By Jonathan Mann

Rope seems a fitting metaphor to describe the portfolios for schools new to the process. Rope has a certain beauty and limitation in its utility. It is a collection of many strands that together create a strong and formidable single cord. The rope is easily knotted and fastened, and with more difficulty, spliced. It is very useful but can become unreliable. If frayed or over-stretched, it cannot support the weight it once could. Its full composite is only as good as the individual strand.

Student portfolios have a rope-like usefulness and limitation. They are a composite of the many vital beliefs of a school. They mirror what goes on in the classroom and reflect "big ideas" and skills deemed important to the school. They also represent the culture of quality and character. Most importantly they represent each individual student as a learner. Each "strand" of the portfolio needs to carry weight enough to tell us who this child is and what they understand.

All Expeditionary Learning schools eventually reach the moment of talking about and then designing their student portfolio process. The complexity and importance of this task always humbles me. Student portfolios reach into every aspect of a school. They unveil the school's instructional practices, the curricular flow, and focus on character through performances, presentations of skills, thorough assessments, reflections, and, most importantly, high quality work.

Each school has a unique portfolio story. The Southwest Open School in Cortez and the Pioneer School in Fort Collins are two Colorado expeditionary schools weaving together the strength of their character education and academic programs to help students create strong portfolios.

SOUTHWEST OPEN SCHOOL: STRUCTURE AND SUPPORT

Southwest Open School in Cortez, Colorado is a high school (grades 9-12) of about 140 students that was begun in 1987 with the vision of creating an experiential education program for underserved students in and around Cortez. They have a strong history of outdoor education, inclusivity, and compassion. This is the third year of Expeditionary Learning, and their portfolio process has been growing gradually. The deliberate pace of portfolio development coincides with a large structural change to a two-house system.

The two-house system, beginning in fall 2002, will reduce the four-year time span for creating a graduation portfolio by establishing an initial passage point using preliminary benchmarks. In this first phase, called the Explorations House, students work toward passage by creating portfolios pieces in the main content areas. This work is focused mostly on the main skills like organization, determining importance in text, and problem solving. In addition, they must show evidence of the affective skills that are that are central to Southwest's Discovery Program (see page 8). The focus in the Explorations House is to build confidence and skill through consistent support and interdisciplinary expeditions.

Successful completion and presentation of work from the Explorations House will allow students to move into the Destinations House. In this house, students participate in expedition activities that will have increasing levels of challenge and more opportunity for pursuing individual projects, apprenticeships, and career exploration. Again, students will present completed, high quality work to a panel for graduation.

Last year, in their second year of working with Expeditionary Learning, the faculty at Southwest made portfolios a top priority. They established goals for the portfolio process: to push for increasing quality; shift responsibility to students for articulating their work to a broader audience; and define portfolio products to show a student's readiness to move to a more challenging environment.

Southwest's staff recognized the need to set high expectations and make sure all students are supported. In addition, they wanted to see students demonstrate increasing levels of responsibility and challenge, and show their ability to be effective participants in the school community. The new house design is pushing the staff to analyze the flow and design of curriculum and the assessment of skill and content standards.

PIONEER SCHOOL: INDIVIDUALITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY

The Pioneer School is a new middle school (grades 6-8) in its first year of Expeditionary Learning. A very strong culture of caring, inclusivity and accountability started from day one. Like Southwest, Pioneer uses the Discovery Program as the structure for teaching and sustaining a culture of character. The community is tight, focuses on effective communication and has developed a culture where parents and students are included in all aspects of the school. Early on, I realized that Pioneer was prepared to tackle student portfolios. When eighth-grade students from the Rocky Mountain School of Expeditionary Learning visited the school to present RMSEL's portfolio experience, Pioneer students were inspired to take their first step toward understanding portfolios.

Initially, the staff considered a simple framework that identified a variety of important portfolio pieces, including writing, historical and scientific investigation, mathematics assessments, artistic creation, and adventure. As time went by, parents asked for more detailed information about their children's work through conferences and detailed progress reports. Teachers wanted more examples to identify students' understanding of attitudes and actions needed to be an effective Pioneer community member.

For the spring conferences, the faculty mapped out a more complete design that showed a more detailed picture of student's understanding, relationships, and growth. The expansion included a personalized section to help expose each student's passions and individual style. It also includes a thorough, personal reflection of the student's ability to demonstrate specific Discovery skills like effective communication, problem solving, and conflict resolution.

