National Art Education Association

On the Use of Portfolios in EvaluationAuthor(s): Jerome J. HausmanSource: Art Education, Vol. 45, No. 1 (Jan., 1992), pp. 4-5Published by: National Art Education AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3193338 .

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On the Use of Portfolios in Evaluation

As an art student in the late 40's, I can recall going to the portfolio critiques of the well-known artist and teacher, Hans Hoffmann. In a large, loft-type space above the "Village Barn" on 8th street in New York City, art students would pause in their work to place their paintings around the walls of the studio. Hoffmann (or "the Old Man" as he was sometimes referred to) would walk around the room, rearranging the location of a particular painting, placing it next to another where there was an important point he wanted to make in his discussion. What then followed was always a fascinating and informative exchange. The complex dynamics of a student's ideas and aspirations, the work itself, and a teacher with a vast store of knowledge and experience - all converged in a particular point in time and space. Hoffmann would

always touch upon certain broad themes: nature, the artist, and the process of creation. Words like "plasticity" ("push- pull"), "spirituality," and "reality" usually found their way into the ensuing discus- sions.

As the years have gone on, my memo- ries of the Hoffmann reviews have re- mained as powerful models. Indeed, like others who have worked in an art school environment, I have come to value the importance of connecting what I have to say with the concretion of form - the student's work. Talking about art can become pretty empty and sterile if there is not a clear sense and image of the art form itself. This is the power of the portfolio and critique in the process of evaluation. The exchange that takes place has a clear reference to what has been done. In the visual arts, we have a great advantage. The object of creation exists in time and space. Properly cared for, it does not change.

When one reviews a portfolio developed over time and inclusive of many works, there is implicit recognition that the process of portfolio review is dynamic and that the judgements or evaluations being rendered are based upon multiple images and forms created overtime. Individual works are seen as part of a larger continuum.

What is interesting to note is that there is great interest now being generated in the use of portfolios as a vehicle for evaluation of learning. Indeed, it is heartwarming to observe that there is now a growing group of educational researchers who are exploring the potential of portfolios in assessing learning in the social sciences, humanities, and sciences as well as the arts. For example, The Teacher Assess-

4 Art Education/January 1992

Photo courtesy of Kay Wagner, Instructional Team Leader for Visual and Performing Arts, San Diego City Schools. Photo by Dianne Bess.

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An Editorial*

ment Project at Stanford University re- cently completed a four-year research and development project exploring new ap- proaches in teacher assessment. In this work they focused upon two approaches: using exercises designed to simulate real problems and processes of teaching; and developing portfolios which facilitated teacher documentation of actual teaching. I would refer you to articles by Lee Shulman and Kenneth Wolf for further description of this project.

Another widely discussed example is the work of Arts PROPEL, a collaborative effort involving Project Zero (Harvard University), the Educational Testing Service, and the Pittsburgh Public Schools. The Project's purpose is to explore alterna- tive methods for assessing student achievement in Music, the Visual Arts, and Creative Writing. One of the important components in the evaluation methodology being employed involves the implementa- tion of what is referred to as a Portfolio Culture. I would refer you to articles by Howard Gardner, Dennie Wolf, Drew Gitomer, and Kathryn Howard for further description of this work.

Closer to home, for me, my friend Ernie Miller, a second grade teacher at the Crow Island School in Winnetka, Illinois, has developed a Portfolio Conference Night. This is work that he has been engaged in for the past ten years. It involves the development of an alterative format for reporting a student's learning experience. The format is organized in such a way that the children in grades 2-5 are guided in the preparation of portfolios which they present to their parents. Over the past four years, Miller has been refining the management and use of video as a tool for assessment

as well as for communication with parents at conferences.

More personally, I am now starting to work on an Urban Gateways Project in collaboration with The Illinois Alliance of Essential Schools in which we will explore an approach to planning an interdiscipli- nary humanities course. Working with a team of three teachers and Urban Gate- ways artists, we will focus upon the use of portfolios as a means for student assess- ment.

The art teachers that I have known and admired have thought long and hard about what they are teaching. When students make or respond to art forms, there are opportunities for deep reflection and expanded insights. A portfolio is a means by which we collect and save what has been done: drawings, sketches, photo- graphs, finished works, diaries, journals, research papers, etc. A portfolio be- comes the physical embodiment of what one has gotten from a course. It can serve as a vehicle for discussion and dialogue. I hasten to add that it is not an automatic panacea for dealing with the issues of evaluation of learning. It's a step that makes possible a teachers becoming more focused and explicit about the evaluation being offered. It's a step that makes possible teachers sharing what they are doing and how they are evaluating student learing in their classrooms. It's not new; but it's about time that we get back to what makes good sense.

Jerome J. Hausman, Editor

*This editorial is excerpted from a presentation given at the New Directions In Art Assessment Symposium held at the University of Texas at Austin. August, 1991.

Art Education/January 1992 5

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