Involving Classroom Teachers in the Assessment of Preservice Intern Portfolios

Portfolios are becoming a popular method for assessing the professional development of preservice teaching interns. At the University of Houston-Clear Lake, preservice interns are required to develop a portfolio to demonstrate their proficiency in each of seven standard areas which form the basis for our program. These seven standards are closely aligned with state and national recommendations for teacher preparation. Interns compile their portfolios under the guidance of university faculty and mentor teachers at schools to which they have been assigned. A unique feature of this approach to portfolio assessment is that these mentor classroom teachers are involved in the assessment of the portfolios using a set of structured analytical rubrics. A training program has been developed and implemented which provides the mentor team of public school teachers with an understanding of the rubrics and practice developing inter-rater reliability by scoring sample portfolio entries. The use of a team assessment provides the interns more extensive and objective feedback on their work from practicing teachers than they would receive from a university perspective alone. Mentor teachers also fmd that this process promotes their own professional growth as they articulate and share with others their evaluation of the portfolio evidence.