Undergraduate Teacher Education Portfolios
Wichita State University

Type of Undergraduate Teacher Education Portfolio: Exit or Program Portfolio

Starting date for using portfolios in undergraduate education: Fall 1991

Purpose: The primary purpose of the portfolio developed during the teacher education program at WSU is to integrate and interrelate knowledge and skills learned in each of the Block courses, the students' major coursework, and program electives. Second, it will allow students to validate their coursework, early field experiences, prestudent teaching experiences, and student teaching by showing the approximation and eventual achievement of the program goals. Throughout the program this will necessitate collecting documents of various kinds, selecting specific items on which to reflect, and showing continued development. This portfolio is cumulative in nature and will be evaluated at the end of each semester Professional Portfolio Handbook (WSU, 1995). (connection to handbook?)

Required Elements:

• Cover Letter
• Philosophy Statement
• List of Relevant Courses Connected to Program Goals
• Field Experience Evaluations with Reflection

More information is available for students in the Professional Portfolio Handbook (WSU, 1995).

Student Selected Items:

4-6 captioned entries, demonstrating sustained effort and reflection which documenting student's professional growth. These items take the form of artifacts (generated as part of the student's courses and field experiences), productions (items specifically generated for the portfolio), reproductions (videos, photo, etc. to show student performance), attestations (documents attesting to student performance).

More information is available for students in the Professional Portfolio Handbook (WSU, 1995).

Portfolio Training for Students

Students participate in a two-session training during their first semester in teacher education which focuses on portfolios, their form, shape, and use. Students practice writing captions which include a date, title, connection to program goals, and reflection on the entry's relationship to student's growth.

During the first semester of a student's program, they are assigned a faculty advisor who serves as their program advisor and portoflio advisor.

Portfolio Training for Faculty

When we first began the use of portfolios in teacher education sessions were held for faculty to clarify the purpose of portfolios, examine and develop assessment forms, and practice assessing. Presently all teacher education faculty are encouraged to attend all portfolio training for students to participate in discussion groups and to serve as facilitators.

During the first semester of a student's program, faculty are assigned 4-6 new portfolio advisees, which over the period of 4 semesters means that faculty may at any time have 24-30 students they advise in program and portfolio issues.

Portfolio Events

• At the end of the first semester students present an initial portfolio to a small group of 3-5 peers and 2 faculty members. Contents include a cover letter, philosophy statement, list of relevant courses, and 1-3 captioned self-selected entries.
• At the end of the second semester students present an up-dated portfolio. Contents include an updated cover letter, philosophy statement, list of relevant courses, and 1-3 captioned self-selected entries.
• At the end of the third semester students meet individually with an assigned portfolio advisor to review what students have collected over time and plan for the completion and evaluation of the protfolio during the final semester.
• During the 12th week of the final semester students present their final portfolio to their advisor. Students may also ask another non teacher education evaluator to be a part of the exit conference, if they choose. This additional person is most often a liberal arts or fine arts subject area specialist or a practicing teacher or administrator.

Portfolio events are described in the Professional Portfolio Handbook (WSU, 1995).

Portfolio Assessment

During the first and last semester, student portfolios are assessed using a combination of checklist items and ratings. Required elements are required to be there and completed according to guidelines. Self-selected entries are counted to include 4-6, examined for the presence of an appropriate caption, and rated 0, 1, or 2. A satisfactory rating is required for graduation and is a part of the grade given in their capstone Senior Seminar.

During the second semester, students are rated on their portfolio presentation using a rubric designed to cover each of the elements.

During the third semester, students must meet with faculty and faculty must sign a form indicating the planning conference has taken place before students receive a student teaching placement.

Rubrics are in the Professional Portfolio Handbook (WSU, 1995).

Resulting Publications

Anderson, P., Potthoff, D., Carroll, J., Attivo, B., & Kear, D. (in progress). Student selection of unique portfolio entries.

Carroll, J. A., Potthoff, D., & Huber, T. (1996). Portfolios in teacher education: What we have learned in three years of portfolio use. Journal of Teacher Education, 47(4), pp. 253-262.

Potthoff, D., & Carroll, J. A. (1997). The practices of portfolios in teacher education: Portfolio development and evaluation in the United States. Conference Proceedings for the International Conference on Teacher Education, Pingtung, Taiwan: Republic of China.

Potthoff, D., Carroll, J., Anderson, P., Attivo, B, & Kear, D. (1996). Striving for integration: A portfolio content analysis. Action in Teacher Education 18(1), pp. 48-58.

Potthoff, D., & Carroll, J., & Huber, T. (submitted for publication). The sound of one hand clapping: What one college of education faculty learned about using portfolios.

Wichita State University College of Education. (1995). Professional portfolio handbook. Wichita, KS: