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15 Inspiring Teaching Portfolio Examples (Plus How To Create Your Own)

Show them what you’ve got.

Every teacher, from the newly licensed to those with years of experience, should have a teaching portfolio. It summarizes your career and achievements in ways that go far beyond a resume. But this valuable tool isn’t just for those who are actively job-searching. Here’s why and how to create and maintain your own, plus lots of helpful teaching portfolio examples for inspiration.

What is a teaching portfolio?

A teaching portfolio is a tool that highlights your strengths as an educational professional. It can be a binder of paper-based materials, neatly organized and presented. Or, as is increasingly more popular these days, it can be digital, including videos and other multimedia elements. Most teachers use portfolios when they’re interviewing for a new position as a way to demonstrate their abilities and achievements.

Why should you create a teaching portfolio?

If you’re actively searching for a new job, you probably already have a portfolio on hand. You can take it with you to interviews to show real examples of yourself in action—lesson plans, pictures and video, notes from kids and parents, and more. These can all help potential employers get a more thorough picture of you as a candidate.

But even teachers who aren’t currently job-searching should keep their teaching portfolio up-to-date. By documenting your professional development, you can show you’ve met the criteria for a promotion or other opportunity for advancement. Plus, it pays to be prepared. Creating and updating a teaching portfolio takes time, and it’s much easier to add to yours a little bit at a time than to build a brand-new one from scratch if you’re suddenly facing the job market again.

More than that, though, updating a portfolio gives you a chance to reflect on your achievements and identify opportunities for improvement. You get a chance to look over your entire journey as an educational professional and celebrate your successes. This can be a real benefit during those times when being an educator is a little more challenging than you bargained for.

What does a strong teaching portfolio include?

Source: Sharing Kindergarten and Teach Starter

Every teaching portfolio is different. The goal is to show your experience from many angles, and highlight your achievements. Try to include quality real-life examples to prove the points you want to make about yourself as an educator. Here are some common elements to consider:

Philosophy of Education

Each teacher should give some thought to the question “What is your teaching philosophy?” Include it at the beginning of your portfolio, and ensure the examples you provide throughout support that philosophy. See 30 Philosophy of Education examples here to get you started.

Career Summary

This is similar to a resume but can provide much more detail. This is the place to show the subjects, grades, and ages you’ve taught, with lists of topics and material you covered. Be sure to highlight any courses you built from scratch, plus any significant professional development you’ve completed.

Teaching Samples

Here’s the place to include a few particularly strong lesson plan examples and samples of materials like worksheets you personally created. For digital portfolios, include a few well-chosen videos of you in action in the classroom.

Student Work

While you don’t want to stuff your portfolio full of endless student projects and materials, you should choose some representative samples that you’re particularly proud of. Include some work that shows how you provide feedback to help students improve, such as proposed edits on essay drafts or notes on incorrect answers.

Evaluations and Communications

This section is the place for positive communications like thank-you notes from parents and students, as well as statements from colleagues or supervisors about your achievements. Include student evaluations, as well as any documentation you have showing student progress under your instruction.

Professional Achievements

Have you published articles in a journal or written a textbook? Do you have a thriving TeachersPayTeachers store or a blog with thousands of followers? Show off your influence in this section of your portfolio. Plus, list any awards, honors, speaking engagements, committees, and other ways you’ve been recognized for excellence.

How do I choose materials for my portfolio?

When you start putting together your teaching portfolio, keep in mind that the goal is to provide evidence of your teaching experience from a wide range of sources. As you gather and organize material for your portfolio, you’ll get a better sense of what you want to include. Here are some tips to help you get started:

• Be honest: When you’re putting together your teaching portfolio, you don’t want to exaggerate your experience or qualifications. You don’t need to look perfect! Your portfolio should be an accurate and fair representation of your teaching career. Tell the world all about your successes, but don’t omit the losses. Instead, focus on how you’ve learned from negative experiences. 
• Choose wisely: Include materials that show the many aspects of your teaching. Be selective and put some real thought into this. It’s much better to have a strong set of well-chosen materials than a large collection of documents that are unfiltered and overwhelming to the reader.
• Get organized: Your teaching portfolio should have a clear structure that makes it easy for readers to find what they want to review. Include a table of contents and headers to keep everything in order.

Teaching Portfolio Examples

Still not sure how to start, or looking for new ideas? Check out these top-notch teaching portfolio examples from real educators. Each has its own style and reflects the personality of its creator. You’re sure to find some inspiration!

Personal Website Portfolio

This digital portfolio has a clean presentation with simple navigation. The professional appearance really helps to sell this person as a potential hire. With strong examples, lesson plan samples, and videos, this teacher presents herself in the best possible light.

Learn more: Gretchen Seibel

Traditional Teacher Portfolio

If you’re looking for examples of a traditional teaching portfolio, this one is organized in a binder with lots of pictures and samples of work. We love the “A Peek Into My Classroom” section, which shows various areas like learning centers, seating setups, and more.

One caveat: This teacher includes an “About Me” page with information about their religion and family status. We don’t advise including that sort of information in your own portfolio, as this can potentially lead to illegal discrimination in hiring practices. Keep your portfolio focused on your career, and let your personality show through your achievements and examples.

Learn more: Sharing Kindergarten

Google Sites Portfolio

Digital portfolios should be well organized and make it easy for people to learn more about you. Share the link on your resume or cover letter, and bring a tablet or laptop with you to interviews so you can show it off there too. Primary Paradise has tons of great tips for creating a quality portfolio using Google Sites, a free and easy hosting option.

Learn more: Primary Paradise

Free Editable Portfolio

Finding a template that you can customize to your liking can save so much time. This template from Teach Starter is free! It also includes sections on behavior management, parent communication, assessment and tracking, and teacher collaboration. This example has lots of in-depth sections, and you can choose the ones you want to include.

Learn more: Teach Starter

Portfolio Templates for Elementary

This completely customizable template is available for purchase on TpT. Reviewers note that it helped them create and organize their own stand-out portfolios. Just remember to make sure your own personality and achievements really show, regardless of the template.

Learn more: The Lemonade Stand Teacher

Digital Professional Teaching Portfolio

This digital portfolio example includes an array of subjects, helping to show this teacher’s diverse experience. Lots of quality images help illustrate her achievements.

Learn more: Megan Carnaghi

Art Teacher Portfolio

This art teacher portfolio would also work for other “special” teachers, like those who teach music, physical education, and more.

Print Student Teacher Portfolio

In this video, a teacher who was newly hired into her first role shows off the portfolio that landed her the job. If you’re just finishing up your student-teaching experience, this example is for you.

Digital Student-Teacher Portfolio

Check out this example of a digital portfolio for a student teacher looking for their first job. This example highlights a teaching philosophy, student work, classroom management, reference letters, and more.

Learn more: Cassandra Burke Teaching Portfolio

Well-Organized Portfolio

When you’re using your portfolio during an interview to help illustrate a point, you don’t want to be fumbling through the pages to find what you need. The colorful tabs in this binder make it a lot easier to navigate. Be sure you know your portfolio’s contents inside and out, so you can refer to it easily and naturally.

Learn more: Luckey Frog Learning

Substitute Teacher Portfolio

Not looking for a full-time position? Or are you looking to transition from part-time to something more permanent? This teaching portfolio created by Sarah Cheesman might be perfect for you! Not only does it cover substitute teaching work, it highlights other related professional experiences as well.

Learn more: Sarah Cheesman

Hybrid Teaching Portfolio

This traditional-style portfolio has been digitized into a PDF, so it can be accessed from anywhere. It’s extremely comprehensive, with lots of valuable information for potential hiring schools to consider.

Learn more: Holly Factora’s Portfolio

World Language Teacher Portfolio

If you teach a world language or specialty class, this example may be more helpful to you. This Spanish teacher included comments from students and information on engaging class activities.

Learn more: Tyson Hazard, Spanish Instructor

Portfolio Update

In this YouTube video, a third-year teacher reviews what she included in her portfolio when she was searching for her first job. Throughout the video, get tips on revisiting and updating your teaching portfolio.

Experienced Teacher Portfolio

In this video, a teacher with several years of experience shows off her detailed portfolio. An awesome feature in this portfolio is the use of a QR code to link to a digital website or portfolio!

Looking for more? Here’s How To Become a Teacher, From Choosing a College to Landing a Job.

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40 Philosophy of Education Examples, Plus How To Write Your Own

Learn how to define and share your teaching philosophy. Continue Reading

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Center for Teaching

Teaching portfolios.

Print Version

What Is a Teaching Portfolio?

Why assemble a teaching portfolio, general guidelines, components of a teaching portfolio, sample teaching portfolios, electronic teaching portfolios, what role do teaching portfolios play on the job market, other resources.

• Portfolios provide documented evidence of teaching from a variety of sources—not just student ratings—and provide context for that evidence.
• The process of selecting and organizing material for a portfolio can help one reflect on and improve one’s teaching.
• Portfolios are a step toward a more public, professional view of teaching as a scholarly activity.
• Portfolios can offer a look at development over time, helping one see teaching as on ongoing process of inquiry, experimentation, and reflection.
• Teaching portfolios capture evidence of one’s entire teaching career, in contrast to what are called course portfolios that capture evidence related to a single course.

Portfolios can serve any of the following purposes.

• Job applicants for faculty positions can use teaching portfolios to document their teaching effectiveness.
• Faculty members up for promotion or tenure can also use teaching portfolios to document their teaching effectiveness.
• Faculty members and teaching assistants can use teaching portfolios to reflect on and refine their teaching skills and philosophies.
• Faculty members and teaching assistants can use teaching portfolios, particularly ones shared online, to “go public” with their teaching to invite comments from their peers and to share teaching successes so that their peers can build on them. For more on going public with one’s teaching, see the CFT’s Teaching Guide on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning .
• Start now! Many of the possible components of a teaching portfolio (see list below) are difficult, if not impossible, to obtain after you have finished teaching a course. Collecting these components as you go will make assembling your final portfolio much easier.
• Give a fair and accurate presentation of yourself. Don’t try to present yourself as the absolutely perfect teacher. Highlight the positive, of course, but don’t completely omit the negative.
• Be selective in which materials you choose to include , though be sure to represent a cross-section of your teaching and not just one aspect of it. A relatively small set of well-chosen documents is more effective than a large, unfiltered collection of all your teaching documents.
• Make your organization explicit to the reader. Use a table of contents at the beginning and tabs to separate the various components of your portfolio.
• Make sure every piece of evidence in your portfolio is accompanied by some sort of context and explanation. For instance, if you include a sample lesson plan, make sure to describe the course, the students, and, if you have actually used the lesson plan, a reflection on how well it worked.
• A reflective “teaching statement” describing your personal teaching philosophy, strategies, and objectives (see Teaching Philosophy ).
• A personal statement describing your teaching goals for the next few years
• A list of courses taught and/or TAed, with enrollments and a description of your responsibilities
• Number of advisees, graduate and undergraduate
• Course descriptions with details of content, objectives, methods, and procedures for evaluating student learning
• Reading lists
• Assignments
• Exams and quizzes, graded and ungraded
• Handouts, problem sets, lecture outlines
• Descriptions and examples of visual materials used
• Descriptions of uses of computers and other technology in teaching
• Videotapes of your teaching
• Summarized student evaluations of teaching, including response rate and relationship to departmental average
• Written comments from students on class evaluations
• Comments from a peer observer or a colleague teaching the same course
• Statements from colleagues in the department or elsewhere, regarding the preparation of students for advanced work
• Letters from students, preferably unsolicited
• Letters from course head, division head or chairperson
• Statements from alumni
• Scores on standardized or other tests, before and after instruction
• Students’ lab books or other workbooks
• Students’ papers, essays, or creative works
• Graded work from the best and poorest students, with teacher’s feedback to students
• Instructor’s written feedback on student work
• Participation in seminars or professional meetings on teaching
• Design of new courses
• Design of interdisciplinary or collaborative courses or teaching projects
• Use of new methods of teaching, assessing learning, grading
• Preparation of a textbook, lab manual, courseware, etc.
• Description of instructional improvement projects developed or carried out
• Publications in teaching journals
• Papers delivered on teaching
• Reviews of forthcoming textbooks
• Service on teaching committees
• Assistance to colleagues on teaching matters
• Work on curriculum revision or development
• Teaching awards from department, college, or university
• Teaching awards from profession
• Invitations based on teaching reputation to consult, give workshops, write articles, etc.
• Requests for advice on teaching by committees or other organized groups

The website from University of Virginia provides sample teaching portfolios from a variety of disciplines. As you look at these portfolios, ask yourself,

• “What components did the author choose to include and which ones are most effective at describing their teaching?” and
• “What structural and organizational decisions did the author make as they assembled their portfolio?”

