Can Portfolios Assess Student Performance and Influence Instruction?
This report is intended for practitioners, researchers, and policymakers concerned with current performance assessment efforts and their effects on instructional quality. It describes the results of an evaluation of Vermont’s statewide assessment initiative, a program that has garnered widespread attention nationwide because of its reliance on portfolios of student work. Information is provided about program implementation, the effects of the reform on educational practice, the challenges presented by the portfolio scoring process, the reliability and validity of the scores, and the tension between assessment and instructional reform.
