Portfolios These concerns with grades and standardized assessment have fueled a search for more authentic and flexible methods of assessment. A major recent development is the portfolio assessment movement. Portfolios are collections of student work, often accompanied by some student reflections on what the collection represents. The flexibility in providing materials for a portfolio allows this form of assessment to accommodate a wider range of work, as well as the potential to account for the work of students from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds. Proponents say portfolios can capture more of the learner's progress over time than either grades or tests can.
Portfolios present some challenges when it comes to assessment beyond the classroom, however.
Because they are diverse compilations of materials, it is difficult to make any comparison across student populations, or to make well-supported interpretations about the effectiveness of programs, schools, or districts. It is very difficult to achieve consistent results with different readers. And it is difficult to make informed interpretations about the student's development over time. It can be expensive and time-consuming to train readers and to conduct the assessment itself, because of the volume of materials that must be sifted through. The portfolio assessment movement has attempted to address these difficulties by establishing some standard requirements for portfolios, either in terms of tasks and activities or products.