Historic Assessment

• What has been done in the past?
• What are the positive aspects of standardized testing
• What are the negative aspects?
• Why are we looking at alternatives?

The Portfolio Alternative

• What is portfolio assessment?
• What is a portfolio?
• What is included?
• How are contents selected? What are the criteria?
• Who chooses what goes in it?
• Who has ownership? Who has access? Where is it kept?
• What is worth measuring/ for workplace literacy.? for family literacy? for students entering upgrading?
• Can a portfolio include things that the learner learns and deals with in other areas?
• Can portfolios apply to any curriculum?
• What can portfolio assessment do best and why?
• Does it build on strengths and cope with deficiencies?
• Does it reinforce lifelong learning.?
• Are there limitations? Problems?
• Could portfolio assessment have a negative effect on motivation?
• Do we do the learner a disservice - not preparing him/her for competition, testing?
• Do portfolios give a true evaluation? Are only the best efforts included?
• How time demanding are portfolios?
• How do you cope with the unwilling learner?
• How could you use portfolios in your job situation?
• What would you put in them?
• How would you assess a particular performance for inclusion in a portfolio?
• How would you design a chart that would show progress over time?
• How to meet the needs of industry demands for measurement?
• Can portfolios achieve accountability?
• What is required for portfolio assessment to be accepted as a measure of success?
• Can it be the sole evaluation or in combination with traditional methods?

Literacy Program Evaluation

• What should be expected in terms of accountability?
• What kind of data will literacy projects have to have?
• How can portfolio assessment fit in?
• What tangible measurements would be in a portfolio that could evaluate the program over time?
• Can it be the sole evaluation? only part? what has to go with it?
• What form will your evaluation take?