Study Guide Questions

1. Explain the rationale for using portfolio assessment.
   
   
2. What types of materials might be included in a child’s portfolio?
   
   
3. Describe the Work Sampling System (WSS) method of portfolio evaluation.
   
   
4. Discuss three reasons why it is important to include children when reviewing their portfolios.
   

Answer Key

1. Portfolio assessment includes diverse types of behaviors and shows what a child can do in a variety of situations and contexts. The portfolio is a powerful means of facilitating communication among different professionals and parents, and it provides coherent documentation of a child’s progress over time. Portfolios often demonstrate to parents child skills of which they were unaware and how parents can learn to interpret their children’s work.
   
   
   
2. Artwork, picture journals, dictations, audiotaped conversations and songs, videotapes, photographs of block constructions and playdough manipulations, science projects, parent reports, and teacher observation records (e.g., graphs, charts, checklists).
   
   
   
3. WSS provides a comprehensive evaluation and documentation approach in seven domain areas (including language and literacy, scientific thinking, and art and music) for preschool through fifth grade. It includes developmental guidelines and checklists (including reference to well-recognized criteria and expectations), work samples (consisting of two types of children’s work — core items and individualized items), and summary reports (containing specific criteria for evaluating children’s performance and progress in each domain based upon data from the checklist and portfolio).
   
   
   
4. a. Children are able to remember, rediscover, and communicate their accomplishments.
   
   b. Children learn important self-evaluation skills.
   
   c. Children have the opportunity to talk about their work (e.g., why they like or dislike a piece, what they learned from it).