Barrett, H. C. (2004). Electronic Portfolios as Digital Stories of Deep Learning: Emerging Digital Tools to Support Reflection in Learner-Centered Portfolios. Retrieved from http://electronicportfolios.com/digistory/epstory.html
In her article Electronic
Portfolios as Digital Stories of Deep Learning: Emerging Digital Tools to
Support Reflection in Learner-Centered Portfolios,
Helen Barrett, Ph. D., lists “ten research-based principles of Assessment for Learning
(AFL)” (2004) developed by The Assessment Reform Group. Of these ten principles, the one that states
that “AFL should recognize the full range of achievements of all learners”
(Barrett, 2004) is the one to which I relate the most closely due to my current
teaching assignment which has me teaching a dyslexia pull-out program for
several middle school students. Because
of their disability, these students do not initially do well on state required
standardized tests or on the more common teacher-made tests. The progress of the dyslexia students in
overcoming their disability will never be specifically tested on Texas’s STAAR
test or in the traditional grades given in their classes. A different kind of assessment is required. An AFL portfolio can be used to check for the learning and internalization of reading and spelling strategies students with dyslexia need to compensate for their disability.
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These dyslexic students would greatly benefit by employing
a portfolio for learning in order to see not only how far they have come, but
to see where they are going in their ongoing battle with their disability as
well as their life-long learning goals.
Once a student is diagnosed with dyslexia, they are always dyslexia. The condition is not “fixed” with programs
like The Herman Method. These students
are taught strategies to compensate for their specific disability and must plan
to use the strategies for the remainder of their lives. An AFL portfolio has the potential of
illustrating how much farther a student has to travel before mastering specific
strategies and can illuminate the best path for that student to take in their educational
and life journey dealing with dyslexia.
The ultimate goal for a student with dyslexia is for the strategies he/she
learns to become so ingrained that they become automatic. This is the long-term goal to which an AFL
portfolio can point the student.
I think the creation of my personal AFL portfolio will
highlight the areas that I need do concentrate on for future study and
inquest. Only knowing where I have been
and what I have accomplished thus far does not provide any insight as to how I
need to proceed. As I am a dedicated
life-long learner, if I do not employ some sort of strategy and set obtainable goals
then the education and things I learn will not be connected structurally sound
enough to continue to build upon. I know
where I have been and what I have learned; I do not need proof of that. I need an assessment instrument that will take
what I have learned and place it in reference to the avenues I need to travel
to obtain a greater depth of knowledge of educational technology.
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