louise Stevens


Introduction to

Initiating Portfolios in Your School

 

 

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?

 

Process for Initiating Portfolios in Your School

Scenario:

You are in one of 7 elementary schools in your district.  It's a large district with approximately 4000 students in K-12.  Your school has a computer lab which is shared with an adjoining middle school.  You also have a shared technology integrator for your middle/elementary school, and a technology coordinator for the district.  Your school has high speed Internet access, and new computers and software in the technology labs.

 

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

The purpose of the portfolios is to promote an on-going reflective practice of learning promoting 21st century skills. The portfolios should be formative, to encourage growth and feedback, and summative, to assess concrete achievements.  Competencies should be demonstrated at each grade level, culminating at the end of 8th grade. 

The e-portfolio will drive student reflection, educational goal setting, and technology competency.

 

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

The district’s curriculum aligns with the state GLE/GSE content standards.  The NH Information and Communication Technology (ICT) program standards (Ed 306.42) are integrated into the district curriculum.  Appropriate digital artifacts will be available for portfolio use.  The act of placing the digital artifacts in the portfolio will meet both content standards and the New Hampshire ICT digital portfolio standard (Ed 306.42(a)5

 

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


-Introduction home page (All about me) with a table of contents that is easy to navigate.

1. Autobiography

2. Academics/Reflection - Math, SS, Science, Reading, Writing, Unified Arts, Music, Physical

3. Interests/Activites

4. Assessments (Standardized Score)

Digital artifacts could include: I-Movie, spreadsheets, presentation (e.g. PowerPoint, Inspiration), word processing documents, sound files, auditory files, digital photographs, graphic organizers, drawing/painting programs.

 

4. Determine the reviewer process for assessing the portfolios.

-Student Reflection

-Teacher Assessment - rubric created in advance of the unit

-Technology Integrator/Library Media Specialist

There is an expectation that collaboration will occur between the classroom teacher and the technology integrator and library media specialist, and that the ICT standards and the IL Standards are integrated into the content areas. Student assessment should occur through written reflection.

 


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

 


Assessment Rubric

The 8th grade electronic portfolios are evaluated according to the following rubric. Students are given a copy of the rubric to guide preparation of the portfolio so they are aware of the criteria in advance. The third column in the rubric below, "Right on Target" shows what is expected of each student -- the standard. Each criteria is assigned a score between 1 and 4.  These individual criteria scores are totaled to provide a portfolio score.  Determine what range the total portfolio score falls within.  The portfolio total score must be greater than 11 points to meet the district's portfolio requirement.

Electronic Scoring Rubric for 8th Grade Portfolio

 

 

Missed the Mark!

1 pt.

Getting Close!

2 pts.

Right On  Target!

3 pts.

Bulls Eye!!!

4 pts.

Title Page:

Design is inappropriate

Design could be neater or might be inappropriate.

Design is attractive

Design is attractive and shows creativity.

Mechanics:

Spelling and punctuation errors are numerous.

 

Spelling and punctuation errors are evident.

Errors in spelling and punctuation are minor and few.

There are NO errors in spelling or punctuation.

Links:

 

The student portfolio contains 3 or fewer links.

The student portfolio contains 4 links.

The student portfolio contains 5 or 6 links.

The student portfolio contains 7 or more links.

Artifact content mastery:

Few demonostrate evidence of subject competency.

Some demonstrate evidence of subject competency.

Most demonstrate  evidence of subject competency.

All demonstrate evidence of subject competency.

 

Personal reflections toward artifacts:

Few reflections are included and and the personal reflections are vague or repetitive.

Some reflections are included and include minimal personal goal mastery.

Most reflections are included and most show personal goal mastery.

All reflections are included and show exemplary personal goal mastery.

Total Critera Points:


0-5


6-10


11-15


16-20

Total Points Range

 

 

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

 

7. Establish the method for storage of the portfolio.

Each student's artifacts will be stored in their own individual network folders on the school district server.  

 

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

§       The district in the beginning stages of implementation of ICT standards that took effect on July 1, 2005 according to the Technical Advisory #2.

§       Teachers are receiving professional development in how to digitalize education in order to create artifacts to be used in the portfolio.

§       New budget requests have been submitted for district approval to continue funding needs generated by the implementation of ICT standards.

§       Students will be instructed in the idea of refection.

§       Students will be encouraged to reflect on work and save it in a digital format to their network folder.

