I found this piece I wrote several years ago and it continues to be relevant for middle school treachers.
One obvious feature of fully implemented middle level schools is engaging and relevant curriculum. Students in fully implemented middle schools are likely to score well on standardized tests. However, many educators also recognize that to view other components of effective learning it must be documented in other ways.
Electronic portfolios are one venue through which middle level students can reflect on their growth, areas of weakness, and establish goals for the future. Together, the portfolios created by a group of students can serve as a source of authentic data to inform strategic planning in a middle level school. In addition, creating electronic portfolios can also give students authentic experience working with the many forms of digital media as well.
An effective electronic portfolio initiative begins with a “framework of expectations”. State curriculum documents, national curriculum standards, and other resources such as the 21st Century Skills, should be used by leaders to provide this framework. Rather than providing a laundry list of items to include, this framework identifies skills that can be demonstrated in a different ways. This list will allow students to choose artifacts with which to demonstrate his or her progress and will allow for self-reflection.
An electronic portfolio contains examples of a student’s work. Because a middle level school curriculum includes many types of products, it is essential that students and teachers have other means to archive examples of learning. Modern digital cameras provide middle level students with capacity to take still images of projects and creations as well as performances. Given the availability of storage space on computer systems, students can maintain large collections of artifacts.
A past challenge for those crating electronic portfolios has been finding software that allows users to create media-rich documents. This is no longer the case, as newer versions of productivity suites and web authoring software has been designed to include images, audio, and video.
Once created, an electronic portfolio can be packaged for viewing in a number of ways. Portfolios along with the artifacts can be packaged onto a CD, or portfolios can be placed on networks either on the school’s local area network or on the Internet. Many systems are available to control access to network resources, so even web-based portfolios can be made private.
Middle level schools usually provide students with many experiences that cannot be documented by traditional assessment methods. Through electronic portfolios, the learning that occurs in unified arts classes, advisory, community service and other essential components of the middle level school experience can be documented. By selecting artifacts that provide evidence of their learning, as well as reflecting on the importance and goals of learning, students will better understand themselves and make sense of their learning experiences. Students will also generate valuable data for assessing and evaluating progress, and students will gain experience managing large and complex digital projects.