Developing and validating a design for teacher portfolio assessment

Developing and using a design for teacher portfolio assessment is a complex process including several components: the domain to be assessed (the teacher competences), the content standards or criteria, the portfolio format, the completion of the format (by teachers) with content, and the scoring of the portfolios (by raters). For a portfolio assessment to be valid, these components should be systematically linked. Using a chain model of the assessment process two links were verified: the link between content standards and portfolio format, and the link between content standards and raters’ scoring. Eight experts evaluated an initial portfolio assessment design. They greatly supported the design, including the link between standards and format. Subsequently, using the format 18 teachers developed a portfolio. Six raters scored these portfolios according to eight content standards. Their scoring was substantially based on the content standards. Implications of the results and suggestions for research are discussed.