Portfolio Assessment Criteria

Is there evidence of a range of writing–genres, audiences, purposes? Students may be better at some kinds of writing than others, but there should be signs that they are willing to engage multiple genres and tasks of different levels of difficulty. How adaptable are they? (Students need not include a variety of genres in the midterm portfolio but freewrites, journal entries, etc. could represent the required range of writing.)

Is there evidence in the portfolio, through drafts of the same paper, that the writer has been developing? Is revision used for the purposes of deepening or changing an idea or restructuring the essay in more effective ways–or is revision minimal or limited to grammatical issues? Can you determine in what areas the writer has developed? Are there areas that are as problematic now as in the beginning?

Can you see signs of writing as discovery of and engagement with ideas–about self and the world? Do you get a strong sense of the writer's presence as a thinker in her work? Or is the writer choosing subjects that are well rehearsed by others, dealing with them in a tired way? What are the signs of the writer’s excitement, about writing and about thinking? Does the writer engage in a substantive way with readings that she has incorporated in her work?

Does the text show evidence that the writer understands the expectations that readers have in the beginning, middle, and end of an essay? Do all the parts of the essay come together in a coherent and meaningful way? Is the writer able to engage in tasks such as summary, textual analysis, incorporation of outside sources and evaluation of ideas all within the context of his own argument? Is the structure of the essay appropriate for its purpose and audience?

Is the writer presenting final versions that meet your expectations for published excellence–no typos, good grammar, etc., and documents that look good collected together into an attractive and well organized portfolio? Are errors of grammar, mechanics, and syntax acceptable or do they interfere with our reading of the texts in the portfolio? Is there evidence that the writer crafts her sentences?

How insightful can the writer be about her or his own writing products and processes? How persuasively has she documented her insights with references to her texts? Has the writer set worthwhile and realistic goals for the remainder of this semester? Do you get a sense of the student's involvement in her own development as a writer and reader?