Integrating Performance-Based Portfolios into Coursework Association of Teacher Educators Jacksonville, Florida February 17, 2003

Department of Secondary & Middle Grades Education Kim Loomis, Associate Professor of Middle Grades Science Education & CETL Fellow Lynn Stallings, Associate Professor of Middle Grades Mathematics Education & Undergraduate Program Coordinator Marj Economopoulos, Associate Professor of Middle Grades Mathematics Education & Dept Chair Nita Paris, Assistant Professor of Educational Psychology & Graduate Program Coordinator

Overview What did we know? What did we learn? How does it play out in different courses? What issues are we still grappling with?

We know that... We live in a land of performance outcomes. Teacher education programs have conceptual frameworks. Teacher education programs need to collect data on students’ progress throughout the program. Portfolios are a logical solution. Challenge: Integrate portfolios throughout the program to provide evidence that teacher candidates are achieving performance outcomes!

Questions we started with... How do we help candidates understand what portfolios are and what their purpose is? When do we do this and when should our candidates start their portfolios? What format and media should we use? How should our candidates organize their portfolios and select evidence? How much guidance should we give candidates? When and how should portfolios be evaluated? What impact should the evaluation have?

What we did: Four “Domains” Learners Content Pedagogy Professionalism Four Levels of Proficiency L1 – No evidence L2 – Little evidence L3 – Clear evidence L4 – Clear and consistent evidence Created evaluation instrument reflective of the conceptual framework – The Candidate Performance Instrument (CPI)

More of what we did: Correlated course objectives and assignments to the CPI (evaluation instrument). Had candidates create portfolios in required courses. Took the portfolios up for evaluation at several points in the program.

What we learned: Candidates need orientation. Candidates need reassurance. If you tell them what you want, that’s all you’ll get. Consistent organization makes evaluation easier. Plastic sheaths make the pages easy to turn, but hard to write on. Develop a rubric.

More of what we learned: We can’t have portfolios from Every student Every class Every semester Portfolios get more professional as candidates progress. CANDIDATES MAKE CONNECTIONS!

Which domains are addressed in the course Evidence Narratives Organization An Introductory Course… Introduction to Education - Required for Admission to Teacher Education Introduce the CF, CPI and correlation table in the syllabus. Introduce the whole concept of a portfolio. Evaluate at the end of the course for S/U grade.

An Upper Level Course... Learning, Motivation, and Classroom Management Go over correlation table in the syllabus. Acknowledge activities particularly appropriate to include as evidence. Assign course evidence narrative. Evaluate course evidence narrative S/U or to impact course grade.

A Content Course... Mathematics for Middle Grades Teachers Addressed only content and professionalism outcomes. As MGE teacher candidates develop their expertise as effective classroom teachers who facilitate learning in all students, they Domain 2: Mathematics Content Outcome 2.1: Possess strong knowledge of discipline content, methods of inquiry, connections to other disciplines, and applications in life situations. Outcome 2.2: Possess in depth content understanding that allows use of multiple explanations to help learners understand the discipline content. Domain 4 Professionalism Outcome 4.5 Use effective communication skills.

A Content Course... Mathematics for Middle Grades Teachers Communicated (negotiated) the assignment with rubrics.

A Content Course... Mathematics for Middle Grades Teachers Kept revising the rubric to help them understand how to develop a portfolio. Level 1: Portfolio offers little or no evidence or no narrative. Level 2: Portfolio provides evidence and narrative, but narrative doesn’t explain how the evidence supports the outcome. Level 3: Portfolio provides evidence and a narrative that explains how evidence supports outcome. Level 4: Portfolio provides more than one piece of evidence and a narrative that explains how the evidence supports the outcomes.

A Content Course... Mathematics for Middle Grades Teachers Kept revising the rubric to help them understand the outcomes too.

A Content Course... Mathematics for Middle Grades Teachers Evidence could come from course or any other relevant experience. Students had varying levels of prior mathematical experiences. Those with a mathematics concentration had to present more evidence. Synergy of building upon work being done by colleagues concurrently.

The Methods Block … Go over correlation table in the syllabus. Acknowledge activities particularly appropriate to include as evidence. Evaluate portfolios using the CPI to impact final grade. (Also impacts admission to student teaching.) Save some for evidence for accreditation review!

Student Teaching Go over correlation table in syllabus. Collect portfolios at the end of the semester to inform the evaluation instrument for the S/U evaluation for student teaching. (Select exemplary portfolios at various levels to be copied and saved for NCATE!)

Issues: Now & Future Metaphors that define the portfolio Paint-by-number kit Coloring book Expressionist painting Consistency vs Academic Freedom Accreditation/Standards Helpfulness Potential Hindrances

Issues: Now & Future Selecting portfolios as samples Storing evidence Media Paper notebooks Web based Proprietary software: Live text Piloting and some samples

Integrating Performance-Based Portfolios into Coursework Q & A

Thanks! Kim Loomis Lynn Stallings Marj Economopoulos Nita Paris