Sample Portfolios from the University of Virginia Teaching Resource Center

How do electronic portfolios differ from print portfolios?

• Increased Accessibility: Teaching portfolios are intended, in part, to make teaching public. Distributing a portfolio on the web makes it even more accessible to peers and others.
• Multimedia Documents: Technology allows for inclusion of more than just printed documents. For example, you can include video footage of yourself teaching, an audio voiceover providing context and reflection on the portfolio, or instructional computer programs or code you have written.
• Nonlinear Thinking: The web facilitates nonlinear relationships between the components of your teaching portfolio. The process of creating a portfolio in this nonlinear environment can help you think about your teaching in new ways. For example, since readers can explore an e-portfolio in many different ways, constructing an e-portfolio gives you an opportunity to consider how different audiences might encounter and understand your work.
• Copyright and Privacy Issues: While examples of student work can be compelling evidence of your teaching effectiveness, publishing these examples online presents legal copyright and privacy issues. Talk to someone at the VU Compliance Program before doing so.
• 585 include the words “teaching philosophy,”
• 27 include the words “teaching statement,” and
• 28 include the words “teaching portfolio.”
• 388 include the words “teaching philosophy,”
• 5 include the words “teaching statement,” and
• 8 include the words “teaching portfolio.”
• write a meaningful teaching philosophy statement and
• to discuss your teaching more effectively during interviews.

The following books on teaching portfolios are available for check-out in the Center for Teaching’s library.

• Seldin, Peter, The Teaching Portfolio: A Practical Guide to Improved Performance and Promotion/Tenure Decisions , 3rd edition, Anker, 2004.
• Cambridge, Barbara, Electronic Portfolios: Emerging Practices in Student, Faculty, and Institutional Learning , American Association for Higher Education, 2001.
• Hutchings, Pat, ed., The Course Portfolio: How Faculty Can Examine Their Teaching to Advance Practice and Improve Student Learning , American Association for Higher Education, 1998.
• Murray, John P., Successful Faculty Development and Evaluation: The Complete Teaching Portfolio , ERIC Clearinghouse on Higher Education, 1997.
• Anderson, Erin, ed., Campus Use of the Teaching Portfolio: Twenty-Five Profiles , American Association for Higher Education, 1993.

The following web sites offer additional resources and strategies for creating effective teaching portfolios:

• Developing a Teaching Portfolio , from the Center for Instructional Development and Research at the University of Washington
• Developing a Teaching Portfolio , from the Office of Faculty and TA Development, The Ohio State University
• The Teaching Portfolio , an Occasional Paper from the University of Michigan’s Center for Research on Learning and Teaching
• What is a Teaching Portfolio?, from the Office of Instructional Consultation, UCSB.
• Curating A Teaching Portfolio , from the Center for Teaching Effectiveness at the University of Texas-Austin
• The Teaching Portfolio , from the Center for Teaching Excellence at Duquesne University
• “The Teaching Portfolio,” an article published by the Professional and Organizational Development (POD) Network in Higher Education

Teaching Guides

• Online Course Development Resources
• Principles & Frameworks
• Pedagogies & Strategies
• Reflecting & Assessing
• Challenges & Opportunities
• Populations & Contexts

Quick Links

• Services for Departments and Schools
• Examples of Online Instructional Modules

Portfolio Assessment: Meaning, Types, Benefits, and Examples

For non-education graduate students like me, bewilderment comes next whenever I see this word during training courses on curriculum development.

Table of Contents

Introduction.

In the landscape of learning and professional development, the measure of student competency goes beyond isolated tests and examinations. Among the many assessment methods employed, portfolio assessment stands out for its holistic approach that links theory with practice.

Defining Portfolio Assessment

Portfolio assessment defined.

Portfolio assessment is a method of assessment often used in academic and professional fields, where an individual’s ability, progress, and achievement are evaluated through review of a pre-selected collection of work known as a portfolio. This portfolio may consist of various forms of work samples like projects, reports, examinations, observations , or other forms of evidence that reflect a person’s competency or growth over time.

Key Principles of Portfolio Assessment

The first one is the collection of evidence from various sources and across different periods, demonstrating the breadth and depth of an individual’s ability or progress.

The final principle is reflection , which is facilitated through the portfolio’s structure, encouraging the individual to reflect on their learning progress and areas of improvement.

Portfolio Assessment in Education

Teachers may use portfolio assessment as a tool to gauge students’ understanding in a comprehensive manner, looking at the overall progress instead of individual marks from tests and quizzes. It also helps teachers identify areas where the student may need additional support or resources to improve.

Portfolio Assessment in Professional Development

The portfolio is frequently reviewed and updated to reflect the evolution and enhancement of a professional’s skills, abilities, and experiences over time.

Portfolio assessment serves as an all-encompassing approach to scrutinize individual development and learning. It champions a reflective, autonomous, and perpetual learning style.

Types of Portfolio Assessment

Why is portfolio assessment distinctive, three types of portfolio assessment.

There are various types of portfolio assessments, each with specific characteristics that suit its intended use. Portfolio assessments are categorized into three primary types: assessment portfolios, showcase portfolios, and learning portfolios.

1. Assessment Portfolios

2. showcase portfolios.

A showcase portfolio , on the other hand, represents the best work of a student. Unlike the assessment portfolio, the showcase port f olio allows the student to select their most outstanding work, hence demonstrating their highest level of learning and achievement. It can contain final drafts of assignments, projects, or any piece of work that the student is particularly proud of.

3. Learning Portfolios

For instance, in a literature class, a learning portfolio could include an initial draft of a book review , followed by the teacher’s comments, the revised drafts, and finally, the final version of the review. This allows for an accurate tracking of a student’s learning progression and the process of knowledge development over a period of time.

Comparison Between the Types

Identifying the ideal portfolio.

Deciding the right type of portfolio hinges upon the primary learning goals and the level of understanding needed about a student’s educational pursuits and accomplishments.

Benefits and Challenges of Portfolio Assessment

4 benefits of portfolio assessment, 1. allows for a comprehensive evaluation, 2. encourages self-assessment and reflection.

Portfolio assessment encourages self-assessment and reflection, promoting personal responsibility for one’s learning and development. Students or professionals actively engage in collecting, selecting, and analyzing their work, receiving feedback, and setting future goals. This process enhances their critical thinking and decision-making skills.

3. Offers Flexibility

4. provides a tangible record, challenges of portfolio assessment.

Despite its numerous advantages, portfolio assessment also poses some challenges. A primary concern is that it requires substantial time and effort. Managing and maintaining a portfolio, particularly a physical one, can be time-consuming for both the evaluator and the individual being assessed. Considering the ongoing nature of portfolio assessment, this difficulty can become significant over time.

Addressing Potential Hurdles

In the face of potential challenges surrounding portfolio assessments, a host of strategic approaches can be adopted to ensure optimal benefits. Matters such as time and management can be effectively handled with digitally maintained portfolios that are simpler to organize.

When undertaken with meticulous planning and careful execution, portfolio assessments can act as a potent tool, enabling and monitoring growth and learning while providing invaluable insights for future pursuits.

Real-Life Portfolio Assessment Examples

Through these assessment portfolios, teachers can evaluate student’s learning progress compared to the curriculum standards and objectives. Notably, teachers also provide feedback and offer minibreaks to guide students in the learning process.

Portfolio Assessment in Clinical Training

Portfolio assessment in job application process, portfolio assessment in art and design.

In the field of Art and design, portfolio assessments are absolutely critical. An artist or design professional’s portfolio can include sketches , paintings , designs , photographs , and other creative works. The works in the portfolio stand as a testimony to their creative and technical skills, their unique style, and their visual communication capabilities.

Portfolio Assessment in Real Estate

Overall conclusion.

Employing portfolio assessment in various fields stands as a testament to its adaptability and efficacy. It is not without its challenges, of course, but the array of advantages it offers is undeniably valuable.

At this point, portfolio assessment is no longer alien to you. On my part, I realized that this performance assessment presents a whole new world of possibilities in my teaching profession. It’s not too late to use portfolio assessment as an alternative to common assessment tools that we used to apply in imparting knowledge and learning to the students, and even in evaluating ourselves as we ponder how far we have gone in our professional development journey.

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The digital classroom, transforming the way we learn

Articles and "Free lesson plans on the go"

13 reasons why portfolios are important in education

Adding blogging as a means of sharing knowledge.

I just read this article  about the best tools to use with Portfolios and this article about the importance of portfolios with examples of tools to use. I agree that this list sums of the reasons for using portfolios as a learning tool.

Processes that are usually involved in portfolio creation are: collection, selection, and reflection. Each of these processes trains students in a number of skills. Together they provide students with the appropriate mindset to help them take responsibility of their learning and thrive as budding life-long learners. I argue that the use of blogs to write and showcase your learning, fits nicely with the idea of the portfolio. A blogpost can be published, read by others and the student can choose to submit certain blogposts for evaluation and grading. The history of having a blog three years of highschool also shows the learning process and how they have matured in their learning. I am including the benefits listed in the article here.

• Portfolios enable students to record their learning and document their growth over a period of time.
• They Provide students with a venue through which they can showcase their learning.
• They can be used as a tool for self-assessment, self-reflection and personal development.
• They help students focus on the process of learning rather than the end product.
• They promote deeper learning as students actively engage in the learning process.
• They develop students metacognitive skills (reflective practices) and help them take control of their learning.
• They empower students’ voice.
• They are a ‘ method  of self-discovery and confidence building’.
• They help students develop personal and academic identities.
• They assist students in locating their strengths and weaknesses and plan for future improvement.
• They invite teachers’ feedback and peers’s input.
• They help students develop their writing skills.
• A portfolio presents a concrete evidence of your work and achievements to prospective employers.

Share this:

The first benefit of a portfolio that you wrote here made the most sense to me. As you said, it allows students to record and keep track of their learning over a period of time. That’s how they know that they’re improving. By being able to make a comparison of the things they did. This will also help with employment because it proves their ability to adapt new trends and improve their styles.

Thank you Elaina.

I would love to hear from you Cancel reply

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Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning

• Teaching Portfolio

What is a portfolio? A teaching portfolio is a “judicious, critical, purposeful analysis of performance, evidence, and goals” (Seldin 2010); it is the result of a process of deliberate and intentional reflection on teaching. It can focus solely on the development of a single course (often called a course portfolio) or on teaching in general. 

A teaching portfolio provides numerous benefits:

• Fosters self-assessment and reflection;
• Provides personal satisfaction and renewal;
• Encourages faculty to assume more responsibility and ownership for learning;
• Analyzes teaching performance and outcomes of student learning; and
• Provides opportunity for guidance and feedback.

What does a typical portfolio include? A teaching portfolio provides descriptions of teaching responsibilities, opportunities for reflection, and accountability of the achievement of learning outcomes. Description of teaching responsibilities is not just a paragraph from the course catalog, rather the portfolio must provide details about content, types of students, teaching strategies utilized, uniqueness of course, and the faculty's commitment to student learning. Accountability of learning outcome achievement starts with defined learning outcomes, data demonstrating achievement of these outcomes, and alignment of activities and assessments with the intended outcomes.

Portfolios are unique documents that can vary tremendously in length and style—there is no one-size-fits-all design; they can take the form of anything from bound documents to electronic files with embedded documents and links. The priority is provision of multiple sources to demonstrate teaching effectiveness. The artifacts in a teaching portfolio connect to the standard or learning outcome for which you are attempting to provide evidence of achievement. Many include the following:

• Purpose of portfolio
• Teaching philosophy
• Description of teaching experience and responsibilities
• Teaching awards and recognition
• Teaching objectives and methodologies
• Instructional design materials
• Lesson plans, assignments, and exams with rationale for each
• Course websites
• Recordings of classes in action or other course materials
• Samples of student work
• Samples of student feedback
• Student Evaluations of Teaching reports
• Department evaluations
• Classroom observation reports (from peers or CETL staff)
• Evidence of student learning
• Formative evaluation reports
• Teaching conferences attended/ Professional development
• CETL Workshops/Teaching Talks attended
• Evidence of training in specific instructional methods (certificates, badges, etc)
• Reflections on teaching
• Teaching Enhancement Plans
• Reports of CETL Consultations (ONLY if you choose to share them)

When should I start building my portfolio? Portfolios can be excellent tools for reflecting on, evaluating, and improving your own teaching. Rather than waiting until you need one, consider taking the time to create one or more portfolios on your own, and revisit and revise them regularly throughout your career.

• Clearly organize the portfolio to facilitate selective reading (note that e-portfolios in particular will not be read front to back)
• Support all claims by solid empirical evidence
• Put lengthy artifacts in an appendix
• Choose a mentor in the department or at CETL to help review portfolio materials

Did you know?

*If you have worked with CETL's instructional designers on a comprehensive course design, the Course Design Plan and/or Course Map you created with them can be included in your teaching portfolio. These documents demonstrate alignment of learning objectives, assessments, activities, and content.

*If you have utilized CETL's Do-It-Yourself course design tools to develop your course, the plan you developed can be added to your teaching portfolio.

*If you used L. Dee Finks A Self-Directed Guide to Designing Courses for Significant Learning , you will have produced numerous worksheets during each step of the process that can added to your teaching portfolio.

Additional resources:

• Anderson, Erin and Pat Hutchings. Campus Use of the Teaching Portfolio: Twenty-Five Profiles . American Association for Higher Education. Stylus: 1993.
• Angelo, Thomas A. Classroom Assessment Techniques . Jossey-Bass: 1993.
• Bernstein, Daniel, et al. Making Teaching and Learning Visible . Jossey-Bass: 2011.
• Chism, Nancy Van Note. Peer Review of Teaching . Jossey-Bass: 2007.
• Faculty Focus Special Report “ Philosophy of Teaching Statements: Examples and Tips on How to Write a Teaching Philosophy Statement .” 2009 .
• Seldin, Peter, et al. Changing Practices in Evaluating Teaching . Jossey-Bass: 1999.
• Seldin, Peter, et al. Evaluating Faculty Performance . Jossey-Bass: 2006.
• Seldin, Peter, et al. The Teaching Portfolio: A Practical Guide to Improved Performance and Promotion/Tenure Decisions ,4th Ed. Jossey-Bass: 2010.

Quick Links

• Documenting Your Teaching
• Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
• Teaching Philosophy
• Evidence of Teaching Effectiveness

Consult with our CETL Professionals

Consultation services are available to all UConn faculty at all campuses at no charge.

Portfolios: Types

A portfolio in the context of the classroom is a collection of student work that evidences mastery of a set of skills, applied knowledge, and attitudes. The individual works in a portfolio are often referred to as "artifacts."

Most effective portfolios also contain a reflective element, where the student has in some form contemplated her or his own strengths and weaknesses as a learner. Portfolios can be divided into two groups: process oriented or product oriented portfolios.

Process oriented portfolios

Process oriented portfolios tell a story about the growth of a learner. They document the processes of learning and creating, including earlier drafts, reflections on the process, and obstacles encountered along the way. They may be organized into skill areas or themes, yet each contains a student's work from the beginning, middle, and end of a learning unit. For example, there may be three drafts of a short story: a preliminary draft, a reworked draft reflecting teacher and peer feedback, and a final draft. The student can comment on the ways one is better than the other. In this manner, the artifacts can be compared providing evidence about how the student's skills have improved. In any number of ways, in writing or perhaps during a parent-teacher conference, the student would reflect on the learning process: identifying how skills have changed, celebrating accomplishments, and establishing present and future challenges.

Product oriented portfolios

Product oriented portfolios are collections of work a student considers his or her best. The aim is to document and reflect on the quality and range of accomplishments rather than the process that produced them. It generally requires a student to collect all of her work until the end, at which time she must choose artifacts that represent work of the highest quality.

There are any number of ways to facilitate this process. Students can be left completely to their own devices to choose. A teacher can also establish parameters of what a portfolio must contain and the quality an artifact must achieve to be included. For example, a math teacher may stipulate that a portfolio must contain evidence of the ability to successfully apply the concepts of mean, median, and mode. The teacher may also stipulate that these artifacts must have earned a certain score to be accepted into the portfolio. In this way, product oriented portfolios can be quite effective in holding students accountable for producing quality work. Finally, it is very common for each artifact in a product oriented portfolio to be accompanied by self-reflection, usually in writing, on why and in what ways the artifacts represent best work.

Both kinds of portfolios are used at all grade levels. It does turn out, however, that process-folios are more common at the elementary level. It may be that teachers at these levels tend to be more concerned about individual growth than about determining specific levels of performance. The process-folio may also match elementary teaching methods more readily.

Similarly, product oriented portfolios are more common at the secondary level. This is probably due to two factors. First, the higher stakes of grade point averages and test scores at these levels has created a more final result oriented learning environment. Second, older students generally have the higher thinking skills necessary to choose their best work wisely, as well as engage in self-reflection more deeply. Notwithstanding any of these points, neither type of portfolio is necessarily better suited for any grade level. It is usually a matter of preference, teaching style, or school culture.

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The Student Portfolio: How to Use This Powerful Tool in Your Classroom

Written by Jeanne Sager

Student portfolios are a bona fide assessment tool with countless other uses in the classroom. From tracking development for students in special education to providing parents a more transparent look at their child’s accomplishments to helping students become more self-directed learners, student portfolios could be your new secret weapon.

Studies have even shown employing the student portfolio in the classroom can help you spot learning gaps so you can address them and course-correct your teaching methods along the way to meet your students where they are at. Sounds like a pretty big win, huh?

Equally important, when kids create their own portfolios or play a role in creating them, they get to play a more active role in how their learning journey is reflected. Think of it this way — you put together everything that goes into a report card from recording grades to the comments. But students who get to put together a portfolio of their work are able to tell their own story about how they learn!

The teachers on the Teach Starter team — they’re the ones creating and reviewing all the resources teachers are using in their classroom! — have done a deep dive into the who, the what, and most importantly the “how” of using this piece of your teacher toolkit in the classroom. Read on for their tips on how to use this teaching tool to have a real impact on your students!

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What Is a Student Portfolio?

OK, let’s start at the beginning. The student portfolio has been around since the 1980s as a tool for teachers, and because its usage is so varied, you’ll find that there are a lot of different options for how to put one together, and even who does the creation. What is included in a student portfolio will differ from school to school and teacher to teacher, and most importantly is dependent on the goal of the creator.

In general, portfolios can be used for any of the following:

• Student assessment
• Displaying learning processes
• Showcasing a student’s best work

That means a portfolio could include anything from samples of writing the child has done, tests the student has completed, pictures of the child in the classroom, notes from a teacher about things the child has said or accomplished, self-assessments by a student , and more.

While some teachers prefer a student portfolio that is all kept together in a physical binder, more and more are moving to a digital portfolio set-up which is easier to share with parents or even handed over to the next year’s teacher.

Student Portfolio Examples

A learning display.

When the goal of a student portfolio is to display the learning process for a specific unit of study or across a specific period of time, putting the student in charge of creating the portfolio is a great means to ensure they have buy-in on the process.

Before assigning a student portfolio:

• Explain the goals of the portfolio
• Explain how it will be graded
• Supply a checklist of items that you will be looking for when the portfolio is handed in

By putting the portfolio in your students’ hands to create, you give them a chance to reflect on the learning process and make important choices about what they feel best represents the journey they’ve been on. A science class student portfolio, for example, might include a student’s research notes done prior to an experiment, their experiment report, follow-up charts that show data from the experiment, and finally conclusions they drew — truly showcasing the learning process.

One of the benefits of using student portfolios is the opportunity for self-reflection. With this in mind, be sure not to end the project with the portfolio itself but assign a self-assessment, challenging students to explain why they chose the items they did or to reflect on a particular challenge they overcame during the unit of study.

These portfolios become great assessment tools for you as a teacher as you’re able to evaluate not just each individual piece of work but assess a student’s holistic learning journey. As a bonus, students can bring their portfolios home to show off to their parents just how much they’ve learned and all their successes during the school year or unit.

Teach Starter Teacher Tip: Make creating a student portfolio more fun by allowing students to use digital tools like Google Slides , KudosWall , or FlipGrid (they’re all free!).  

Best Work Showcase

Students may also create portfolios to compile their best work from a unit or period of time, again allowing them to reflect on the time they’ve spent learning a particular topic and choosing the items they think best showcase how they’ve put that knowledge to good use.

For example, an English language arts student portfolio may include a selection of a student’s favorite writing samples throughout the year, showing off how they developed as a non-fiction writer and a poet both.

This kind of portfolio is typically more about the portfolio as a product rather than a method for assessing learning, but it has its own place in the classroom. Students track their own growth and share their accomplishments with family and peers.

Special Education

One of the many uses for a student portfolio comes in special education, where they can be used to design accommodations and modifications to go alongside a child’s IEP. By tracking student growth and development and identifying specific strengths and weaknesses, a well-maintained portfolio can serve as a comprehensive representation of a students’ abilities at any given time.

Once again, it’s important to put students in the driver’s seat whenever possible, allowing them to gather the work they think best encompasses their learning journey and to reflect on their progress. Students can write journal entries, fill out self-assessments, or fill in learning logs to be included in their student portfolio. You may also want to include your own notes taken while working with or observing the student , checklists of skills they’ve become adept at, and even videos that record student progress.

One final word: A student portfolio is a powerful tool for teachers, but it’s a tool for you to use the way you see fit. Follow these suggestions, or make up some of your own. Don’t be afraid to unleash those teaching superpowers!

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5 Steps to Building a Student Portfolio

Tracking students' work with portfolios can help them focus

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If you're looking for a great way to assess students while keeping them aware of the work they produce, having them compile portfolios is the way to go. A student portfolio is a collection of a student's work, both in and out of the classroom, and it enables you to monitor students' progress and achievement over time.

Set a Purpose for the Portfolio

First, you need to decide what the purpose of the portfolio is. Is it going to be used to show student growth or identify specific skills? Are you looking for a concrete way to quickly show parents student achievement, or are you looking for a way to evaluate your own teaching methods? Once you have figured out how the student will use the portfolio, you can start helping them build it.

Determine How You Will You Grade it

Next, you will need to establish how you are going to grade the portfolio. If your school district doesn't require portfolios, would the student receive extra credit for it, or can you otherwise incorporate it into your lesson plan? Are all your students going to create portfolios, or just those seeking extra credit, or who want to track their work?

Determine what criteria you'll use to grade the portfolio , too, such as neatness, creativity, completeness, etc. Then you can use these criteria to decide how much each aspect will be weighted when computing the student's grade. 