Currently, the Pioneer staff is finishing off details for their first round of progress reports and student-led conferences. A portion of staff development has been used to clarify the process so that all staff has a common language to describe student portfolios and understand the instructional practices and assessment for each portfolio requirement. Tension occurs in the balance between a strict list of requirements aligned with the standards and developing portfolios that are rich in quality work that reflect ability and understanding.

The structure that both schools have developed for student portfolios comes out of conversations about what the teachers believe students should know and be able to do, and creating something that is truly a reflection of the individual student. I encourage these structures to be flexible and showcase high quality work that can be used in a variety of ways. Inevitably, student portfolios represent that braiding of all things done well in the learning environment. –

Jonathan Mann is a school designer in the Southwest region.

By Luisa Martinez

Sometimes life just hands you lemonade. You didn't earn it; it just lands in your glass like manna.

Like yesterday. We're doing our first book reviews in my sixth-grade class, and we're at the peer conferencing stage. We've done conferencing before, a little, but this time the students had a first draft of their first book review in hand, and I wanted them to have a productive and purposeful experience with formal peer conferencing.

But, meanwhile, I have this really terrible person for a neighbor who recently called me up at home, and, through insinuation and suspicion, insulted and infuriated me. So I had called my friend the lawyer, who really is a friend, and told her all about it.

I've written him a letter, I said, and I'd like to fax it to you tomorrow to read.

Fine, she said. I'd be glad to read it.

So here we are in class, getting ready to do this perfect first peer conference. I have the peer conference sheet, with purposeful directions for both the writer and the conferencer. And I've done the introduction, and we're getting ready to work, when the phone rings. It's an outside call, and it's Brenda, my lawyer friend.

And what transpires between us on the phone is, miraculously, a peer conference. And there is the roomful of sixth graders looking right at me, watching me and listening to me have this conversation: Do you think I need the three words at the end of the first paragraph? And, did it have the right ring of authority? And her telling me to add a phrase to the end of the fourth paragraph, and it sounds perfect. It is just possibly the most authentic and productive lesson I could possibly have conjured up, no conjuring involved.

When we begin as teachers, we plan and plan and plan. We think and imagine and plan some more. We read and discuss and search for some mysterious equation mastery of which will enlighten us, suddenly make it all come clear.

And then, there it comes, in a phone call from a friend, the enlightenment of us all, teacher and student alike. Why on earth does it surprise us when it happens? We know that the most effective learning occurs when inquiry is undertaken for authentic purposes. But teaching involves planning; you can't just wait for the phone to ring for your lessons, can you?

No, probably not, but incidents like this serve to remind us that we need to teach the same skills we use for getting along in life, and they are not, after all, rocket science.

Then I got off the phone and said to my class that this was a peer conference. That in the world, people do this because it is what they need to do to make sure they have communicated effectively. And the sixth graders got it.

Luisa Martinez teaches sixth grade at King Middle School in Portland, Maine.

By Judy Racine

When I read with my sons at bedtime, I have the rare moment in my day to be alone with them and share pleasurable text. This time often goes beyond the stories because it also allows me to discover more about their lives and happenings of each day. Bedtime stories help me connect and be a part of my sons' lives. When we have student-led conferences at the Rocky Mountain School of Expeditionary Learning in Denver, Colorado, I feel this is a time for parents to share stories and connect with their child's learning and experiences in a safe and caring environment. It is a time when students can tell their parents about themselves, who they are as learners, about the challenges they may have, and celebrate their accomplishments. Bedtime stories and student-led conferences, therefore, have similar purposes in that it is a time when parents, students, and teachers can share and talk openly together about learning and life. In this piece, I have tried to answer some questions that teachers new to student-led conferences have frequently asked and I have included tools that have helped me over the years.

What kind of student-led conferences occur during the year? What are their purposes?

At RMSEL, we do goal-setting conferences at the beginning of the year, and conferences that focus on a student's learning in December and May. At the goal-setting conferences, students decide on both academic and character goals for the year. These conferences set the tone for the year and their goals are continually reviewed and revised as needed throughout the year. Before conference time the primary teachers at RMSEL talk with their crews about what it means to set goals, and often create crew goals and post them prominently in their rooms. During the student-led goal setting conferences, students talk with their parents about the goals they want to set and the teachers write down their comments. These goals are taken home for the family to keep and a copy is kept in their portfolio at school. One kind of form (see page 9) that is used at RMSEL refers to the idea of "climbing" to the top with teachers, family and friends ready to help belay when necessary.

What preparation is done with students prior to the conference?

