When referring to school improvement, educators and policymakers typically consider increased student achievement on some standardized assessment the desired result, yet very rarely do schools truly integrate students into the improvement process. Students are peripheral decision-makers who do not substantially impact the type of improvement process that is chosen. Educators, policymakers, and community members are expecting the process itself to cause an improvement; however, the most important player has no sense of ownership or belonging to the process. As Fuhrman (1996) notes, "School reform and planning are complex processes. Motivation for reform is just as complex. Motivation is a matter of organization and management as well as policy, and it is influenced by the larger context in ways beyond the reach of any of those fields of endeavor." Without the commitment of the students to improve, the process itself may be in jeopardy. According to Fuhrman, any improvement process needs to include parents, teachers, students, and others as integral members of the process; it needs to hold students to achievement of clear core curriculum in a more personalized environment where teachers get to know students and their culture. In addition, the process must utilize motivational approaches that consider how the economy and broader culture reinforce achievement in school. Students should play a vital role in any process that directly affects their ability to improve, as well as to their levels of academic achievement.

Portfolios provide a way to encourage student involvement in the improvement process. Stiggins (1999) reports that three factors exist which allow students to take ownership of their own academic achievement: student-involved classroom assessment, student-involved record keeping, and student-involved communication. Student-involved classroom assessment in the form of a portfolio allows the students to partner with teachers in a constant cycle of personal improvement. The portfolios also serve as a tool to provide evidence of student "success over time . . . by requiring periodic student self-reflections about the changes that they see" (p. 196). Through personal record keeping, the students monitor their own performance. Finally, portfolios provide a tool for communication and reflection where students share their work with peers, parents, and teachers, receiving constant feedback on their work and accomplishments. With regular feedback, students gain more confidence in their own abilities to be successful. Through the interaction that revolves around the portfolio, educators and students strike up a common understanding of strengths that need to be enhanced and weaknesses that need to be overcome. Portfolios can be used as a tool that encourages greater participation and ownership of students in the improvement process.

Background

In order to focus on continual student improvement, the Boulder Canyon High School (BCHS) community decided to implement the use of portfolios in 1999 during the school's first year of operation. The student portfolios have since become an integral part of student assessment and overall school improvement. The portfolios provided teachers and students with an opportunity to see personal and intellectual growth despite an overall high rate of student turnover and standardized test scores that rank Boulder Canyon students in the lower quartile. As one of two alternative high schools in the Mesa School District, BCHS serves students who are at-risk of not graduating due to deficiency in academic credit. This loss in credit may be due to long-term health issues, frustration in the larger comprehensive school, or poor decisions (including delinquent activity or disciplinary issues). Academically, the school offers students courses in the core academic areas of math, science, English, and social studies. On the Stanford Achievement Test-9, students typically score two to three grade levels below where they should be, based upon their age. On Arizona's standardized test, Arizona Instrument to Measure Standards (AIMS), none of the students passed all three sections of reading, writing, and math during the first year of operation and only 9% passed in the 2000-2001 school year. Due to the students' poor academic performance on assessments that have little relevance to them, the Boulder Canyon community decided during the 1999-2000 school year to implement portfolio assessments as part of a three-year site improvement plan. The portfolios were to be used as a way to show incremental gains in the academic areas and to encourage student ownership in their own personal growth and improvement.

Portfolio Process

Every student who enters BCHS is required to maintain a portfolio. The process is formative in nature, and the hope is that students will continue to build the portfolio after completion of their coursework. Students are required to have the following categories represented in their portfolio: goals, character themes, math/science coursework, English/social studies coursework, and college/career information. The categories are general by design in order to allow students the ownership and opportunity to select assignments that reflect what they believe to be their true accomplishments and areas of improvement. In each class, teachers conduct a portfolio review with the student and discuss areas of strength and weakness. This allows an opportunity for the teacher and the student to decide the focus of personal growth for that particular class (academic, social, or emotional). Based upon this initial discussion, the student and the teacher monitor academic, social, or emotional growth. At the end of the quarter, the student ultimately determines which projects and assignments show the student's level of achievement and what material should be placed in the portfolio.

Along with continuous monitoring by classroom teachers, each student's portfolio is formally assessed four times throughout the school year. During the first semester, the student completes a self-assessment using a five-trait rubric and receives feedback through peer assessment that utilizes the same rubric. These assessments are used as for reflection and provide the student an opportunity to think about personal growth over the course of the semester. During the second semester, students again complete a self-assessment. In addition, the student leads a student/parent portfolio conference where the student demonstrates proficiency in academic and social standards through a formal presentation. Parents have an opportunity to ask questions and engage their children in academically rich dialogue that reinforces the skills and material learned by the student. Through this assessment process, students clearly see the skills mastered and the areas for continued improvement. The reflection gives them the time to review their incremental growth, the encouragement to move forward, and insight into what needs to be done next.

During the last semester at BCHS, students must complete a final exit interview. The interview is conducted by a panel of three community leaders who are members of the local Rotary Club. The panelists ask students a series of questions that force students to think about their own social, emotional, and academic improvement during the time that they have been at the school. Upon completion of the interview, students receive immediate feedback from the panelists about the work that they have completed. After the interview is completed, the panelists together complete the five-trait rubric that has been used throughout the portfolio process. The final exit interview serves several purposes geared to school-wide improvement. First, it allows students to bring closure to their academic experience at BCHS by recognizing the several accomplishments that have occurred; second, it allows community leaders to see the fantastic work that students have completed while providing the school staff with continuous feedback on the skills that the students need to be successful in the workforce; finally, it establishes a culture of continuous improvement that involves educators, students, parents, and community leaders. Several individuals feel a sense of ownership and pride when one student becomes academically successful.

Conclusion

Although BCHS is still in its infancy in terms of determining the true impact of portfolios on school-wide improvement on large-scale assessments like AIMS and Stanford 9 tests, portfolios allow all members of the school community to recognize the importance of the improvement process. The verdict is still out on how much this process will help students increase their scores on AIMS or Stanford 9 tests, but the BCHC staff is committed to the personal improvement of each child. Portfolios allow for this personalization during an improvement process. As Stecher and Herman (1997) note "portfolio assessments can support thoughtful planning and program improvement efforts. Evidence from large-scale implementations of portfolio assessment indicates that schools and teachers alter both their goals for students and their instructional practices" (p. 512). School improvement is reflected in individual student improvement. By involving students in the process through portfolios, portfolios provide an effective tool to ensure that both school and student improvement go hand in hand.

References

Fuhrman, S. (1996). Conclusion: Building a better system of incentives. In S. Fuhrman & J. O'Day (Eds.), Rewards and reforms: Creating educational incentives that work (pp. 330-341). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Stecher, B. & Herman, J. (1997). Using portfolios for large-scale assessment. In G. D. Phye (Ed.), Handbook of classroom assessment: Learning, adjustment, and achievement (pp. 489-516). San Diego: Academic Press.

Stiggens, R. (1999). Assessment, student confidence, and school success. Phi Delta Kappan, 81 (11), 191-198.