The Use of Portfolios to Measure Classroom Performance as an Alternativ

The Use of Portfolios to Measure Classroom Performance as an Alternative to Mandated Testing â€Å"Teachers teaching to the test† has become an ongoing issue among grade schools around the world. Teachers are changing the curriculum to revolve around standardized testing hoping to ensure good grades on this test. They are obsessed with doing this in order to gain a good reputation for the school and are throwing curriculum out the window. Requiring students to take these mandated tests to evaluate how much knowledge they gain throughout the year is not necessarily accurate. But limiting the students’ absorption of knowledge to strictly the test is not teaching students to think critically. Almost everyone who disagrees with mandated testing have come to a conclusion that the main alternative to this issue is to assess students’ learning growth by the use of portfolios. Observing how students perform in the class room should be measured by critical thinking exercises and portfolios that are a reflection of what they are actually learning. Portfolios are a great collection of what is ...