Students at RMSEL know that at conference times they are in charge of presenting their work to their parents. We allocate time for the children to review their portfolios, journals, and other work to select and practice for their conference. We create rubrics to help them think about selecting work and also for developing a presentation. Accomplished pieces of work are often compared to developing pieces in order for a student to share how they might improve or create a new plan. Knowing that a conference lasts for about half an hour, students select no more than three or four pieces to share from their portfolios. The pieces are selected from the different sections in their portfolios (mathematical investigation, scientific, creations, reviews and reflections, and historical and geographical investigation). The children place sticky notes by the work selected and write down the list of pieces they want to share on a separate conference form. Children also write a letter to their parents about who they are as learners, what they enjoy, and things that prove challenging to them. These letters go into their portfolios ready for their conference time. Younger children are given the time to practice sharing their work in front of their peers. Peers have a review form to fill out and give feedback to their colleagues about their presentation. Again, crews discuss ways that help a successful conference presentation and often rubrics are created to help facilitate understanding.

How are parents prepared for student-led conferences?

It is important to prepare parents for student-led conferences in order that they better understand how to support their child and learn to be listeners to them rather than to a teacher. Discussion starters and questions they can ask, as their child shares pieces of work, help promote conversations about learning and thinking. These kinds of questions (see below) and guidelines are sent home to families before a child's conference so that parents can be prepared to have a focused time with their child. Parents are also informed that they will be picking up their child's progress report. These reports are usually handed out to the parents just before the end of the conference. A teacher may spend time going over the report with the child and parents, but these do not take over the bulk of the conference time.

What follow-up happens after the conference with both parents and students?

Now what? So what? It is important that students get to debrief and talk about how their conference went and what they learned. If school is in session the next day, students will share with each other and often write about their time during conference, what they need to focus on and improve. If there is a break after conferences, it is a good idea to send home this work to bring back and put in their portfolios on return to school. Parents will be asked to give feedback on how their child's conference went and ways in which they can support them at home with new goals set or work that needs attention. Parents can also give feedback about the progress reports and questions that still need to be answered. Improving student-led conferences requires that all participants assess the conference and discover new ways that help connect student, parent, and teacher with their learning and life.

SUGGESTED QUESTIONS FOR PARENTS TO ASK DURING STUDENT-LED CONFERENCES

During conferences, your child will be selecting pieces of work to show and read to you. Sometimes it is hard to know what to ask your child when they share so I have listed some questions that might help you when you listen to your child. I hope these questions will help you understand your child's learning further.

1. Why did you choose this piece to show us/me today?
2. How do you feel about this piece of work?
3. Do you think this is an accomplished piece of work? Why?
4. What piece of work feels the most important to you? Why?
5. Did you reach your goal when you finished this?
6. What do you understand now that you didn't know before you did this? (when finished sharing a piece)
7. Read me the part that you like best (when wanting to share a VERY LONG story that might take too long).
8. I'd like to know more about....
9. Why did you choose to....
10. I didn't understand why.... (when responding to a piece of work shared)

By Martha B. Martin

A concerned and driven group of parents with high hopes for the education of their children wrote our charter. They wanted something different; a place where parents work alongside teachers and children direct their own learning; a safe yet stimulating environment where caring individuals help each other attain their personal best. The founders of the Pocatello Community Charter School, in Pocatello, Idaho, submitted the following goals:

• To give students experience and encouragement in independent, creative, and critical thinking.

• To give students the experience and skills to adapt to, learn from, and initiate change.

• To build confident, motivated, disciplined, successful learners who will continue learning all their lives.

• To challenge each student and provide the hands-on, real world experiences necessary for mastery of academic disciplines and democracy skills.

While large school districts were struggling with ways to make their textbook-driven curriculum fit the shape of the new state standards, we took those standards and used them as the base for the planning, delivery, and assessment of our curriculum. Using the achievement standards as a springboard, last year we began to develop portfolio requirements for each of our multiage crews that included Expeditionary Learning components such as reflection pieces, service logs, expedition timelines, and character letters. We developed assessment rubrics that align with the standards but are open-ended enough to be used in the context of a learning expedition. We call them "expedition friendly" rubrics. In addition, we created a one-page cumulative portfolio rubric to assess the extent to which a student has met the state achievement standards in each of the core areas and has physical evidence of Expeditionary Learning components. This will allow us to obtain quantifiable data for our own use and for programmatic audits of our performance as a new charter school. All this we have done in preparation for a passage portfolio system we hope to have in place by this May.

Our journey toward meaningful portfolio assessment may never end. As we progress in our implementation of the Expeditionary Learning model, we know that we will continuously reflect on our assessment practices and modify them to meet our ever-evolving needs.

Martha B. Martin is dean of Pocatello Community Charter School in Pocatello, Idaho.

