Portfolios combine curriculum, instruction, and assessment. Teachers and students develop a shared understanding of what constitutes quality work, and acquire a common language for evaluating accomplishments. The emphasis is placed on the students' strengths. Students self-evaluate to monitor their own progress. Parents, students, and teachers conference together to discuss strengths and areas for improvement.
Portfolios enhance student-centered classrooms.
Students acquire more responsibility for their own learning. There is no single correct way to develop a portfolio. The content of the portfolio is built from the curriculum content. Portfolios may contain work samples, other forms of assessment, peer evaluations, and student evaluations. Portfolios may contain information regarding a single grading period while others will be an overview of an entire semester or a year.