Portfolios as assessments

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I use portfolios a great deal, and I've been teaching elementary school for ten years. There are pros and cons to portfolio assessment. I will give you both and you can decide for yourself.

Pros: Portfolio assessments are a great way to show growth and learning. They are used in two ways: for a student to demonstrate success (with samples chosen by a student), and for a teacher to prove progress and mastery. I love them for both writing and math development. They provide evidence proving that students can master certain tasks. If I have a list of skills, for example, that a first grader is supposed to master during the year, I can include an example from the student of how they mastered that skill. Maybe if I want my first grade student to be able to write ...