 

Timeline

·         June 2005  - ICT Standards passed

·         06-07 - Begin planning, training, and pilot program

·         School Board - report to school board; alert to financial needs 

·         Curriculum Coordinator - alignment of curriculum to GLE/GSEs and ICT and IL integration

·         Technology Coordinator - assess and acquire technology needs; inform learning community of relevant, available resources 

·         Professional Development - provide training on how to digitize artifacts and use of the online portfolio managment system

·         Grade Level Teams - brainstorm ways to transform current projects into digital artifacts

·         Students will continue to collect digital artifacts and will be introduced to the idea of reflection

·         07-08 - Begin implementation


9.  Artifact Rubric

Name: ______________________________
Date: _______________
Class: ________________________________________

Skill

Exceptional

Effective

Acceptable

Unsatisfactory

Content Relevancy

Presentation is not relevant to content

Presentation is somewhat relevant to presentation

Presentation is relevant to content

Presentation exceeds expectations.

Technology

Competency

(Use of tools)

Shows little creativity and basic use of tools

Shows more creativity and better use of tools

Shows much creativity and uses a variety of tools

Exemplary creativity and use of tools.

Organization/ Mechanics

Several grammar and punctuation errors; layout is very unorganized

Some grammar and punctuation errors; layout is somewhat unorganized

Very few grammar and punctuation errors; layout is well organized

.Flawless grammar and punctuation; organization is exemplary

Personal Reflection

Lackluster interest in own work.

Somewhat superficial consideration of personal strengths and weaknesses

Accurate consideration of personal strengths and weaknesses.

Excellent evaluation of personal strengths and weaknesses

 

Comments:

 

 

BELOW THIS LINE ARE QUESTIONS THAT GUIDED OUR WORK

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

The purpose of our district portfolios is to promote an on-going reflective practice of learning promoting 21st century skills. The portfolios should be formative, to encourage growth and feedback, and summative, to assess concrete achievements.  Competencies should be demonstrated at each grade level, culminating at the end of 8th grade.  The competencies can de integrated into the content and demonstrated in connection with evidence of content knowledge.

These questions should be geared toward growth. All of us are works in process. The difference between student and instructor is that the process speed is probably much faster in the student’s case. By assigning a self-interview and developing the necessary skills to complete this assignment you give the student a chance to take a snapshot of that speedy process.

Dewey believed that education should be interactive, and should incorporate real life experiences that students are interested in and can apply to the world outside of their school (Carter, 29).

Dewey emphasized in his writing the unquestionable necessity of reflection in education to improve the process of learning. Dewey described reflection as "an intentional endeavor to discover specific connections between something which we do and the consequences which result" (Carter, 28). Carter, Mary. A Profile of Service Learning Programs in South Carolina and their Responsiveness to the National Priorities. Ann Arbor, Michigan: Bell & Howell Company, 1999.

In light of your school goals and mission….

What do you think the purpose of the portfolio should be?

Develop a statement of purpose, and then answer the following questions to determine what that purpose should look like.

 

What type of Portfolio would you like to create?

·         The portfolios can be formative in order to improve understanding, and encourage growth through feedback.

·         The portfolios can be summative in order to assess concrete achievements to acknowledge the end of a learning period.

When do you want the ICT competencies to be demonstrated?

·         The competencies can be demonstrated by collection of evidence and artifacts throughout the grade levels.

·         The competencies can be demonstrated by collection of evidence and artifacts at the end of the Eighth Grade.

How do you want the ICT competencies to be demonstrated?

·         The competencies can be demonstrated as skills separate or in isolation from content.

·         The competencies can de integrated into the content and demonstrated in connection with evidence of content knowledge.

 

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

The district curriculum aligns with the state GLE/GSE content standards that are aligned to the ICT and Information Literacy standards, therefore appropriate digital artifacts are available for portfolio use.  

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

Are there existing curriculum activities which produce digital artifacts?

Can such artifacts be used in portfolios?

Are they appropriate to use?

Are there areas which deserve more curriculum development?

Are there any areas of redundancy?

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

Students in K-3 will have a network file from which to choose at least one piece of work to reflect upon and submit to their digital portfolio by the end of each year.  Students in grades 4 and 5 will choose at least one piece of work from each content area to reflect upon and submit to their portfolio each year including but not limited to:

  • Introduction home page (All about me) with a table of contents that is easy to navigate.
  • All About ME   ( autobiography page)
  • Academics - Math, SS, Science, Reading, Writing, Unified Arts, Music, Physical Education
  • Student reflections providing rationale for selection of artifact
  • Teacher reflection based on a rubric
  • Assessments (Standardized Score)

 

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?

Decide the number of artifacts to be used in the portfolio, and whether or not that will change with grade level.

How many artifacts are necessary and adequate?

Will the number of artifacts required change as students advance to higher grades?