Decide What Will be Included

There are three main types of student portfolios:

• Assessment portfolios, which usually include specific pieces that students are required to know, such as work that correlates with the Common Core Learning Standards 
• Working portfolios, which include whatever the student is currently working on
• Display portfolios, which showcase the best work the student produces 

If you want the student to use the portfolio as a long-term project and include various pieces throughout the year, be sure to assign it early enough in the semester.

Choose Paper or Digital

Digital portfolios are great because they are easily accessible, easy to transport and easy to use. Today's students are tuned into the latest must-have technology, and electronic portfolios or personal websites are part of that. With students using an abundance of multimedia outlets, digital portfolios seem like a great fit for their natural talents and inclinations. However, you may opt for a paper portfolio because of the potential challenges and distractions of the digital medium. When you pick a portfolio medium, be intentional about your choice.

Factor In Student Involvement

How much you involve the students in the portfolio depends upon the students' age. While older students should be able to follow instructions about how to build their portfolio and what's expected, younger students may need more guidance and reminders. 

To coach the students about what they want to include in their portfolios, ask them questions such as, "Why did you choose this particular piece?" This dialogue will help students craft a portfolio that truly represents the work they've completed.

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Tools for Creating Digital Student Portfolios

Portfolios are a good way for high school students to see and share their learning growth over time, and digital tools make it easy to set them up.

In assessing student work, one of the challenges that teachers face comes when students have created a product for a project. Ideally they’ve had a chance to share their work with each other because that has numerous benefits: It allows them to see how their peers interpreted the project content or questions differently, and to reflect on their own learning and their learning process, which can help them improve future projects and processes.

Sharing students’ work more widely, with their families or with outside experts, for example, has benefits as well.

So how do we get student work in front of as many eyes as possible to increase the impact of their ideas? One of the best ways is to have students create digital portfolios, which can help students track their personal growth and share their work with classmates, the community, and the world.

Considering Student Privacy

Before creating digital portfolios with our students, we should consider student privacy and be aware of our district and school policies around sharing student work with third parties.

Sharing student work is powerful, but it’s also vital that students and their families consent to that sharing, which includes posting student work to third-party platforms—platforms that students must log into outside of the school’s internal systems. Before using such platforms, review the Student Privacy Pledge . Signatories of the pledge—which include all of the tools listed below—have taken the time to consider student privacy and data on their platforms.

You can also check with your school and district to see if the app or website you want to use is approved by your district.

Digital Portfolio Tools

Portfolios can serve different purposes, which dictate what goes in them and how they’re shared. For more public-facing portfolios, students generally create fine-tuned products. These are portfolios that students may use to showcase their work for awards, internships, jobs, and college applications. Work shared here may connect students with experts and add their voice to larger conversations around issues they care deeply about, while also validating their agency as members of a global community. These portfolios may also be a place for them to celebrate their work with their family, friends, classmates, and school or district. No matter how they’re used, these portfolios can help build confidence and excitement around student learning.

Sometimes, however, portfolios are shared less widely, with just the teacher and the student’s family. In these portfolios, rough copies of student work may be included to show growth. If students are able to create a portfolio that spans multiple years, they can see growth over a longer time. These portfolios are a great window into what students are learning, showing what they understand and what they’re struggling with so the teacher can plan accordingly. Families can see their child’s progress in real time and celebrate successes or provide support at home for areas of struggle. Portfolios also help students reflect on their progress and make connections to their own learning process. There may be pieces that move from this internal portfolio to be shared more widely in a public-facing portfolio.

Once you’re ready to provide students with an opportunity to reflect on and share their work with an authentic audience, there are several tools you can use.

For sharing inside the classroom: Students can use Google Slides to create a digital portfolio that showcases their progress on a project, posting their work as well as their reflections on the work. You can have them start from scratch or create a template for them to use. You can have students share this portfolio with you alone or embed it in a blog post or post it to a Google Drive folder shared with the class.

You could instead use Google Classroom to create the portfolios: A student can add documents to their portfolio that can be viewed by both you and the student over the course of the year.

For sharing with the outside world: Students can post their Google Slides to a public-facing class blog or use a tool like Flipgrid to post video journal entries about their learning. These videos can be summative, or they can act like checkpoints as students work through the project. Flipgrid is free, and the company provides a sample consent letter to send home. Videos can be shared publicly, with only the class, or with only the teacher.

Another tool, Book Creator , allows students to create digital portfolios that can include text, images, audio recordings, and videos. The books are contained in a class library, and students can browse each other’s books. Students can review their books to reflect on their growth in critical skills , and their books and the class library can be shared publicly. BookCreator can be used for free, but if you want to create more than 40 books you’ll need to pay for access.

The tool Seesaw allows teachers to create activities that students can work on and share to a class portfolio. These activities can be designed by the teacher, or they can be imported from an activity library curated by Seesaw. An activity might ask students to explain their reasoning while solving a math problem, reading and reflecting on an article, or reflecting on their progress on a recent project. Seesaw allows teachers to provide family access to student portfolios so parents have a window into what students are learning.

Benefits of Digital Portfolios

Digital portfolios—as repositories of evidence of learning and growth—can be used in multiple ways. They’re helpful to the teacher for planning instruction and gauging student understanding, and for communicating student progress with families and sparking conversations at home.

They can also be helpful in creating a culture of learning in the classroom, where students look to each other for knowledge and understanding. And they’re a useful tool for students to reflect on their own personal growth over the course of the year.

Assessment and Reporting

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When you look at your students, you don’t see their mid-term grade or the percentage they got on their last essay. You see the whole picture; a collection of what makes each student unique. You see their assignments and tests, but you also see their growth and their potential far beyond your class.

A portfolio allows everyone else to see that too.

A portfolio is a body of student work

At its core, a portfolio is a body of student work. In the classroom, a portfolio serves as a space for students to add content that demonstrates their learning in a variety of ways.

A portfolio takes a variety of formats

Portfolios can be digital or physical. They can be personal or shared. They can be class-based, project-based, or unique to the student.

These individual collections of work help students document their learning and reflect on progress over time, facilitate effective assessment for teachers, and/or create a final showcase of their strongest work.

Here are some examples of how portfolios have been implemented in different subjects:

• English Language Arts (ELA) - In ELA, portfolios can be used to collect and showcase student writing samples throughout the year. Students can keep a record of their writing process, including rough drafts, peer feedback, and revisions. The portfolio can also include written reflections on their progress as a writer, and goals for improvement.
• Mathematics - In mathematics, portfolios can be used to document student progress in problem-solving and critical thinking. Students can collect examples of their work on problem sets, group projects, and assessments. The portfolio can also include reflections on their problem-solving strategies and areas for improvement.
• Science - In science, portfolios can be used to showcase student investigations and experiments. Students can collect lab reports, data analysis, and reflections on their findings. The portfolio can also include reflections on the scientific process and the role of experimentation in scientific discovery.
• Social Studies - In social studies, portfolios can be used to collect evidence of student learning about historical events, cultures, and current events. Students can collect essays, research projects, and multimedia presentations. The portfolio can also include reflections on their understanding of the relevance and significance of historical events and contemporary issues.
• Art - In art, portfolios can be used to showcase student creativity and artistic development. Students can collect examples of their work, including sketches, drawings, paintings, and sculptures. The portfolio can also include reflections on their artistic process and inspiration.

A portfolio offers opportunities to showcase growth, reflection, and accomplishment

It's important to note that student portfolios may differ from professional ones, and there are various ways to use portfolios to capture and communicate student learning.

When using portfolios as a teaching tool, they need not always be used to showcase only the final product or highlights. Instead, they can be used to engage students in documenting their learning journey, including failures and reflections that led to meaningful learning experiences.

A portfolio for the classroom is a body of student work that can take on a variety of formats and showcase growth, reflection, and accomplishment.

With the appropriate Edtech tool, portfolio assessments can inform instruction and improve student learning outcomes. They enable teachers to gain a comprehensive understanding of a student's learning progress over time. SpacesEDU's Curriculum Tags and Proficiency Scale features support portfolio assessment by providing a structured approach to organizing and tracking student learning. Curriculum Tags allow teachers to align student work with specific learning objectives, making it easier to track progress and identify areas where students may need additional support. By analyzing samples of a student's work with the application of the Proficiency Scale, teachers can identify areas where the student excels and areas where they need to improve. This information can then be used to provide targeted feedback and design lessons that address specific needs to support student growth.

Furthermore, these portfolio assessment features can increase student motivation and engagement. Students have access to data that offers them opportunities to reflect on their learning and set goals for improvement. By reviewing their work and reflecting on the learning process, students can identify their progress and areas where they need to improve. This fosters a sense of ownership over their learning and develops essential metacognitive skills .

Finally, portfolios can provide a more comprehensive and authentic measure of student learning compared to traditional assessments. By collecting different work samples and reflections over time, digital portfolio tools can offer a more complete picture of a student's learning than a single test or assignment. This can aid teachers and students in understanding the depth and breadth of a student's understanding of a subject and provide a more accurate measure of learning outcomes.

Three ways to use portfolios in the classroom

There are three key ways to use portfolios to show learning in the classroom:

• Show the Process: Students collect and store evidence of learning and reflect on the process in a continuous cycle.
• Show the Progress: Students document growth and changes on their work over time to show development or improvement.
• Show the Product: Students curate projects, learnings, and evidence into a final “polished” product.

This concept isn’t new. In fact, in 1997, Charlotte Danielson and Leslye Abrutyn (formerly the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development) outline their three categories as working portfolios, display portfolios, and assessment portfolios , in An Introduction to Using Portfolios in the Classroom .

What is new, however, is the improvements in technology that allow teachers and students to meaningfully and collaboratively apply this practice at scale.

In the classroom, you can combine all three types over the course of a term or school year, or focus on one area, depending on your goals for the portfolio.

One way a portfolio is used in education is to document learning. Similar to a journal, students capture daily activities and write a reflection on what they learned or how they felt.

Example of an Individual Space designed for students to actively reflect on their learning

Instead of just uploading an assignment, a portfolio can be used to combine an assignment with a probing question to get the student to think about a challenge, key takeaway, or consider what they’d do differently next time.

As Danielson and Abrutyn mention when describing a working portfolio , this is often the stage where every artifact is collected and can later be moved and shared into a portfolio used for assessment or showcase purposes.

The main focus of using a portfolio this way is to have students reflect on their approaches, feelings, and learning over time.

2. Progress

A portfolio can also be used to demonstrate progress , such as overall growth or mastery of a concept. Metaphorically, this is a space where the student shows the steps they took to go from a blank slate to a final masterpiece.

When using portfolios to evaluate progress, you can integrate a number of modern assessment practices that can be more effective and meaningful to students than a grade or score.

Portfolios make evaluation more of a conversation. Teachers can use the collection of work to conduct formative assessments with ongoing comments and feedback, rather than simply assigning a final grade.

Example of an Individual Space designed for students to showcase their growth and progress on specific curricular objectives

Likewise, teachers can ask students to set their own expectations and conduct self-assessments as they progress.

Perhaps the most popular use for a portfolio out in the world is the portfolio as a product .

A product portfolio is a final, culmination of work, where the student has selected each artifact thoughtfully and curated a story with the content.

Example of an Individual Space designed for students to curate a collection of their best work

Unlike the portfolio as a formative assessment tool, teachers may challenge students to curate and polish a final “product” for a standalone evaluation of their progress, such as their summative biology assessment, World War 2 history assignment, or their final capstone project. Outside of school, portfolio submissions are increasingly common additions for college admissions and job applications.

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What is A Portfolio Assessment?

By Med Kharbach, PhD | Last Update: May 17, 2024

In the ever-evolving landscape of education, the concepts of portfolio and portfolio assessment have garnered significant attention as comprehensive tools for evaluating student growth. This post delves into the intricacies of portfolio assessment, drawing primarily on the insightful research presented in the works of Valeri-Gold et al. (1991/1992) and Gillespie et al. (1996). These papers offer a deep dive into the benefits and challenges of portfolio assessment in educational settings.

