The Homeschooling Handbook_ From Preschool to High School - Mary Griffith [68]
Portfolio systems used in schools can be quite complex, with guidelines for choosing material to be included and complicated “rubrics”—standards against which those contents are to be judged. Unlike artists’ portfolios, which are invariably samples of the artist’s best work, school portfolios are often designed to illustrate the student’s learning process. For example, instead of containing a highly polished essay, a portfolio might include an outline and several early drafts, as well as the finished product, to show the progress the student made in the course of completing the project.
Most homeschoolers take a much less formal approach to portfolios—one more closely analogous to the traditional artist’s portfolio: a sampling of the best work across a wide variety of subjects and skills without attempting to evaluate it against any particular scale or rubric.
Advantages
Portfolios can provide more meaningful information about student skills and abilities than conventional letter grades.
Portfolios can be flexible enough to illustrate areas of strength that traditional grading systems do not measure well.
The student can choose her best work to be included in a portfolio; her skills and achievements are usually shown to best advantage.
Drawbacks
Because they may show only the student’s best work, portfolios may not give an accurate picture of the student’s real abilities. Samples may not be the student’s typical product.
Portfolios, even with clearly defined standards for judging their content, can be every bit as subjective as any other form of evaluation.
We keep many more samples than we turn in—stories, artwork, photos. Especially in the artwork category, we are being swamped by the creations of three prolific artists, so we are seriously having to rethink what we save. I make notes of good books that we want to remember, and once a year or so, I will spend a week or two jotting down what the kids did in some detail: questions asked, topics investigated, educational shows watched, books read, and so on. Usually this takes so much time that it doesn’t go on for long, and my husband points out that no administrator will want to read all that. Still, it is always reassuring to see the variety and depth of things that turn up.
Grades seem pointless, so we don’t give them. The kids participate in our evaluation process by telling us what they thought of the year and what they’d like to do in the coming year. This is ongoing, not done just at year-end. The children also read the reports we write and give us feedback from their perspective. On a couple of occasions, at my suggestion, they wrote a short description of some recent activities, and I included these with our progress report.—Linda, Hawaii
We occasionally take photographs or shoot videos for our own use and enjoyment. I keep a box for each of the children where they can save anything they choose, and I sometimes save things of theirs for myself. We don’t plan to ever give grades or tests, keep logs, portfolios, or do any other formal evaluation. I enjoy keeping a journal from time to time, and I expect my children might eventually also, but these are strictly personal.—Laura, Texas
Narrative Evaluation
Many homeschoolers use some form of written narrative to record their evaluations of their children’s work. This can take the form of journals or diaries describing daily activities at regular intervals or less frequent semester or yearly reports comparing each student’s interests and abilities with those apparent in previous reports. Written narrative descriptions are particularly