Planning for portfolios: who decides?

Teams of administrators, teachers and library media specialists work together in Manchester, N.H. to plan the implementation of digital portfolios in their schools.

It might sound odd at first, but schools have more success with digital portfolios when it is NOT considered a technology project.

The success of a digital portfolio project depends on having it fit within the daily activities of teachers and students. Thus, it helps when the people who will actually be implementing the portfolios -- the "end users" -- are involved in the planning.

In the planning stage, what works for many schools is to form a team that includes an administrator (such as a principal or assistant superintendent), a technology coordinator, and teachers who are likely to pilot the portfolio. Each will be looking for different things in the portfolio: the ability to generate reports, the need for tech support, and the integration of the portfolio into the process of teaching and learning. Ideally, all members of the team look at all of these considerations; minimally, though, the team as a whole needs to consider how the portfolio tool will be most useful to the school's work.

When the Dover, New Hampshire, school district began investigating digital portfolios, a district-wide committee was formed, including participants from all of the K-8 buildings. By including the perspectives of administrators (at both the school and district level), technology personnel, and teachers, the committee was able to maintain a focus on the primary purpose for creating portfolios and come up with realistic plans to begin a pilot and eventually roll out the portfolio to the rest of the faculty. Meanwhile, other teams across the state of New Hampshire have been participating in professional development sessions. In reflecting on their experiences, the most common statement was an appreciation to have time to work in a group with other members of their faculty and administration.

When the digital portfolio initiative is led primarily by technology staff, the result often leaves the educational issues behind. Most schools have small technology staffs, and many technology coordinators are not familiar with assessment issues. As a result, the conversation in these schools focuses primarily on the superficial aspects of the digital portfolio; the assumption is that the portfolio is just a place to store and organize student work. (One coordinator asked if the e-mail system couldn't serve the same purpose as the portfolio -- after all, student work could be stored there¦)

Schools have more success when the portfolio initiative is considered a part of the district's curriculum and assessment initiatives. Schools need to address the essential questions – What is our purpose? Who is our primary audience? How will we assess individual tasks? How will we review the portfolio as a whole? . These questions need to be addressed first, before asking the question, "What technology will we use?"

While it's important to consider the technology aspects of how to store the portfolio data, the key to a portfolio project is how different users -- teachers, students, administrators and parents -- will use the data.

4/14/2008