 

4 Determine the reviewer process for assessing the portfolios.

-Student Assessment

-Teacher Assessment - rubric created in advance of the unit

-Technology Integrator/Library Media Specialist

There is an expectation that collaboration will occur between the classroom teacher and the technology integrator and library media specialist, and that the ICT standards and the IL Standards are integrated into the content areas. Student assessment should occur through written reflection.

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?

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

Should the content teachers review the content artifacts?

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

How should these reviews be tracked?

 

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

Once the protocols for review have been established …

What criteria will be used to assess the completed portfolios?

Develop a rubric or rubrics which will be used for assessment of the portfolios in your school.

Explain to your students that, unless they take time to reflect on their experience, its value for personal growth will be lost. Here is opportunity to share a personal story or two about learning from your own experiences through reflection.

Be certain to emphasize that assessment of reflection is not a judgment of the student. Explain that you are trying to help the student learn a process. As an example of how powerful the reflection process can be, you might refer your students to http://www.storycenter.org/understanding.html . Here they will find some wonderful examples of other students reflecting on their lives. The site might even inspire your students to create their own digital stories.

A self-interview will force the reflection process. Typically the art of reflection grows as we mature. For most of us this is a pretty slow, sometimes painful, process.

To help students get an early start, point out that reflection can really be a dialogue with one’s self. It might help, at this point, to show some classic dialogs and/or interviews. One idea would be to assign a simple Platonic dialogue (the Meno). On the other end of the spectrum would be a more modern interview. Dick Cavett’s classic television interview with Janis Joplin would be a good example here. Somewhere in between lies the granddaddy of all self interviews: St. Augustine’s Confessions. A section involving his ribald youth would demonstrate how a saint used reflection to grow as a human being. In the assignment have your students invent a character who will be responsible for asking the questions. The student herself provides the answers. Set it up in dialogue form. Provide some sample questions:

These questions should be geared toward growth. All of us are works in process. The difference between student and instructor is that the process speed is probably much faster in the student’s case. By assigning a self-interview and developing the necessary skills to complete this assignment you give the student a chance to take a snapshot of that speedy process.

Dewey believed that education should be interactive, and should incorporate real life experiences that students are interested in and can apply to the world outside of their school (Carter, 29).

Dewey emphasized in his writing the unquestionable necessity of reflection in education to improve the process of learning. Dewey described reflection as "an intentional endeavor to discover specific connections between something which we do and the consequences which result" (Carter, 28). Carter, Mary. A Profile of Service Learning Programs in South Carolina and their Responsiveness to the National Priorities. Ann Arbor, Michigan: Bell & Howell Company, 1999.

 

What kinds of assessment rubrics will be needed?

What kinds of assessment rubrics will be needed?  

What categories, descriptors, and levels will be most useful?

SEE ACTUAL CASE STUDY ABOVE for
AN EXAMPLE OF AN ASSESSMENT RUBRIC


6
Establish the portfolio organizational framework to be used when building the portfolios.

The elementary school portfolios will be organized by content within the grade level. Students will have a network folder for all their work.  They will select and upload their chosen work to an on-line portfolio management system, (i.e. Pupil Pages).

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?

·         The contents of the portfolio can be organized by grade level.

·         The contents of the portfolio can be organized by content area.

What other organization elements should be considered?

http://www.pupilpages.com/ 

http://www.pupilpages.com/Students/ViewStudentCategory.aspx?categoryId=37&studentId=173

·         The portfolios can be organized as individual documents.

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

  • Out-sourced online portfolio generation

·         The portfolios can be organized using software not specifically designed to generate portfolios (i.e., Open Access, Adobe Acrobat, MS Word, MS Power Point, HTML editors).

7 Establish the method for storage of the portfolio.

When the organizing framework for the portfolios have been established…

Each student's artifacts will be stored in their own individual network folders. Selected artifacts will be uploaded to the outsourced online portfolio management system.

How will the student portfolios be stored by your school?

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.

Are there other methods which would work better for your school?

 

 

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

District #2 is in the beginning stages of implementation of ICT standards set forth in June, 2005.  Teachers are receiving professional development in how to digitalize education in order to create artifacts to be used in the portfolio.  New budget requests have been submitted  for district approval to continue funding needs generated by the implementation of ICT standards. 

Now that you got the portfolio process solved¦

§         June 2005  - ICT Standards passed

§         06-07 - Begin planning, training, and pilot program

School Board - report to school board; alert to financial needs 

    • Curriculum Coordinator - alignment of curriculum to GLE/GSEs and ICT and IL integration
    • Technology Coordinator - assess and acquire technology needs; inform learning community of relevant, available resources
    • Professional Development - provide training on how to digitize artifacts and use of the online portfolio management systems
    • Grade Level Teams - brainstorm ways to transform current projects into digital artifacts
  • 07-08 - Begin implementation

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!

Good luck!