# data[].attributes.body
https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/articles/teaching-content/power-portfolios/

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
As early childhood professionals, we know that the use of standardized assessment instruments, such as intelligence, readiness, and achievement tests, are not the best way to evaluate the progress of young children. Preschoolers vary from moment to moment and day to day in their ability to concentrate on what they are interested in. Because we want to understand the development of the whole child, your observations about children's growth provide a much more individualized, accurate, and up-to-the-minute picture. These insights, along with samples of children's work, can be used to create valuable portfolios. Portfolio assessment offers a variety of benefits, including:

A Record of a Child's Ongoing Development Over Time. Portfolios contain examples of children's work at different time periods in a school year. For instance, you can take a photograph of a child's completed block structure in the fall, winter, and spring. Or a child can draw and file a series of self-portraits.

Information to Help You Design Instruction. Portfolios help you begin to construct a well-rounded and authentic picture of each child so you are better able to plan your program to build on individualized strengths and support each child's growth.

Children's Involvement in Assessing Their Own Work. As children participate in the portfolio process, they begin to reflect on and understand their own strengths and needs. This, in turn, helps them feel responsible for their own learning. Children also enjoy comparing examples of their past work with what they are doing in the present. You can help your children recognize their own progress by asking questions and commenting as they compare such things as drawings or photographs of math manipulatives, block structures, or writing samples. You might ask: "What can you tell me about your work?" "If you were to build this again, would you do it differently? What might you change?" "What was the hardest part?" "What was your favorite part?"

A Method of Communication. Portfolios are a collaborative effort involving teachers, children, parents, and often other family members too. They are great to share at family-teacher conferences. (You might want to involve individual children in these sharing times and together use the portfolio to illustrate efforts, progress, and achievement.) Some early childhood programs sponsor "Portfolio Days," a special time when parents and other family members come in to look at and enjoy portfolios.
GETTING STARTED
Talk to your children about portfolios. They need the same kind of explanation they would about any new material or procedure in your setting. Explain what a portfolio is, why everyone is going to keep one, and how much fun it will be to put one together. Give children time to ask questions. Afterward, ask children for their ideas about creating these important personal "files."
Before you begin, there are some practicalities to consider. Start by asking yourself these questions:
1 What will I use to organize and contain children's work? The answer to this question might be as simple as a designated space, shelf, or cubby where children stack work samples of what they write, draw, and find interesting. Better still, you might use individual oversize file folders, pocket folders, accordion files, ring binders, or shopping bags. Whichever you choose, try to make the container large enough to hold most art and work samples without your having to fold them - along with a wide variety of materials, including audiotapes and videotapes and sturdy enough to withstand frequent handling by you and your children. If the portfolios are too small to safely contain pieces of art, take photographs of the work. And, to develop a strong sense of ownership, allow and encourage children to personalize their portfolio holders by decorating them.

2 Where will I keep the portfolios? Because you want portfolios to be integrated into your daily program, they need to be within children's easy reach. Children enjoy looking back through their work, and browsing and reflection are important parts of this process. Consider storing portfolios in more than one learning area so that when it's time to get them out, children won't be crowding into one space.

3 What developmental areas will I be assessing? Portfolios need to illustrate growth in all developmental areas, so you'll need examples other than concrete products. In addition, young children engage in many activities that do not result in a product that you can hold in your hand. For example, when a child counts cups for snack, we know she is developing one-to-one correspondence skills. By taking a photograph, or recording this learning in an anecdotal note, we are able to document the child's mathematical thinking and include this important step in her portfolio.
Here are suggestions for recording children's development in several different and important areas:
Gross-motor: Take photographs throughout the year of individual children on an outside climber. You can also include parent communication about things such as the child's climbing up and down stairs.

Fine-motor: Keep a checklist of when a child learns to button, zip, and tie his shoes. Include cutting and pasting art samples as well.

Social-emotional: Include a survey you do with a parent or other close family member on each child's interests at home. Write anecdotal notes on how individual children take turns and share. Consider using a weekly checklist that records which centers children choose to spend their time in. Take a periodic inventory of the child's three favorite friends in the room.

Cognitive: Throughout the year, take photographs of block structures. Save drawings of the results of science discoveries.

Literacy and Oral language: Save examples of the way a child writes her name. Include children's illustrations of stories they love and stories they write themselves. Take an inventory of each child's favorite books a few times during the year. Include a list of songs the child sings. Make audiotapes of story retellings or conversations during circle time.

Creative expression: Videotape a creativemovement activity. Photograph a clay creation. Audiotape songs the child sings. Include samples of easel paintings and artwork from home.
MANAGING PORTFOLIOS
The more you and your children work with portfolios, the better you'll become at important organizational skills. Here are a few hints to get you on track:

Create a system. Skilled observation is an essential component of compiling meaningful portfolios, and this takes time and practice. To maximize your effectiveness, you will probably need to try several methods of observing and recording before you find a method that reflects your personal style.

Develop a plan. As part of your weekly planning, decide on a focus for your observations. For instance, you might decide to observe two or three specific children a day; the same group of six children for a week; or one particular developmental area, such as fine-motor development or creative expression.

Be prepared. In addition to honing your observation skills and developing a system for recording them, prepare a variety of tools to help you carry out your observations efficiently and effectively. Here are some suggestions:

Preprint labels. To help record observations in various learning areas of the room, make a set of labels for each one. (You can print these up on a computer or have them printed.) Attach a sheet of labels to a clipboard and place it in the appropriate learning space. Then, using a looseleaf binder, create a separate page for each child. As you observe children in a particular area, jot down your notes on a label, date it, and put it on the child's page in your binder.

Color-code index cards. Designate a color for each developmental area you're assessing and then store children's cards by color on a (continued from page 26) ring or file them in a box.

Mount photographs. Write anecdotal notes on the back or encourage your children to review the photographs with you and dictate their comments.

Organize. It's helpful to keep the contents of each portfolio in chronological order. And since all information is dated, arranging interviews, work samples, and checklists should be simple.

As you work with portfolios, you may also decide to further organize contents according to areas of development.

Make sure children are always involved. As you know, to feel a strong sense of ownership, children need to be able to examine and enjoy their portfolios and to select and discuss the work they include. So build time throughout the week for you and your children to meet and talk about their portfolios. Most children will look at a work sample and remember the experiences that led to its creation. At first their explanations and commentary may be simple: "I like this one." "I made something big here." Help them develop evaluation skills by asking open-ended questions, such as: "What does this sample of work show that you can do?" "What did you do well?" "What did you learn?"

As you create portfolio collections, you will learn about children's personal styles, thought processes, accomplishments, strengths, and difficulties. More important, you will get to know, love, and remember your children through the portfolio process. And they will get to know themselves better too.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
As early childhood professionals, we know that the use of standardized assessment instruments, such as intelligence, readiness, and achievement tests, are not the best way to evaluate the progress of young children. Preschoolers vary from moment to moment and day to day in their ability to concentrate on what they are interested in.

# data[].attributes.body
https://youtu.be/sacuuqjHPXo

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Student Portfolios for Classroom Assessment

# data[].attributes.body
Parents tend to hold their child's work very highly and save their work as an artifacts for many years even after they graduate

# data[].attributes.body
Portfolios should be easy to access whether it be online or in person. Students should be able to access this material at their fingertips and make adjustments easily.

# data[].attributes.body
https://education.weebly.com/?c=mkt_w_chnl:aff_geo:all_prtnr:sas_subprtnr:1338591_camp:brand_adtype:txtlnk_ag:weebly_lptype:hp_var:358504&sscid=21k6_6gr2d

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Important Weebly for Education Update

The Weebly for Education platform will be discontinued, effective next year, on August 1st, 2022. All teacher accounts will automatically convert to a free standard Weebly account. Your site will remain published and no action is required.

Learn more about the transition here.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Weebly - Create a free website and a free blog

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Important Weebly for Education Update The Weebly for Education platform will be discontinued, effective next year, on August 1st, 2022. All teacher accounts will automatically convert to a free standard Weebly account. Your site will remain published and no action is required. Learn more about the transition here.

# data[].attributes.body
https://web.seesaw.me

# data[].attributes.body
https://kudoswall.com/education.php

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Never lose another achievement.

Your child's achievements should be cherished and remembered - not lost in a dusty box in the basement. With KudosWall, you can store pictures, videos, presentations, and documents. So whether it's that merit certificate they couldn't wait to give you, that poster contest they won, or that sports trophy they were so proud of, KudosWall will keep track of it for you.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Students' proudest moments. Now in one place. Fast, easy and free.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Never lose another achievement. Your child's achievements should be cherished and remembered - not lost in a dusty box in the basement. With KudosWall, you can store pictures, videos, presentations, and documents. So whether it's that merit certificate they couldn't wait to give you, that poster contest they won, or that sports trophy they were so proud of, KudosWall will keep track of it for you.

# data[].attributes.body
https://freshgrade.com

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.classdojo.com

# data[].attributes.headline
How can my school benefit from using portfolios 

# data[].attributes.subject
How can my school benefit from using portfolios 

# data[].attributes.body
- Can be transferred to different grades and kept for records (if well put together)
- Can always be edited and revised (changeable)
- Will make learners stand out because they are able to use different methods of assessment besides a paper/pencil test.

# data[].attributes.headline
How can I use portfolios to improve my students learning

# data[].attributes.subject
How can I use portfolios to improve my students learning

# data[].attributes.body
- Apply this method early on in the beginning of the year
- Allow the students to choose what is document within reason (Checklist)
- Make it authentic and engaging
-Create goals and benchmarks
- Simple memories for students to cherish and remember a positive experience of learning (Substituting typical pen/paper tests)

# data[].attributes.body
(3)

# data[].attributes.body
Pro:
Assessment portfolios require students to continuously reflect and perform self-evaluations of their work.(3)

# data[].attributes.body
To provide for their supervisor as a sample for the school district  to test the school-wide goals . Then the district might even use it for judging the achievement of the specific teachers classroom.

# data[].attributes.body
During parent-teacher conferences to provide parents with concrete evidence of their child‘s achievements.(2)

# data[].attributes.body
As a tool for showing students academic growth over time. (2)

# data[].attributes.body
Pro:
Portfolios permit individualized assessment. Some students are not good test-takers and portfolios offer them an alternative to demonstrate mastery of content.(3)

# data[].attributes.body
A collection of work produced by an individual student (2)

# data[].attributes.body
Pro:
Portfolio assessment can hold students accountable for mastering content standards in a subject area. Portfolios offer students tangible evidence to show their academic achievements. (3).

# data[].attributes.body
Con:
Faculty time which then will required them to prepare the portfolio assignment and assist students as they prepare them with all the materials necessary. (4)

# data[].attributes.body
Con:
Students must retain and compile their own work, usually outside of class. Motivating students to take the portfolio seriously may be difficult due to home challenges if this is an assignment that requires tons of attention. Also students may have a difficult time being organized and having space for their materials which can be difficult when they are bringing the portfolio home if on paper. If the portfolio is online children may suffer from lack of wifi and parent assistance. (4)

# data[].attributes.body
Con:
Transfer students may have difficulties meeting program-portfolio requirements.(4)

# data[].attributes.body
(1) PDX Scholar - Portland State University. (n.d.). Retrieved February 5, 2022, from https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5302&amp;context=open_access_etds

# data[].attributes.body
Students, Teachers, and Parents

# data[].attributes.body
A portfolio is a type of assessment that is used often in education. The teacher will use a collection of student data  that is found in natural learning experiences. (1)

# data[].attributes.body
Portfolios can be used after students complete or creates an important document, which will showcase their skills or performance.

# data[].attributes.body
There can be so many different reasons the teacher is implementing the assessment of portfolio in the classroom. "Sometimes, an external source, such as state, provincial, or district guidelines, may influence the decision to include portfolios in the curriculum. Other times, personal philosophies or goals will motivate their use." (2)

# data[].attributes.body
A purpose in mind, not simply selected at random.(2)

# data[].attributes.body
(2)What Are Portfolios? - ASCD. https://pdo.ascd.org/lmscourses/PD11OC107/media/Assessm_Portfolios_M1_Reading_What_Are_Portfolios01.pdf.

# data[].attributes.body
(3)Lowe, Jeannine. “Describe the Advantages of Portfolio Assessment for Students.” Education, 21 Nov. 2017, https://education.seattlepi.com/describe-advantages-portfolio-assessment-students-1470.html.

# data[].attributes.body
In our classrooms

# data[].attributes.body
A reflection sheet on which the student describes the reason for including that piece in his or her portfolio.(2)

# data[].attributes.body
(4)“Using Portfolios in Program Assessment.” Assessment and Curriculum Support Center, https://manoa.hawaii.edu/assessment/resources/using-portfolios-in-program-assessment/#three.

# data[].attributes.body
Takes up too much home time and can be challenging to keep or save the materials for the assignment