Phase One:

Organization and Planning - This initial phase of portfolio development entails decision-making on the part of students and teachers. By exploring essential questions at the beginning of the process, students can fully understand the purpose of the portfolio and its status as a means of monitoring and evaluating their own progress. Key questions for the teacher and the student must include:

• How do I select times, materials, etc. to reflect what I am learning in this class?

• How do I organize and present the items, materials, etc. that I have collected?

• How will portfolios be maintained and stored?

Phase Two:

Collection - This process involves the collection of meaningful artifacts and products reflecting students' educational experiences and goals. Decisions must be made at this phase about the context and contents of the portfolio based upon the intent and purposes identified for it. The selection and collection of artifacts and products should be based upon a variety of factors that can include:

• Particular subject matter;

• A learning process; or

• Special projects, themes, and/or unites.

All selections included in the collection should clearly reflect the criteria and standards identified for evaluation.

Phase Three:

Reflection - Wherever possible, there should be evidence of students' metacognitive reflections upon the learning process and their monitoring of their evolving comprehension of key knowledge and skills. These reflections can take the form of learning logs, reflective journals, and other forms of reflections upon their experiences, the thinking processes they have used, and the habits of mind they employed at given points in time and across time periods. In addition, teacher and/or parent reflections upon the products, processes, and thinking articulated in the portfolio should also be included wherever appropriate.

Source: IRI/Skylight Publications

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