Portfolios, particularly as instruments of formative assessment, stand out for their ability to track and assess student progress over extended periods. Unlike summative assessments and standardized tests, which often fail to capture the nuanced development of students, portfolios offer a more holistic and continuous evaluation method.

As highlighted by Valeri-Gold et al., traditional forms of objective, timed assessments are “inadequate for decisions involving student progress” (p. 298). This statement underscores the need for more dynamic and flexible assessment tools that can truly reflect the multifaceted nature of learning and growth.

In exploring these themes, this post will navigate through the advantages of portfolio assessment, such as fostering reflective learning and promoting a deeper understanding of the interplay between various academic skills. Simultaneously, it will address the challenges and potential pitfalls, including increased workload for educators and the complexities involved in portfolio management and evaluation. By balancing these perspectives, the aim is to present a comprehensive view of portfolio assessment as a valuable educational tool, capable of enhancing the learning experience for both students and teachers.

What is a Portfolio?

In the context of education and learning, the term ‘portfolio’ takes on a distinct meaning, separate from its use in finance and investment. A portfolio in education is aptly defined by Gillespie et al. (1996) as “meaningful collections of students’ work over time” (p. 481). This definition, while straightforward, lays the groundwork for a more in-depth understanding of the concept.

Delving deeper, Tierney, Carter, and Desai (1991) offer a nuanced perspective, describing a portfolio as “tangible evidence of accomplishments and skills that must be updated as a person changes and grows” (p. 43, cited in Gillespie et al., 1996, p.481). This definition highlights the evolving nature of a portfolio, reflecting the continuous development of a learner.

Meyer, Schuman, and Angello (1990) provide an even more comprehensive definition: a portfolio is a “purposeful collection of student work, exhibiting to the student and others the student’s efforts, progress or achievement in selected areas.” This includes essential elements such as student involvement in content selection, criteria for both selection and judging merit, and crucially, evidence of student self-reflection (p.3, cited in Gillespie et al., 1996, p. 481).

Further expanding on this concept, Paulson, Paulson, and Meyer (1991) define a portfolio as a collection that not only showcases a student’s efforts, progress, and achievements but also involves the student actively in the process. This participation includes choosing what goes into the portfolio, establishing the criteria for this selection, and reflecting on the work included.

They emphasize that a portfolio “provides a complex and comprehensive view of student performance in context,” transforming the student from a passive subject of assessment to an active participant. This approach fosters independent, self-directed learning, an essential skill in the educational journey (pp. 60-63, cited in Gillespie et al., 1996, p. 482).

These definitions collectively underscore the portfolio’s role as a dynamic, reflective, and participatory tool in the educational process, far removed from its financial counterpart.

Related: Best Digital Portfolio Tools for Students

Advantages of Portfolios

Recent studies, as synthesized by Valeri-Gold et al. (1991/1992), highlight the beneficial role of portfolios across various educational stages, from early schooling to higher education. Some of these advantages include:

• Diverse Educational Impact : Research shows portfolios positively affect students from kindergarten to college, enhancing learning across various age groups.
• Holistic Learning Documentation : They serve as comprehensive collections of student work, showcasing a range of reading and writing activities.
• Customized Teaching Tool : Portfolios facilitate individualized instruction and self-assessment, aiding in personalized educational approaches.
• Collaborative Learning : They foster collaboration between teachers and students, deepening the understanding of reading and writing development.
• Progress Tracking : Portfolios provide a record of both quantitative and qualitative student performance over time.
• Varied Learning Environments : Encourage participation in different learning settings, from instructional to individualized.

Key Considerations for Implementing Portfolios in Class

Valerie-Gold et al. (1991/1992) talk about five questions that teachers need to address in order to integrate portfolios in (college level) classrooms. These questions cover the following areas: structure, content, assessment timing and methods, evaluation and scoring, and portfolio’s fate post-term. These questions are

1. What kind of structure will the portfolio have?

• The structure of the portfolio should be designed to align with the course objectives and learning outcomes. Teachers must decide whether the portfolio will be digital or physical, thematic or chronological, and how it will reflect the overall progression of the student’s learning journey.

2. What evidence will the portfolio contain?

• Deciding on the evidence to include in the portfolio is crucial. This could range from written assignments, project reports, to reflective essays. The chosen content should demonstrate the student’s skills, knowledge, and personal growth throughout the course.

3. How and when the classroom teacher assess student’s works in the portfolio?

• Teachers need to establish clear guidelines on how and when the portfolio will be reviewed. This might involve periodic reviews throughout the term, allowing for ongoing feedback, or a summative assessment at key milestones. The assessment criteria should be transparent and consistent.

4. How will the portfolio be evaluated and scored?

• Determining how the portfolio will be evaluated involves setting clear, objective criteria that align with the learning goals. This might include rubrics that address various aspects of the work, such as creativity, analytical skills, and depth of reflection. The scoring system should be fair and should ideally encourage self-assessment by the student.

5. What will happen to the portfolio at the end of the term?

• Finally, deciding what happens to the portfolio after the term is vital. Options include returning it to the student as a record of their work, using it as a tool for future course development, or having students present their portfolios as part of a final showcase or review session.

While Valerie-Gold et al. originally conceptualized their framework with a focus on college classrooms, the universality and adaptability of their approach make it highly relevant for other educational levels as well. This is precisely why I find it important to share their insights here. The framework’s emphasis on structure, content, assessment, evaluation, and post-term utilization of portfolios offers valuable guidance that can be effectively applied across a wide spectrum of educational settings, from primary to high school levels.

What is a Portfolio Assessment?

Portfolio assessment, a multifaceted educational tool, has been defined through various scholarly lenses. Valeri-Gold et al. (1991/1992) describe it as a formative assessment technique where students transform into “active learners and questioning thinkers” (p. 298). Harlin et al. (1992) view it as a “multidimensional system which provides teachers with a complete picture of a student’s abilities and literacy development” (p. 203, cited in Gillespie et al., 1996, p. 482).

While not explicitly labeled, K. Wolf’s (1993) concept aligns closely, depicting it as a process wherein “knowledgeable teachers systematically observe and selectively document their students’ performance through multiple methods, across diverse contexts, and over time as students engage in meaningful learning activities” (p. 519, cited in Gillespie et al., 1996, p. 482). This comprehensive approach underscores the depth and breadth of portfolio assessment in capturing and enhancing student learning.

Advantages of Portfolio Assessment

Drawing on Gillespie et al.’s insightful research paper (pp. 482-483), I aim to delve into the multifaceted advantages of portfolio assessment in educational settings. Their comprehensive study sheds light on how portfolio assessment benefits students, teachers, and parents, offering a well-rounded perspective on its impact across different stakeholders in the education community. This research serves as a foundation for understanding the diverse and significant positive effects of implementing portfolio assessment in classrooms.

Here’s a summary of the advantages of portfolio assessment as outlined by Gillespie et al. (1996):

Advantages for Students:

• Reflective Learning : Portfolios enable students to reflect on their learning development over time.
• Understanding Relationships : They help students understand the interplay between reading, writing, and thinking.
• Collaborative Climate : Portfolios facilitate a collaborative environment through peer collaboration and critiques.
• Responsibility and Independence : They encourage students to take charge of their learning and foster independence.
• Self-Esteem and Attitude : Portfolios contribute to developing self-esteem and a positive attitude toward the learning process.

Advantages for Teachers:

• Insight into Student Growth : Portfolios offer a comprehensive view of student growth.
• Data for Instructional Decisions : They provide valuable data for instructional decision-making.
• Diverse Evaluation Information : Portfolios contain a wide range of information useful for both formative and summative evaluations.
• Defining High-Quality Work : They assist in identifying the criteria for high-quality work.
• Assessment and Instruction Integration : Portfolios bridge the gap between assessment and instruction.
• Facilitating Conferences : They serve as a basis for productive student-teacher relationship.

Advantages for Parents and the Public:

• Demonstration of Competence : Portfolios showcase children’s knowledge, competence, and growth over time.
• Enhancing Communication : They offer concrete evidence that facilitates communication among students, teachers, parents, and other stakeholders.

Weaknesses of Portfolio Assessment

Gillespie et al. provide a critical analysis of portfolio assessment, drawing on various research papers to identify its weaknesses. Here is a concise summary of the weaknesses of portfolio assessment as reported by Gillespie et al., :

• Increased Teacher Workload : Implementing portfolios significantly adds to teachers’ responsibilities (Christian, 1993; Frazier et al., 1993).
• Reduced Instructional Time : Portfolio management tasks can limit actual teaching and learning time (Christian, 1993; Metzger & Bryant, 1993).
• Inappropriate Teacher Practices : Risks include limited student input, inadequate feedback, and excessive teacher direction (Bell, 1992; Cooper & Brown, 1992).
• Grading Disputes : Subjective nature of portfolios can lead to grading controversies (Christian, 1993; Johns, 1992).
• Need for Extensive Support : Effective use requires substantial teacher training in data collection and analysis (Abruscato, 1993; Harlin et al., 1992).
• Data Acceptance Challenges : Portfolio data may face skepticism or criticism from educational stakeholders (Calfee & Perfumo, 1993; Van Horn & Brown, 1993).
• Standardization and Validity Issues : Concerns over the reliability and standardization of portfolio content (Farr, 1990; Maeroff, 1991).

These points highlight the complexities and challenges involved in effectively integrating portfolio assessments in educational settings.

Final thoughts

Portfolios offer a dynamic and comprehensive method for assessing student growth, transcending the limitations of traditional summative and standardized tests. They enable a deeper, more continuous engagement with the learning process, promoting reflective learning, self-assessment, and a stronger understanding of the interconnectedness of academic skills.

However, the implementation of portfolios is not without its challenges. The increased workload for educators, potential reduction in instructional time, and complexities in portfolio management and evaluation are significant considerations. These factors necessitate a balanced approach and thoughtful integration of portfolios into the curriculum.

Ultimately, the value of portfolio assessment lies in its ability to provide a more authentic and holistic picture of student learning and development. It encourages a shift towards a more learner-centered approach, fostering a deeper connection between students, teachers, and the learning process itself. As educators continue to seek ways to enhance educational experiences and outcomes, portfolio assessment stands as a powerful tool in the quest for a more comprehensive and engaging approach to student evaluation and development.

• Abruscato, J. (1993). Early results and tentative implications from the Vermont portfolio project. Phi Delta Kappan , 74, 474-477
• Bell, S. (1992). Portfolio evaluation and Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed: A descriptive analysis. Teaching English in a Two-Year College , 19, 95-96
• Calfee, R.C., & Perfumo, P. (1993). Student portfolios: Opportunities for a revolution in assessment, Journal of Reading , 36, 532-537.
• Christian, B. (1993). Freshman composition portfolios in a small college. Teaching English in a Two-Year College , 20, 289-297.
• Cooper, W., & Brown, B.J. (1992). Using portfolios to empower student writers. English Journal , 81, 40-45
• Farr, R. (1990). Trends: Reading; Setting directions for language arts portfolios. Educational Leadership , 48, 103
• Frazier, D., Palmer, P., Duchein, M., & Armato, C. (1993). Presentee elementary teachers’ evolving perceptions of portfolio assessment. In D. Leu & C. Kinzer (Eds.), Examining central issues in literacy research, theory, and practice (pp. 305-314). Chicago: National Reading Conference
• Gillespie, C. S., Ford, K. L., Gillespie, R. D., & Leavell, A. G. (1996). Portfolio Assessment: Some Questions, Some Answers, Some Recommendations. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy , 39(6), 480–491.
• Harlin, R., Lipa, S., & Phelps, S. (1992). Portfolio assessment: Interpretations and implications for classroom teachers and reading teachers. In N. Padak, T. Rasinski, & J. Logan (Eds.), Literacy research and practice: Foundations for the year 2000 (pp.203-208). Kent, OH: College Reading Association).
• Johns, J. (1992). How professionals view portfolio assessment. Reading Research and Instruction , 32, 1-10
• Maeroff, G. (1991). Assessing alternative assessment. Phi Delta Kappan , 73, 272-281
• Metzger, E., & Bryant, L. (1993). Pedagogy, power and the student. Teaching English in a Two-Year College , 20, 279-288
• Meyer, C, Schuman, S., & Angello, N. (1990). NWEA white paper on aggregating portfolio data. Lake Oswego, OR: Northwest Evaluation Association.
• Paulson, F.L., Paulson, P., & Meyer, C. (1991). What makes a portfolio a portfolio? Educational Leadership , 48, 60-63
• Tierney, R., Carter, M., & Desai, L. ( 1991 ). Portfolio assessment in the reading-writing classroom . Norwood, MA: Christopher-Gord
• Valeri-Gold, M., Olson, J. M.& Denning, M. P. (1992). Portfolios: Collaborative Authentic Assessment Opportunities for College Developmental Learners. Journal of Reading , 35(4), 298-305.
• Van Horn, B., & Brown, E. (1993). Hurdles in evaluating adult literacy programs.. .a few answers. In B. Hayes & K. Camperell (Eds.), Reading: Strategies, practices, and research for the 2 1st century (pp. 59-66). Logan, UT: Utah State University
• Wolf, K. (1993). From informal to informed assessment: Recognizing the role of the classroom teacher, Journal of Reading , 36,518-52

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• Faculty and Staff

Assessment and Curriculum Support Center

Using portfolios in program assessment.

On this page:

• What is a portfolio?
• Portfolios as a data-collection method for assessment
• Advantages and disadvantages
• Creating and designing portfolios
• Questions to ask before adopting portfolios
• E-Portfolios
• Links: universities implementing portfolios; online portfolios
• E-portfolio software and review

1. What is a portfolio?

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A portfolio is a systematic collection of student work that represents student activities, accomplishments, and achievements over a specific period of time in one or more areas of the curriculum. There are two main types of portfolios:

Showcase Portfolios:  Students select and submit their best work. The showcase portfolio emphasizes the products of learning. Developmental Portfolios : Students select and submit pieces of work that can show evidence of growth or change over time. The growth portfolio emphasizes the process of learning.

STUDENTS’ REFLECTIVE ESSAY: In both types of portfolios, students write reflective essays or introductory memos to the faculty/assessment committee to explain the work and reflect on how the collection demonstrates their accomplishments, explains why they selected the particular examples, and/or describes changes in their knowledge/ability/attitude.

2. Portfolios as a data-collection method for assessment

Portfolios can be created for course assessment as well as program assessment. Although the content may be similar, the assessment process is different.

3. Advantages and disadvantages

Advantages of a portfolio

• Enables faculty to assess a set of complex tasks, including interdisciplinary learning and capabilities, with examples of different types of student work.
• Helps faculty identify curriculum gaps, a lack of alignment with outcomes.
• Promotes faculty discussions on student learning, curriculum, pedagogy, and student support services.
• Encourages student reflection on their learning. Students may come to understand what they have and have not learned.
• Provides students with documentation for job applications or applications to graduate school.

Disadvantages of a portfolio

• Faculty time required to prepare the portfolio assignment and assist students as they prepare them. Logistics are challenging.
• Students must retain and compile their own work, usually outside of class. Motivating students to take the portfolio seriously may be difficult.
• Transfer students may have difficulties meeting program-portfolio requirements.
• Storage demands can overwhelm (which is one reason why e-portfolios are chosen).

4. Using portfolios in assessment

TIP: START SMALL. Showcase portfolio : Consider starting with one assignment plus a reflective essay from a senior-level course as a pilot project. A faculty group evaluates the “mini-portfolios” using a rubric. Use the results from the pilot project to guide faculty decisions on adding to or modifying the portfolio process. Developmental portfolio : Consider starting by giving a similar assignment in two sequential courses: e.g., students write a case study in a 300-level course and again in a 400-level course. In the 400-level course, students also write a reflection based on their comparison of the two case studies. A faculty group evaluates the “mini-portfolios” using a rubric. Use the results to guide the faculty members as they modify the portfolio process.

Suggested steps:

• Determine the purpose of the portfolio. Decide how the results of a portfolio evaluation will be used to inform the program.
• Identify the learning outcomes the portfolio will address.Tip: Identify at least 6 course assignments that are aligned with the outcomes the portfolio will address. Note: When planning to implement a portfolio requirement, the program may need to modify activities or outcomes in courses, the program, or the institution.
• Decide what students will include in their portfolio. Portfolios can contain a range of items–plans, reports, essays, resume, checklists, self-assessments, references from employers or supervisors, audio and video clips. In a showcase portfolio, students include work completed near the end of their program. In a developmental portfolio, students include work completed early and late in the program so that development can be judged.Tip: Limit the portfolio to 3-4 pieces of student work and one reflective essay/memo.
• Identify or develop the scoring criteria (e.g., a rubric) to judge the quality of the portfolio.Tip: Include the scoring rubric with the instructions given to students (#6 below).
• Establish standards of performance and examples (e.g., examples of a high, medium, and low scoring portfolio).
• Create student instructions that specify how students collect, select, reflect, format, and submit.Tip: Emphasize to students the purpose of the portfolio and that it is their responsibility to select items that clearly demonstrate mastery of the learning outcomes. Emphasize to faculty that it is their responsibility to help students by explicitly tying course assignments to portfolio requirements.

Collect – Tell students where in the curriculum or co-curricular activities they will produce evidence related to the outcomes being assessed. Select – Ask students to select the evidence. Instruct students to label each piece of evidence according to the learning outcome being demonstrated. Reflect – Give students directions on how to write a one or two-page reflective essay/memo that explains why they selected the particular examples, how the pieces demonstrate their achievement of the program outcomes, and/or how their knowledge/ability/attitude changed. Format –Tell students the format requirements (e.g., type of binder, font and style guide requirements, online submission requirements). Submit – Give submission (and pickup) dates and instructions.

• A faculty group scores the portfolios using the scoring criteria. Use examples of the standards of performance to ensure consistency across scoring sessions and readers.Tip: In large programs, select a random sample of portfolios to score (i.e., do not score every portfolio).
• Share the results and use them to improve the program.

5. Questions to consider before adopting a portfolio requirement

• What is the purpose of the portfolio requirement? To document student learning? Demonstrate student development? Learn about students’ reflections on their learning? Create a document useful to students? Help students grow through personal reflection on their personal goals?
• Will portfolios be showcase or developmental?
• When and how will students be told about the requirement, including what materials they need to collect or to produce for it?
• What are the minimum and maximum lengths or sizes for portfolios?
• Who will decide which materials will be included in portfolios- -faculty or students?
• What elements will be required in the portfolio- -evidence only from courses in the discipline, other types of evidence, evidence directly tied to learning outcomes, previously graded products or clean copies?
• Will students be graded on the portfolios? If so, how and by whom?
• How will the portfolios be assessed to evaluate and improve the program?
• What can be done for students who have inadequate evidence through no fault of their own? (E.g., transfer students)
• What will motivate students to take the portfolio requirement seriously?
• How will the portfolio be submitted–hard copy or electronic copy?
• Who “owns” the portfolios–students or the program/university? If the program/university owns them, how long will the portfolios be retained after the students graduate?
• Who has access to the portfolios and for what purposes?
• How will student privacy and confidentiality be protected?

6. E-portfolios (electronic portfolios)

Traditional portfolios consist of papers in a folder. Electronic or “e-portfolios” consist of documents stored electronically. Electronic portfolios offer rich possibilities for learning and assessment, with the added dimension of technology.

• What about an electronic portfolio is central to the assessment?
• Who is the audience for the portfolio? Will that audience have the hardware, software, skills, time, and inclination to access the portfolio electronically?
• Does the institution have the hardware and software in place to create portfolios electronically? If not, what will it cost and who will install it? Does the institution have the IT/technical staff to support e-portfolios?
• What is the current level of computer skills of the students and faculty members involved in this project? Who will teach them how to use the technology necessary to create and view electronic portfolios?
• Easy to share with multiple readers simultaneously.
• Allows for asynchronous use for both students and faculty.
• Allows for multi-media product submissions.
• Offers search strategies for easy access to materials.
• Makes updating entries easier.
• Creating navigational links may help students see how their experiences interrelate.
• Provides students the opportunity to improve as well as demonstrate their technology skills.
• Allows faculty to remain in touch with students after graduation if the portfolio can become students’ professional portfolio.
• Time is needed to master the software. Students may not have sufficient computer skills to showcase their work properly.
• Faculty and students may be reluctant to learn a new software program.
• Requires IT expertise and support for both students and faculty.
• Cost associated with developing an in-house platform or the purchase of a commercial product may be expensive.
• Cost associated with maintaining portfolio software. Ongoing support and training are necessary.
• An external audience may not have access to proprietary software. Proprietary software may hinder portability.
• Requires large amounts of computer space.
• Privacy and security. Who will have access to the portfolio?

7. Links to universities implementing portfolios

Truman State University:  http://assessment.truman.edu/components/portfolio/

Penn State:  http://portfolio.psu.edu/

University of Denver:  https://portfolio.du.edu/pc/index

8. Electronic portfolio software

Laulima Open Source Portfolio . Laulima has an Open Source Portfolio (OSP) tool option. Contact UH ITS for information about turning on this tool.

List of E-Portfolio Software & Tools .  ePortfolio-related Tools and Technologies  wiki.

Sources Consulted:

• Skidmore College, Assessment at Skidmore College, http://cms.skidmore.edu/assessment/Handbook/portfolio.cfm
• Mary Allen – University of Hawaii at Manoa Spring 2008 Assessment Workshops
• ERIC Digest, Assessment Portfolios (ED447725),  http://www.users.muohio.edu/shermalw/eric_digests/ed447725.pdf
• Portfolio Assessment: Instructional Guide (2nd Ed.),  http://libdr1.ied.edu.hk/pubdata/img00/arch00/link/archive/1/instarh/1921_image.pdf
• Cambridge, B.L., Kahn, S., Tompkins, D.P., Yancey, K.B. (Eds.). (2001).  Electronic portfolios: Emerging practices in student, faculty, and institutional learning . Washington, DC: American Association for Higher Education.

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What is a Portfolio?

A portfolio  is a compilation of academic and professional materials that exemplifies your beliefs, skills, qualifications, education, training ,  and experiences. It provides insight into your personality and work ethic.    

Choosing the most relevant academic and professional experiences and putting them in an easily understood format will show an employer proof of your organizational, communication, and tangible career-related skills.    

If you’re ever struggling with what work samples to choose, how to organize your portfolio, or other career-related concerns, reach out to our Career Services Office for one-on-one help and support.  

What should be included in my portfolio?     

First, save everything you create and decide later what you want to include in your portfolio. Some items may be more relevant to the work you’ll do in one position than another, so it helps to have a variety of samples.  You can present your materials in your own creative style, and these are some of the top items to include:  

• Statement of Originality : A paragraph stating that this is your work and that it is confidential. It should also indicate if any parts of the portfolio should not be copied.
• Work Philosophy : A brief description of your beliefs about yourself and the industry you hope to enter.
• Resume : An overview of your skills and work experience. You may also choose to include documentation of your certifications, diplomas, degrees, awards, professional memberships, or community service experiences.
• Work samples : When selecting items for your portfolio, consider what work will best demonstrate your skills, competencies, and achievements, especially in relation to the type of work you’d be doing for this potential employer.
• Works in Progress : List career-related projects or activities you are currently working on that would add to your list of skills and qualifications for that career field.
• Academic Plan of Study : You can include a copy of your transcript which includes the classes you have taken and grades you have earned in those classes, as well as a listing of those classes you plan to take.
• References : A list of three to five people who can verify your professional qualifications. Professional references may include faculty members, internship supervisors, employment supervisors and supervisors of other activities such as community service projects.

