Portfolios and Assessments

Presented by Katherine A. Mileto Curriculum Director and Kindergarten

Teacher, Kangaroo Kids

Who I am• I have worked in early childhood

education for 7 years. In that time I have taught at every level, from Infants to Kindergarten and Before and After School Care. My current position is Curriculum Director and Kindergarten Teacher at Kangaroo Kids. I am also a mother of a 22 month old, very active, boy.

What you will learn today• Why portfolios are an essential part of the

educational and learning process• What to collect for the portfolio• How to collect documents for a student’s

portfolio and their use in the assessment and evaluation process

• How to manage your portfolio collections• Q&A time plus portfolio help

What is a portfolio?• A portfolio is a collection of each

student’s work gathered over an extended period of time. A portfolio illustrates the growth, talents, achievements, and reflections of the learner and provides a means for you to assess the student’s performance and progress.

Ask Yourself Why?Why are you doing these assessments and

making a portfolio for each student?• To gain knowledge about the students

strengths and weaknesses• To provide support to the student• To help provide your class as a whole with a

rich, engaging, developmentally appropriate learning environment

What does this portfolio tell you?

• Does it state objectives?

• Does it show you the student’s comprehension level?

• Does it document progress?

• Does it teach you anything about the child?

Ask Yourself What?• What are you assessing today?• What is the assessments purpose?• What is your student goal for today?• What will this assessment tell you about the student?• What am I collecting to show student progress?• What will I use to collect the work and organize it? • What will the student’s portfolio tell others when they

look at it?

Ask Yourself How?• How are you going to obtain the information

for your assessment?• How will this assessment work as a small

group activity?• How will this assessment work as a large

group activity?• How can it be observed as a child directed

activity?• How is the activity developmentally

appropriate?

Ask Yourself How• How will the assessment give you all

the information you seek?

• How will you record and collect the information?

• How will you store and organize the information?

Let’s go back to the WhatWe are going to focus on three of the

what questions.

• What are you collecting?

• What can I do to organize the information I have gathered?

• What should a portfolio tell me?

What am I collecting?• Art/Writing Work-samples

• Math Work-samples

• Anecdotal Notes

• Sticky Note Observations

• Photographs

Art/Writing SampleUse a recording sheet to document all

relevant details including; time, setting, goal(s) and objective(s) persons present, and conversation between teacher and student(s). It is also good to add any notes about the student that is relevant to the work done and any future assessments or accommodations that will be made for the student.

Art/Writing Sample

Math Work SampleUse a recording sheet to document; the

goal(s) and objective(s), a comment from the student on the work, a place for the student to draw/write/dictate their perspective on the assignment and a comment from the teacher.

Math Work Sample

Anecdotal NotesAre used to record very detailed information

about a student. These notes are used to record repetitive behavior or document a student’s learning pattern. Each anecdotal note must have; time, date, teachers present, area where actions/activities took place, conversation with student or instructions given and goals and objectives-if applicable.

Anecdotal Note

Sticky Note ObservationsAre used to jot down a quick note about a

student’s progress. Sticky Notes are usually used during hands-on or large group activities and do not require as much detail as an Anecdotal Note. A great way to organize your Sticky Notes is to put all notes for the same objective on to the same sheet(s) and then use a file folder divided by goals/objectives to store them.

Sticky Note Observations

PhotographsA great way to document hands-on

learning. All photographs should have; a date, a brief explanation of what the student is doing/learning/exploring, and the goal(s) and objective(s) of the activity.

Photographs

What else can I use to record the information?

• Developmental Chart

• Formal Rubric

• Age and Developmentally Appropriate Assessments

Developmental Chart

Formal Rubric

Assessments

What should a portfolio tell me?

The following points made with regular portfolio evaluation will demonstrate the growth of each student.

• Discuss the contents of the portfolio with other teachers

• Reinforce and adjust instruction based on the broad goals/objectives you want to accomplish as you evaluate the portfolios

• Examine each portfolio on the basis of individual growth rather than in comparison with other portfolios

What am I going to use to store all my data?

• The File Box Storage System

What are the best organizational tools?

Collection Rubrics

• Basic Teacher Organization

• Advanced Teacher Organization

• Recording Rubric

Basic Teacher Organization

Advanced Teacher Organization

Recording Rubric

Now what does this portfolio tell you?

• Does it state objectives?

• Does it show the student’s comprehension level?

• Could it show progress over a period of time?

• Does it teach you about the child?

Questions, Comments, Concerns?

• Further help:

• Email KatieMileto@live.com

Resources• Developmental Checklists

http://www.preschoollearningcenter.org/images/upload/developmental_checklist.pdf

• New Jersey Core Curriculum Standards

ttp://www.state.nj.us/education/cccs/