Writing faculty at Howard Community College value reflection and revision as essential components of an effective student writing process. 

A landmark 1998 (“C Standard”) Report to the Maryland Chief Academic Officers from a Statewide English Composition Committee strongly recommended the use of portfolios for assessment of student writing.  For that reason, we have incorporated the keeping of student portfolios into ENGL 121, Introduction to Composition I. 

We currently define a portfolio as a self-selected collection of a writer’s best work-- including evidence of revision and self-assessment. 

Completion of a student portfolio should be given weight in the grading plan of your course syllabi; however, figuring the percentage of weight is currently left entirely to individual instructors, and portfolios are used in many different ways:

1. Some instructors delay the grading of all essays until the end of the semester allowing for an on-going revision process.  Each portfolio is then evaluated as a whole (with student reflection and revision) to determine a semester grade.  Of course, the success of this approach requires sufficient semester-long instructor/student communication concerning essays in progress.
2.  Other instructors grade individual assignments throughout the semester but allow students to evaluate and revise a certain number of assignments for a grade improvement.
3. Still others base the last graded essay on an assignment that asks students to choose one assignment from their portfolios to evaluate and revise.

Please note that the online Bedford website (coordinating with the Bedford Handbook that we currently use in our writing program) offers portfolio tips.

The following two sample portfolio assignments were given to students in sections of ENGL 121.  Feel free to adapt, rework or borrow.

Portfolio Sample 1 (ENGL 121)

Model Portfolio Assessment Letter