How should I present my professional portfolio?

Depending on your field of interest and samples, you may choose to build a digital portfolio on a website, or physical copy such as a 3-ring binder. If presenting a physical portfolio, be sure to use high quality paper and bring extra copies for an interview committee.   

• Teaching centers

ePortfolios: The What, Why, and How!

What is an ePortfolio? 

An ePortfolio is a collection of work (evidence) in an electronic format that showcases learning over time. Creating a digital portfolio encourages students to take responsibility for their learning and showcase that learning with others. An ePortfolio lets students organize, document, and display their most significant learning experiences in one digital space. The reflective learning process of creating and building a portfolio over time deepens their learning AND yields a dynamic product that makes learning visible to any audience.

Some educators see ePortfolios primarily as a tool for generating new or deeper learning while others view them as an assessment tool. Educator Helen Barrett described the difference in perspective this way: “There’s a major tension right now between student-centered and institution-centered ePortfolios” (Barrett, 2008). Institution-centered ePortfolios, she says, are driven by “assessment of learning.” In contrast, student-centered ePortfolios are driven by “assessment for learning,” referring to the academic assignments that fulfill the traditional role of assessing learning while providing an opportunity for learning to occur during completion.

Even within the student-centered approach to ePortfolios, it’s possible to classify different kinds of ePortfolios based on the student’s purpose. LaGuardia Community College’s ePortfolio initiative , for example, distinguishes between three types of ePortfolios. There’s the assessment version, where the audience is internal to the institution and the goal is to support institutional outcomes assessment. In learning ePortfolios, the audience is the students themselves and the goal is to help them examine and reflect on their learning. And finally there are Career/Transfer ePortfolios, where the audience is external and the goal is to provide students with a tool for showcasing their achievements to employers or transfer institutions.

Best practices for instructors

Explain the benefits of eportfolios to students.

• Help learners develop new or deeper learning, which results in higher grades
• Help learners develop a better sense of themselves as students and individuals
• Be shared with friends and family members
• Showcase learners’ achievements

Establish clear expectations

Explain to your students what you expect them to do in their ePortfolios. At first, learners may have difficulty understanding the need for them to reflect on their work and the need for them to make connections between different courses and experiences.

Provide examples created by students

As you build your own directory of student examples, direct students to LaGuardia’s ePortfolio gallery for inspiration and clarity on scope and purpose.

Scaffold student learning

Help students start small: ask them to choose just one artifact (such as an essay) and have them reflect on the challenges they had to address while writing. Or, have the student select a pair of assignments and have them reflect on how each helped them grow in the field.

Walk the talk

Create an ePortfolio for yourself based on your teaching practice or research project and share it with your students. You’ll better understand the challenges and benefits of maintaining an ePortfolio, and it will also convince students that it is a useful endeavor. Here are some examples to help get you started!

Make it social

Integrate viewing and commenting on other students’ ePortfolios as part of the assessment. For example, have a Canvas page with links to each student’s ePortfolio, or a discussion forum or VoiceThread where students can conduct a virtual gallery walk and make helpful and encouraging comments on one another’s ePortfolios.The ePortfolios then become an integral part of the online learning community. Professor Adam Rothman of Georgetown University refers to this approach as the hub-and-spoke model .

Assessment of ePortfolios

Since ePortfolios require a significant investment of time and energy from students, it is important that they be assessed carefully. However, their assessment does present some challenges: how does one evaluate the quality of “reflections”? If students see their ePortfolio as “just another assignment,” then they may not engage with it authentically. Helen Barrett suggests that “high stakes assessment and accountability are killing ePortfolios as a reflective tool to support deep learning”: (Barrett, 2005). Rubrics (such as this rubric developed by the University of Wisconsin ) may be the best way to overcome assessment challenges while still ensuring students benefit from their ePortfolio. Lastly, consistent formative feedback from the instructor, faculty, and student peers helps learners maintain motivation to work on their ePortfolio.

Canvas Student Pathways

Portfolium (Canvas Student Pathways, CSP) has been recently acquired by UM System and is fully integrated with Canvas. CSP is an online portfolio system allowing users to archive examples of their academic work and experiences in college. Work samples including papers, presentations, projects, audio and video files, designs, essays, and photo galleries all make great contributions to a portfolio. At its core, CSP is a cross between social media and an archive (think Linkedin, but a deeper look at the person rather than the person’s professional connections) so that students can make their identity, knowledge, and skills visible to any audience they choose, including employers, graduate schools, peers, and college faculty and staff.

Barrett, H. (2008). Balancing “eportfolio as test” with “eportfolio as story.” Presented at Making Connections conference.

Basken, P. (2008, April). Electronic portfolios may answer calls for more accountability . The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Bass, R. & Eynon, B. (2009). Capturing the visible evidence of invisible learning The Academic Commons.

CanvasLMS (2020). Portfolium: Digital Citizenship & Personal Branding with Folios [Video] YouTube. https://youtu.be/O_sEwq6ZoK0

Bryant Lazenby, M.Ed.

Laz is a lifelong learner and technology lover who joined Missouri Online as an instructional designer in July 2021. He is a Level 2 Google Certified Educator with over 10 years of teaching experience in secondary and post-secondary education and is currently working on a doctoral degree in educational leadership from Lindenwood University where his research is in incorporating gamification strategies into the classroom. He was born and raised on a farm that has been in his family for over a century located northwest of Sedalia, Missouri, where he lives today. When he isn’t in front of his computer, he can generally be found reading or attending local painting classes.

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Portfolio Assessment

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WHAT IS PORTFOLIO.EDUCATION?

Portfolio.education is a platform dedicated to portfolio learning. Within this platform, students can build and design their own portfolio site, as a full-fledged autonomous (WordPress) website. Teachers can organize and facilitate the learning process from a powerful learning system which is fully integrated with the student portfolios.

With this unique concept, portfolio.education aims to combine:

ownership for students

insight for teachers

As of now, thousands of students are developing their portfolio, at levels ranging from k-12 to higher education. The learning environment is being developed in strong cooperation with teachers, based on partnerships and co-creation.

Each student can develop and personalize a fully functional WordPress site as portfolio

Learning environment

One central place for teachers to organize, facilitate and administer the learning process, to assess and provide feedback to students.

Integrations

OUR PORTFOLIO DRIVEN LEARNING ENVIRONMENT

Teachers create and set up courses/projects within the learning environment. They assign tasks to students individually or in groups.

Students have an overview of all tasks that have been assigned to them, including the status of the tasks. The student submits work with powerful options for uploading and embedding multimedia. The teacher can follow-up on the progress with course/project dashboard with group / individual status reports.

Students can submit work on their portfolio directly or they can submit work to the teacher, depending on teacher choice. If handed in to the teacher, students can publish a copy of their submitted work to their own portfolio and continue to edit it there.

When publishing content on their portfolio, students can choose from various visibility settings (private, visible to teacher, visible to peer students, etc.)

ADVANTAGES FOR THE STUDENT

Within portfolio.education students have their own portfolio in the form of a fully-functional autonomous WordPress website. Working with WordPress provides the following advantages to students:

Students have full administrator rights on their own portfolio site and can choose from hundreds of themes and settings to fully customize and personalize their portfolio.

Students learn to work with the most popular and innovative web publication tool, upon which more than 25% (!) of all internet sites are built. This means that experience working with it bears relevance outside the school or educational organization.

PORTABILITY

Students can easily export their portfolio as a complete website and take it with them to their next education programme or they can continue to develop it as a complete professional website outside the school context .

MOBILE FRIENDLY

Portfolio.education can work on any device with a modern web browser. With those devices students can record and upload pictures, sound and video without the need for additional software straight from the device’s camera.

“At first I found it difficult to work with the portfolio, but I kept working on it and figured it out – also with the help of some friends. Now I know how to build a website!”

“It is nice to see all the things that you’ve made over the years and how you’ve progressed over the years.”

“It’s a tool where you can find all your learning materials in one place. It would be nice if I could use it in all my courses”

ADVANTAGES FOR THE TEACHER

Within portfolio.education, the student portfolio’s are the main focus. There, students showcase their progress and talents in a continuous learning path spanning multiple courses and years.

The learning outcomes and reflections are distributed over many different portfolio’s, each with their own navigation and look&feel.

To provide teachers and mentors with the necessary oversight we have developed a learning environment integrated with the portfolio’s.

This learning environment provides a central place to organize, facilitate and assess the portfolio learning of the students.

DIGITAL DIDACTICS

Individual/group assignments, student collaboration on tasks, submitting papers or multimedia, vlogs, audio-recordings, test/questionnaire, rubric, graphs, logs, interactive timelines, …

FEEDBACK & ASSESSMENT

Assessment of submitted work by teacher and/or (peer) student(s) in various forms: checkbox, grade, rubric, scale, form, or strictly qualitative.

ACTIVITY FEED

Personalized feed of individual portfolio posts from portfolio’s that students have shared with the teacher

COMMUNICATE & INFORM

Sending messages, study planning, resources, e-mail notifcations, share resources over courses in library, push notificaties (requires our app), registrations, calendar & teaching schedule

ADMINISTRATE RESULTS & REPORT

Individual and group reports of progress on tasks within a course/project for teachers and track-records of individual students for non-teaching mentors / tutors

VIRTUAL CLASSROOM

Interactive (collaborative) whiteboard screensharing, (video)chat, presentation with annotation and session recoring

Interested,

Or want to know more .

How to create a portfolio

The portfolio is essential to get noticed.

Creating a portfolio is a good way of growing your online presence.

The portfolio is used to showcase your skills and projects.

It can help you to get a job, freelancer gig, or, internship.

What is a portfolio

The portfolio can have the same purpose as a CV. Most CVs are written with text, while the portfolio is for showcasing, so it is visual with images and often more detailed than the CV.

It is a place where you can show your work experience and showcase the projects that you are most proud of.

Your online portfolio can be shared with its link to companies, hiring managers, and recruiters, so that they can notice you.

It is about showing and giving others an understanding of who you are as a professional.

Why create a portfolio

It is a great way of growing your online presence and get noticed.

It can be used to get a job or to attract clients to your services.

Having it online as a website. Makes it possible for people all over the world to find you.

The design of the porfolio will give the reader an impression of who you are. Make sure that it appears in a good and presentable way!

Who is a portfolio for

Creating a portfolio can be important for your career.

It can be helpful when searching for a job, a freelancing gig, or showcasing your skills towards a new client.

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What are the most important sections in a portfolio

There are many different ways of creating a portfolio.

How to create it depends on what type of professional you are, who you are building it for, and why you are creating it.

You have to test, fail and learn to find out which type of portfolio that is right for you!

There are some sections which is essential for all types of portfolios, summarized below:

1. Hero section.

The hero section is the first thing people see when they enter your portfolio.

It is displayed under your logo and menu.

The hero section helps the reader to understand what you offer, why someone should work with you, and the value that you provide with your services.

It often contains a call to action button like "contact me", "book a meeting" or similar.

2. About me section.

Give the reader a short summary about yourself.

Include subjects such as your education, work experience, projects and interests.

Help the reader to understand what you are passionate about and your superpowers (the things that you are really good at).

Remember to keep it short and simple.

3. Projects section.

List the projects that you have worked on. The most used way is to order the list by date, but in some cases it can make sense to order them in another logical way.

Add details to each project, which includes your role, what you did, and, how the project turned out.

Adding pictures to showcase what you built is a plus! Showcase the things that you are proud of.