By Rachel Cope Goldfarb

On a recent evening in classrooms throughout our school, children enthusiastically shared the contents of their portfolio binders, folders, pizza cartons, or shoeboxes with their chosen adult. Multigenerational heads bent close, eyes meeting one another with pride and understanding.

This evening of student-led conferences was a tour of learning through the eyes of the children at Oakcrest Elementary in Landover, Maryland. The concept is simple. Families are invited to an evening event at the school, giving working adults an equal opportunity to learn about their children. Rough drafts of written expression, lists, scale drawings, scripts, calculations, and artistic renditions illustrate the nature of school progress and achievement of students more accurately than grades alone.

After three years of Expeditionary Learning immersion, we have started the process of making portfolios the basis of documentation and evaluation for our school community. Students, staff, paraprofessionals, and administrators produced collections of artifacts to speak of history, progress, and the future of our best efforts to educate and to learn.

That evening everyone went directly to classrooms, where teachers presented descriptions of their students' expedition and representative portfolio pieces. They told about their class' work on expeditions ranging from "School Yard Habitat" and "When Disaster Strikes," to "Investigations," and "Community of Caring." Teachers explained how work on these expeditions gave practical, relevant meaning to the required curricular elements like language arts, math, social studies, and science.

In the classrooms, instructors modeled portfolio conferencing by discussing and displaying their own portfolios. Children felt enhanced self-confidence when their teachers set the stage.

Most adults and students then paired off and delved into the portfolio treasure. Some younger students shared their learning in groups. A first grader showed a classroom full of visitors the counting book he created in Spanish. A fifth grader explained her planting choices to her father, noting consideration for local weather conditions, blossom heartiness, and color variation. A third grader, who had produced little concrete evidence of his learning before, confidently read his explanation of hurricane phenomena to a small audience sitting on the edges of their seats.

Everywhere was evidence of planning, mapping, scale drawing, revision, and calculation. Teachers circulated, responding to specific questions and facilitating interaction, when needed.

Parents saw, without ambiguity, the quality, depth, quantity, and understanding of students' learning products. Children had the undivided attention of their parents, while they showed and explained their work. Adult response echoed throughout the school. "I'm so proud of you." "Now I understand what you were talking about!" " You really understand the work you did!"

Verbal and written feedback declared the student-led conference format an overwhelming success in authentic evaluation and documentation. Two areas emerged in need of improvement. Increased access for families with more than one child at the school must be created, and children (with their significant adults) must work to practice communication skills. In addition, teachers are developing classroom protocols for practice presentations, timing, and preparation.

STAFF PORTFOLIOS

While the school community quickly accepted the student portfolio concept, staff portfolios were less quickly embraced by intended creators. At first, portfolios were viewed as another overwhelming task in an already overly subscribed professional schedule. Our principal, Jay Teston, allowed a period of acclimation, and then practice in our two previous years of Expeditionary Learning involvement. This year, the creation and presentation of a professional portfolio was non-negotiable.

Once committed to the concept and responsibility, staff production exceeded all expectations. It became clear that professional portfolios document progress in teaching skills, creativity, curricula coverage, class management, and professional development. They provide concrete basis for evaluation conferences, action plans for improvement, and well-deserved pride.

Initially, only classroom teachers were required to produce portfolios. Required elements included expedition descriptions, plans, and timelines. In addition, teachers documented sample work, showing the progress of a student in case study form. Evidence of professional development, personal reflections, photographs, correspondence, and resources rounded out the contents.

Very quickly, other staff members quietly began to compile their own portfolios. For instructional specialists, administrators, and paraprofessionals, collections reflected work on schoolwide programs that support individual expeditions. Administrators and instructional specialists recognized the portfolio opportunity to document their work, which often eludes accurate description.

The binder format for staff has become a vehicle for creativity and a source of great pride. Colleagues are seen sharing their portfolios and exchanging ideas. The colorful, bulky notebooks have become familiar accessories as staff members move around the building.

During county-required evaluation conferences with the principal, portfolios serve as the agenda. With this format, the meeting is an exchange of questions, explanations, and reflections. Specific areas of accomplishment and need for improvement are clearly defined. Often, a plan of action for future development emerges from evaluation of the portfolio content.

Student and staff portfolios have been personally valuable for accountability, documentation, and pride. They have also provided a portrait of school activity to review and share with those unfamiliar with the Expeditionary Learning educational model. Universal acceptance of the portfolio format may not ever be possible, but we are close to it at Oakcrest.

Rachel Cope Goldfarb is a guidance counselor at Oakcrest Elementary in Landover, Maryland.