Literacy Portfolios Improving Assessment, Teaching and Learning

Since the publication of the first edition of this book, there have been remarkable changes in education. Never before has there been such concern about raising performance standards of children in elementary and secondary schools; and never before has there been such an increased call for more assessment. Although assessment had always been a concern of educators, it was seen as an important and necessary aspect of the cycle of effective teaching to both monitor the effectiveness of teaching practices and determine if students were making appropriate progress. Currently, assessment has an extraordinary political dimension, with the call for more testing, more rigorous testing, and more high-stakes testing, thus making testing the centerpiece of school reform. A recent political cartoon depicted the President in front of a microphone saying "Testing, testing, testing," seemingly to determine whether the sound equipment was working. Actually his response was an answer to the question: what's your educational agenda? We have always believed that assessment is important and that there are various forms of assessment that contribute to quality education. Standardized testing has very legitimate purposes, and we are certainly and clearly not calling for their elimination. Especially since "Standard-based reform has become the central thrust of federal education policy, as it already was in most states" (Traub, p. 2). However, we are calling for the judicious use of these tests to be balanced with informal assessment measures that have significant usefulness for teachers, students, administrators, and families. To base educational decisions and to make high-stakes decisions regarding a child's placement, promotion, graduation, or future on the basis of a standardized test is counterproductive and frankly destructive to the educational process and the welfare of children. How can we justify mandated testing when rankings on these tests were "almost indistinguishable from the socioeconomic scale, with wealthy suburbs on top and the big cities on the bottom" (Traub, p. 3). Since the publication of the first edition, we feel that it is even more important for literacy educators and those who have a stake in literacy learning to know about portfolios as an important assessment tool that is integral to literacy improvement. Literacy portfolios, when used thoughtfully and insightfully, will assist teachers in using multiple assessment measures to indicate the richness of the curriculum and children's involvement in the learning process (hence the new title of the current edition). TEXT ORGANIZATION In reviewing the comments from readers of the first edition, some felt that the opening of the book should quickly immerse the reader into the application of portfolios in actual classrooms before delving into theory. Consequently, Chapter 1, "Welcome to Our Classrooms," provides readers with the application of literacy portfolios at three levels of education--primary, intermediate, and middle school--written by educators who have used portfolios in places as diverse as Colorado, urban and suburban New York, and Texas. As different as these locales are, readers will note that there are similar overriding concerns of all these teachers: documenting accountability, student progress and performance, enhancing literacy education, and meeting the needs of diverse and often underprepared learners. We are pleased to have the contributions and experience of Linda Vizyak, Robyn Lane, Glenda Moss, and Carole Rhodes. In Part One, Chapters 2, 3, and 4 discuss the theory of literacy portfolios as well as provide ideas for exemplary portfolio practice. Note that Chapter 3 is followed by a brief Appendix in which Mark Quigley, Carole Rhodes, and Jeff Nowak discuss the use of technology in creating electronic portfolios--a tool that holds much promise. In Part Two, Chapters 5 through 8 offer guidelines fCohen, Judith H. is the author of 'Literacy Portfolios Improving Assessment, Teaching and Learning', published 2002 under ISBN 9780130453242 and ISBN 0130453242.