4. Contact me section.

Let the reader know how and where they can get in touch with you.

Add your contact details and other contact channels such as your GitHub profile, LinkedIn, Youtube and so on.

Portfolio examples

Check out some portfolio examples.

You can load the portfolio templates in W3Schools Spaces . Get started with publishing your portfolio in a few clicks.

Black & White Portfolio Template

Dark Portfolio Template

People Portfolio

My Portfolio Template

What do I need to know to create my own portfolio?

HTML, CSS and JavaScript are the foundational languages to create a website.

You can come a long way just using these three!

• Create the structure with HTML. The first thing you have to learn, is HTML, which is the standard markup language for creating web pages.
• Style with CSS. The next step is to learn CSS, to set the layout of your web page with beautiful colors, fonts, and much more.
• Make it interactive with JavaScript. After studying HTML and CSS, you should learn JavaScript to create dynamic and interactive web pages for your users.

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How to create a portfolio step-by-step

Follow the steps to create your portfolio from the ground up.

Preparations

Decide which code editor to use and set up your environment.

W3Schools has created an easy to use code editor called W3Schools Spaces . Sign up and get started in a few clicks.

Create your index.html file. So that you are ready to enter the code.

All set up. Lets go!

Step One: Add HTML Skeleton

Type an HTML skeleton code, which is the starting point for your website. It is the structure which holds the code and ensures that it is properly displayed on the internet.

Read here for how to create a basic HTML Skeleton: How to create a HTML Skeleton

Step Two: Add Navigation Bar

The navigation bar is a short representation of the content on the website.

It is one of the first things that a visitor will see.

It helps the visitors to find and navigate through the content on website. It is important to create well-structured navigation. So that your visitors can find what they are looking for.

Here is an example of how to create a top navigation bar: How to create a Top Navigation Bar

Step Three: Add Hero section

The Hero section, together with the navigation bar, is the first section of your portfolio that people will see.

It should contain short information about several things such as:

• Who are you?
• What do you offer?
• What is your profession?
• Why should people work with you?
• Which actions should you take?

Write in first-person and keep it short and simple .

Additional things preferred in the hero section are:

• Eye-catching graphics, either as a background or side-by-side with the text.
• An action button that leads to content on your portfolio or to the content of another website.

Here is an example on how to create a Hero section: How to create a Hero image

Step Four: Add About Me section

In this section, you can get creative. This can help you to to stand out.

Here you can personalize the content and write about yourself more in-depth.

The content you can include in this section is:

• Your introduction
• Who are you as a professional
• Your education
• Your skills
• Your work experience (present and/or past)
• Your hobbies
• Your goals and ambitions

In a way, you can consider the "About me" section as a short summary of your CV.

Feel free to write about yourself in first person.

Personalization and making people understand you as a person might bring you more attention.

Here is an example on how to create an about me section: How to create an About Me section

Step Five: Add Work Experience section

The work experience section highlights the experience, knowledge, and competence that you have made along your way.

Here you can add:

• Links to your projects with the project name and/or short description of what the project is about.
• Links to blog posts that you have written with title and/or short description about what it is about.
• Your professional awards or achievements.
• Highlighting your work and your accomplishments is a way to create opportunities for yourself.
• Visual representations such as images or graphics.

Step Six: Add Contact section

The contact section is the section that lets your visitor get in touch with you.

You should always include a way for visitors to contact you, either through a contact form or by writing down your contact information such as:

• Phone number
• E.g. Github profile, LinkedIn profile, Youtube profile and so on.

Here is an example on how to create a basic contact section: How to create a Contact section

Step Seven: Add Footer section

The footer can be experienced as a minor section, but it is an important one of every website.

It is about showing critical information based on your website goals and the needs of your visitors.

Often it contains technical information about copyright, but it can hold other information, such as:

• Link to "Privacy policy" page
• Link to "Terms of use" page
• Contact information
• Website navigation links
• Links to social networks
• Link to your shop

Here is an example on how to build a footer section: How to create a Footer section

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Trump's Agenda47 on education: Abolish teacher tenure, universal school choice, patriotism

With former teacher Gov. Tim Walz rounding out the Democratic ticket, education could become a talking point in this election.

Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump has laid out his education policy plans in Agenda47 . Separate from the oft-mentioned Project 2025 , Agenda47 covers Trump's official policy platform on issues including crime, health care and immigration. Agenda47 on education proposes 10 ideas for "great schools leading to great jobs" that range from curriculum requirements to preferential funding for schools with internship programs.

This election comes at a pivotal time for educators, says Jon Valant, director at the Brown Center on Education Policy at the Brookings Institution. Between the pandemic and the culture wars, teachers have had a rough few years and he says Trump's proposals are unlikely to alleviate the core of those issues.

"All of these are politics more than policy," Valant said in an interview. "My worry is distraction, these types of proposals... they're averting people's eyes from what we should actually be talking about."

The National Education Association , the largest teachers' union in the U.S., has thrown its support behind Vice President Kamala Harris and Walz. NEA President Becky Pringle said Trump's agenda is rooted in his time in office, appointing Betsy DeVos as Education secretary . Pringle said she hopes for an administration that will help teachers get more resources and respect to alleviate the teacher shortage.

"When I started teaching many years ago... I didn't really have a clue every decision that was made about my kids, my classroom, my colleagues, was made by someone who was elected or appointed to some position of power," Pringle said, explaining that they want more educators in public office. "We will have an educator in the White House."

Here are some of Trump's proposed education policies that impact teachers and school systems, as quoted in Agenda47:

Tim Walz career timeline: From high school teacher to Kamala Harris' vice-presidential pick

Give preference to schools that abolish teacher tenure

"To reward good teachers, President Trump will  implement  funding preferences and favorable treatment for states and school districts that abolish teacher tenure for grades K-12, adopt Merit Pay to reward good teachers and give parents the right to vote for the principals who direct their children’s education."

◾ How we got here: Valant called this proposal "an oldie but a goodie for conservative education reform," as it tends to be popular among conservatives. About a decade ago, several states sought to reform teacher tenure by extending the probationary period, but in recent years the push has been more muted as other education battles took the forefront.

◾ In today's context: Valant said union politics come into play here, as teachers unions want to protect tenure as a way to defend against unfounded firings. "This one is primarily the... direct shot at teachers unions," Valant said. He also said teacher recruitment and retention after the last few years is already under stress, and he worries taking away tenure could exacerbate that.

Universal school choice

"President Trump supports universal school choice so that parents can send their children to the public, private, or religious school that best suits their needs, their goals, and their values... President Trump commends Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Iowa, Ohio, Oklahoma, Utah, and West Virginia for leading the American school choice revolution – and he looks forward to working with other states, as well as the U.S. Congress, to provide for universal school choice for every American family."

◾ How we got here: School choice can include a range of policies that give parents the ability to use public money for private school tuition or homeschooling. Valant said there was once bipartisan agreement on limited school choice policies that allowed for charter schools. But more expansive school choice policies, like providing vouchers that give money to parents for their kids to attend private school, dramatically expanded in the last few years. According to Education Week, proponents of school choice say it helps provide another option for kids in underperforming schools.

◾ In today's context: Many outcomes of expanding school choice policies have yet to be seen. But Valant said vouchers are often not enough to cover tuition costs for private schools, and as a result they mostly end up helping relatively wealthy families, many of whom already have kids in private school. He said it could also change the landscape of school enrollment if wealthy kids end up in private schools and low-income kids end up in public schools. "To me...it feels like incredible risk for the damage they may do to their public education systems."

Create a credentialing body to certify patriotic teachers

"President Trump will reinstate the  1776 Commission , which he originally created but was disbanded by Joe Biden on his first day in office, to ensure America’s children learn the truth about their country’s history and the timeless principles of liberty and equality... President Trump will  veto  any effort to weaponize or nationalize civics education. And he will create a credentialing body to certify teachers who embrace patriotic values and support the American Way of Life."

◾ How we got here: Trump created the 1776 Commission in November of 2020 as part of the backlash to the New York Times' 1619 Project, which examines the history of slavery in the U.S. That backlash also included conservatives passing "critical race theory" curriculum bans, as a key part of the erupting culture wars. The report the commission produced days before Trump left office excused America's history of slavery and undercut the legacy of the civil rights movement.

◾ In today's context: Political messaging on critical race theory and history curriculums seems to have waned in the last year. Valant said creating a new credentialing body would be politically driven, yet derails from traditional conservative values of stripping down government regulation.

Pringle also said this type of body would be politically driven, and this credentialing body could be made up of unqualified appointees.

"They don't know what our kids need, they haven't trained to be able to teach the diverse learning needs and the skills and meet kids where they are, let alone the preparation of educators," Pringle said. "So we know that anything he does has a political nature to it."

Contributing: Kayla Jimenez, Matthew Brown

Ontario Education Minister Todd Smith resigns

Simcoe north mpp jill dunlop taking over as education minister.

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Ontario Education Minister Todd Smith resigned his seat and from cabinet Friday to accept a job in the private sector less than three months after being given the education portfolio.

Simcoe North MPP Jill Dunlop will replace Smith as education minister, the province announced Friday afternoon.

Smith has served in cabinet since Premier Doug Ford's government was first elected in 2018, but spent the longest amount of time in the energy portfolio.

Sources who were not authorized to publicly discuss the issue have told The Canadian Press that Smith was not happy about the move to education in a cabinet shuffle in June, following three years as energy minister.

Ford's office said he will announce who will be stepping into the role of education minister at some point Friday afternoon.

Smith's resignation comes just one day after he announced a long-awaited new funding formula for child-care operators in the national $10-a-day program and an upcoming cut to the fees parents pay.

• Ontario Premier Doug Ford shuffles cabinet

Smith, a widely liked politician at the legislature who got his start in radio broadcasting, said it was a very difficult decision to leave and he thanked his wife and children for their support over the years he has spent at the legislature.

"It hasn't always been easy," he wrote in his statement.

"The life of a politician is hard and takes its toll. Especially when I was away from home as often as I've been over the past 13 years. I couldn't have asked for a better support system at home."

Ford thanked Smith for his years of public service.

"He leaves politics with a record that he can be incredibly proud of, including and especially fixing the previous government's energy policies and bringing electricity prices down for hardworking families and businesses," Ford wrote in a statement.

"Todd will always be a friend and I can't wait to watch his every success as he starts this next chapter of his life."

Smith served as the provincial representative for Bay of Quinte and was first elected when the Progressive Conservatives were in opposition in 2011.

Focus on nuclear energy as minister

During Ford's tenure as premier, Smith also served as the economic development minister, minister of children, community and social services, and minister of government and consumer services. He was government house leader between June 2018 and June 2019.

Liberal energy critic Ted Hsu wished Smith well in a reply to Smith's departure notice on social media.

"You were a tough opponent to have on the energy file, someone with great communication talent," he wrote. "Good luck with your next opportunity!"

As energy minister, Smith put a focus on nuclear power as a key way to secure enough electricity generation to meet Ontario's fast-growing needs, and was easing the province back into bringing more green energy into the system after the Tories cancelled projects in 2018.

However, as part of the efforts to ensure a steady supply of electricity Smith also brought more natural gas generation into the system, increasing greenhouse gas emissions from the sector, a move for which he was heavily criticized by environmental groups.

Born and raised in New Brunswick, Smith studied at Loyalist College in eastern Ontario, then worked in local radio as the voice of Belleville Bulls hockey and later as news director of Quinte Broadcasting.

In a statement, Opposition NDP Leader Marit Stiles criticized Smith's abrupt resignation, saying the education and child-care sectors are in crisis.

"That the brand-new education minister and minister in charge of child care abruptly jumps ship with less than three months on the job, the day after an important, long-delayed funding formula announcement for child care and just weeks before school is starting, shows the level of seriousness with which Doug Ford and his politicians take kids and families," Stiles said.

With files from CBC News

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