Chapter 2: Direct Evidence and the Continuous Evolution of Teacher Practice

Portfolios have enabled a host of practitioners, ranging from preparingthrough-developing teachers and their supervisors, to monitor and document progress in meeting standards through which their practices are assessed. Stakeholders—faculty, cooperating teachers, mentors, school leaders, and agencies that oversee teaching standards—utilize portfolios to document quality and progress. A key purpose of portfolio assessment is to “determine if achievement of outcomes has occurred” through the processes of completing a task in addition to the final product (Reeves & Okey, 1996, p. 196). The National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE, 2003), for example, requires teacher preparation units to document performance during preparation through snapshots of performance in individual courses; the units, in turn, must document both progress and areas in need of improvement. The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) uses portfolios, including video documentation of teaching practice, to certify teachers’ proficiency in their particular teaching field. School systems are beginning to use portfolios to document teacher progress and personal growth, and to define professional learning needs. While each of these efforts demonstrates progress towards the use of evidence for improvement of practice, they are largely isolated and unsystematic rather than continuous or sustained. Few document progress across the teacher’s professional development continuum. According to Reeves and Okey (1996), portfolio assessment occurs only when “the assessment’s purpose is specified, guidelines for assembling a portfolio are clarified, and criteria and procedures for judging it are identified” (p. 194). Given appropriate methodologies combined with tools and opportunities to document and access evidence of instructional practices, teachers can both better plan their professional development and implement daily classroom practices.