Scoring voice is even easier. Inconveniently, Vermont teachers traditionally disagree with experts. You tell me. All this makes portfolio scoring unreliable. Portfolio debacles aren't limited to Vermont.
Enthusiasts frequently exaggerate the role portfolios play in learning.
It's wrong to give portfolios credit for what students learn from the writing process and from sound problem-solving strategies simply because kids employ these techniques to complete the work you find in their portfolios. It's certainly wrong to misrepresent teacher support for portfolio keeping as an endorsement of portfolio assessment. You can use portfolios in your classroom without ever engaging in the pseudo-objective scoring, the voluminous record keeping, and the ghastly expense in both money and class time. That's why, as assessment tools, they should be abandoned. The last thing our schools need is more sound and fury, signifying nothing.