Mrs. Marcus

Mrs. Marcus had implemented the latest idea in educational assessment. She had studied and prepared for the introduction of portfolio assessment into her seventh grade classroom.

The students, including her English Language Learner students (ELLs), were excited about collecting their work in their very own portfolios. Mrs. Marcus explained to her students that their portfolios would be evaluated and shared with parents during conferences.

After a few weeks of working on important assignments, students were allowed to organize their portfolios and enter their work. Mrs. Marcus informed the students of her specific academic expectations on each assignment. Unfortunately, she encountered some difficulties when evaluating the students' portfolios.

She observed that her grading guidelines did not accommodate her ELL students. The second language learners were not meeting her expectations in the area of grammar and punctuation on the assignments. Mrs. Marcus realized that she had not taken into consideration the varied language acquisition stages of the ELL students.

1. Should Mrs. Marcus return to her conventional assessment methods?

2. How can portfolios meet the needs of all students?

3. Is it possible to set academic assessment expectations for ELL students who have not yet acquired their new language?

4. What formative assessments can Mrs. Marcus use to make sure her students were making progress toward the summative assessment?