Teacher Tips
Thinking about Electronic Portfolios: Some Types of E-Portfolios
By F. Robert Sabol, Ph. D.
President-Elect, NAEA
Professor of Visual and Performing Arts and Chair of Art Education
Purdue University
West Lafayette, Indiana
Electronic portfolios are fairly commonplace in contemporary art education and are used for a variety of purposes. These purposes help determine the structure and content of the portfolio. Electronic portfolios can be designed to meet a myriad of purposes. Following are just a few.
- Archival Portfolios are intended to be a warehouse of all work students may do. Artifacts may include any products students create.
- Proficiency Portfolios are used to determine graduation eligibility and to provide evidence that students have met state or district standards or proficiency requirements.
- Reflective Portfolios enable students to reflect on their learning at significant points in the process. Students may write about what they have learned what their learning means to them, or what they feel they still need to learn.
- Developmental Portfolios illustrate how the work of a student develops over time or a single work at various stages of completion.
- Showcase Portfolios include selected samples of the best works of a student or of a class or course.
- Employment Skills Portfolios include selected works that demonstrate specialized skills needed for future employment.
- Competition Portfolios include works of art chosen to meet criteria identified for competitions, such as scholarships, awards, or exhibitions.
- College Admission Portfolios contain examples and information about the student that enable colleges to make admission decisions.
- Teacher Planning Portfolios include examples of work from a class or course that enable teachers to evaluate curriculum or to track the quality of work among classes.
Assessment: What Will You Accept?
By Cris Guenter, Ed.D.
Artist and educator
California State University, Chico
Chico, California
The use of rubrics in art education is extremely useful because the vast majority of assignments students complete are authentic and performance-based. Being able to construct meaningful rubrics that work well for both teacher and student is important. A key tip for rubric construction, that I believe helps to anchor the entire assessment process, is a simple but important question:
"What will I accept and not accept for this assignment?"
By asking yourself this question and then determining the answer, you have effectively established the "cut-off" for acceptable work. Write down what is acceptable. Look at what you have listed. Most likely you have included items that address skill development or demonstration, material usage and clean-up, connections to class discussions, self-reflection, and, perhaps, critiquing and presentation. These criteria descriptions, and others that you desire, determine the line between what is acceptable on your rubric and what is not. All rubrics have a line of demarcation somewhere that indicates what is acceptable and what is not. By asking the above question at the beginning of your rubric construction, you can zero in on what is acceptable and then build your rubric. Criteria descriptions that are not acceptable will indicate gaps in content, incomplete work, vague connections, and little or no evidence of the expected skill competencies. For the criteria descriptions that exceed the level of acceptable, indicators will be enhanced, additional descriptors will be added, and skill competencies will be increased or made more extensive.
Examining a Few Principles of Assessment
By F. Robert Sabol, Ph. D.
President-Elect, NAEA
Professor of Visual and Performing Arts and Chair of Art Education
Purdue University
West Lafayette, Indiana
Art teachers are required to routinely assess the performances of their students. Assessments should be based on principles that are sound and defensible. Although there are no universally agreed upon principles for assessment, the following are suggested for consideration by art educators at all instructional levels.
- Students, parents, and administrators should be informed of expectations for learning. This principle suggests that clear standards and objectives for learning be routinely communicated to all stakeholders.
- Students must have ample opportunity to learn what is expected of them. Students must have the materials, facilities, instructional time, and curriculum content that will enable them to learn what will be assessed.
- Instructional standards, objectives, and assessments should be considered simultaneously. Outcomes and instructional content must match what will be assessed.
- Content, skills, and processes to be learned must match the content and format of assessments. Assessments must measure what was taught and provide students opportunities to demonstrate what they learned.
- In evaluating student performance and product, fair, consistent, reasonable, and stable standards should be applied. Assessment of students' works depends on objective evaluation of students' works.
- Students should be given multiple opportunities to demonstrate what they have learned. Multiple assessments of students' performances provide a more accurate understanding of students' achievements.
- Students should be told the kinds of tasks they must complete and the criteria with which the products will be evaluated. Students should understand what they must do and how what they do will be evaluated.