NCLB test: the portfolio option?
Brent Finnegan -- February 23rd, 2007
A new development in the NCLB/ESL testing situation: Today The Washington Post is reporting that state and federal education officials met, and that they kind of, sort of came to a compromise:
…in a meeting yesterday with state Superintendent of Public Instruction Billy K. Cannaday Jr., U.S. officials indicated that there probably will be a third alternative for Virginia schools. Federal officials said they expect to approve a state request to use a portfolio of a student’s work over time instead of a test.
Fairfax County School Board member Stuart D. Gibson (Hunter Mill) yesterday said he does not think there is enough time to train teachers on the portfolio assessment and to collect assignments that show a student has mastered the material before the spring testing season.
The individual school boards still have to decide whether this is a viable option.
-finnegan
I think this is a very positive development. It might be a problem putting it to use this semester, but hey, it’s a great step toward compromise and there is a lot of promise in this decision.
Beyond simply being another assessment tool, it will allow teachers to be more creative in their approach to teaching because they will be able to use the portfolio to assess different projects, papers, group work, oral reports-which can be audio/video taped for a portfolio, and a plethora of other approaches.
I think this is a very positive development…Spellings must have fallen down and bumped her head. Sorry, I just couldn’t end without taking a shot.