Article Critic - Assessments

Cai, Jinfa. U.S. and Chinese Teachers’ Constructing, Knowing, and Evaluating Representations to Teach Mathematics. Mathematical Thinking and Learning, 7(2), 135 – 169 Copyright ©2005, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.

“Assessment of achievement through portfolios and teacher-made tests” is a study that critically assesses the achievement of English as foreign language (EFL) students. This study addresses the probable correlation between the scores of portfolio assessment and teacher-made standard tests. In recent years, numerous scholars have debated or joined the “bandwagon” of what is considered to be the most effective and efficient measurements of student achievement, whether standard based teacher-made tests, multiple choice tests, or portfolio assessments there are successes and pitfalls within each. This journal article analyzes the emotional and academic impact portfolios have on EFL students. The subjects of the study were 60 Iranian sophomores in high school. The study compares the assessment of achievement through both teacher-made tests and portfolios for the experimental group, while through teacher-made tests only for the control group. The study concludes that portfolio assessment scores strongly correlate with those of the teacher-made tests, thus making portfolios a promising testing and teaching tool for teachers in EFL classes. The study goes on to claim that portfolio based assessments in conjunction with teacher-made tests can be used to provide the continuous, ongoing measurements of students’ growth helpful for formative evaluation.

As a first-year teacher this article was extremely relevant to how I measure my students’ achievement and progress. Although language and mathematics have completely different aspects of assessment, I found that portfolio-based assessments would allow my students to understand their strengths and acknowledge their weaknesses. The portfolio adds a since of ownership and responsibility to the students. The article hits on one important thought that traditional measures of achievement tend to focus on the possession of knowledge, whereas portfolio-based assessments judge the ability to apply knowledge. Within in my classroom, I experience this dilemma between the possession and application of math concepts. Some students just possess the knowledge but do not have the ability to apply the knowledge in such things as word problems. I am interested in learning more about portfolio-based assessments in the math realm.