Portfolio+Grading

What is Portfolio Grading?

Portfolio grading is a unique and authentic assessment that is valuable in many ways. First, the student chooses from a selection of their work, four learning samples they believe best represent how they answered the essential question over the quarter. This gives the student ownership of their work and the decision to put in what they feel best represents their performance in the course. Second, the student reflects on each piece of work they have done in a "Product Caption". This product caption asks them to reflect on what they learned specifically and explain how they felt about it and why it might have been easy or challenging.

Each piece of work in their portfolio directly correlates to West Aurora School District's Priority Learning Targets (PLT's), which are aligned to Illinois State Standards for Education. The essential questions were developed alongside the PLT's and are a restatement that the students find easier to understand. Students are "answering" the essential question with their Learning Samples and Product Captions.

How Portfolio Grading works:


 * 1) Students complete work over the course of the quarter.
 * 2) They earn an "effort" grade for this work that goes into the gradebook.
 * 3) The "Effort" grade section will eventually be worth 20% of their grade.
 * 4) Towards the end of the quarter, the class reviews the PLT's covered in that quarter.
 * 5) Students are given their options for what they can include as Learning Samples for each PLT.
 * 6) Students complete a PLT Portfolio Page for each PLT covered that quarter.
 * 7) On the portfolio page, students identify which assignments, tests, quizzes, projects, etc... they will use as Learning Samples. Some assignments are required, and this is made known to students.
 * 8) Each PLT has 4 learning samples total.
 * 9) For each Learning Sample, students must fill out a Product Caption (as discussed earlier).
 * 10) Students then submit their portfolios for review to the teacher.
 * 11) The teacher fills out a Portfolio Rubric that is stapled to the inside cover of their portfolio.
 * 12) This Portfolio then accounts for 80% of the final grade.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">The breakdown for grading each PLT is as follows:

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">PLT Portfolio Page (20 points) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Product Captions (20 points) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Learning Sample 1 (15 points) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Learning Sample 2 (15 points) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Learning Sample 3 (15 points) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Learning Sample 4 (15 points)

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Total for each PLT: 100 Points

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Components to the Portfolio:

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">PLT Portfolio Page <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Product Caption <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Learning Sample <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Portfolio Rubric