Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Portfolio Creation

My lovely and talented wife has been an ELP / GT teacher for about 14 years and a teacher for 28 years. We have two GT sons, our eldest just graduated HS this last fall.

Going through the process of applying for scholarships, it’s not unusual, especially for the scholarships with larger sums, for there to be an interview. My wife started logging artifacts for our boys at an early age and keeping track of their activities, volunteerism, and awards, then, at toward the start of our eldest’s Jr. year, began assembling those artifacts as a combinded project with our son into a formalized portfolio.

The portfolio has been the clincher in numerous scholarships I feel. Many of those interviewing my son have told him he’s the only one, or one of only a few through the years they’ve been interviewing who presented a portfolio. Those interviewing my son have spent considerable time looking through the artifacts. You have to consider that it allows those looking at it to see development over time and what got that child to where they are at present standing before those interviewing.

I encourage each parent to start collecting artifacts for the purpose of a portfolio for future use, it’s served us well.

What a fabulous idea! Thanks for sharing John.

Thanks for sharing your experience. We would act on your suggestions if we were not so disorganized .

On a policy note, your experience confirms my belief that using "holistic" criteria for awarding scholarships and seats in selective colleges can be less fair to low-SES children than supposedly biased standardized tests. What about the children whose parents aren't as motivated and organized as you are?

SES aside, I personally am not a fan of parent homework giving a kid a leg up on a merit scholarship. I'm totally in favor of encouraging a *kid* to create their own portfolio, but I suspect the scholarship committees would not have been nearly as enthusiastic if they were aware that it was put together by a parent.

Yes, but there is no way to verify that. At least a test represents a student's own effort -- most of the time http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/02/education/on-long-island-sat-cheating-was-hardly-a-secret.html .

When my son gets homework such as doing a math worksheet or writing an essay, he does it. When it comes to "projects" such as creating a diorama of an animal in its natural habitat it is more of a family effort. His younger brother loves to draw ... . I've read that homework in middle school and high school is more project-oriented than it was say 20 years ago. Scholarships depend on grades, and grades depend on homework . How much of the homework is actually done by the student varies
across students. I don't think homework should be abolished, but its weight in grades should be limited.

what age should this portfolio start? My kids are in elementary.

You mean just remembering to write down things they did and the dates and details?

I couldn't agree more. When a large chunk of a student's grade (say 20% or more) comes from homework, its purpose can be defeated. I think of homework as being something that helps a student learn a new idea. If the homework is graded (e.g. 8/10 = 80%), it's like the kids have to be perfect or nearly so from the moment an idea is introduced in order to get an A or B in the class. IMO, classtime and homework are for learning, and tests are the time for grades that count (when I taught, I always gave the final exam the most weight).

I took a first-year history class once that required a short essay every Friday. Each essay received comments and a "grade" but the grade didn't count. It was to help the students track their progress. All that counted was that you made an honest effort and turned it in. The point was that you were supposed to learn how to write and learn how to use sources.

The drawback to having tests count for most or all of the student's grade is something I see with my 2e kid, though. When dealing with an erratic tester or a kid who misses a lot of points for silly mistakes: transferring the wrong answer to the answer line, not showing work, making calculation errors, etc., I wish that my 2e kid's homework actually did count for some of her grade b/c she knows more than her test scores show at times.

I'm a little surprised that the college recruiters the OP's son has had contact with hadn't seen portfolios from other students before - the concept of a portfolio is widely encouraged in our school district starting in 9th grade (for all students, not just in GT) and is used by students here when applying to colleges and for scholarships. The elementary school (public) that my kids attended had the kids keeping a portfolio of their best work each school year starting in kindergarten, with the students selecting what work they chose to put in it (from each subject area).

My gut feeling (and it's nothing more than that!) is that a college recruiter and/or scholarship committee isn't going to really be interested in seeing much of anything before high school.

polarbear