Republic of the Philippines

ZAMBOANGA STATE COLLEGE OF MARINE SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGY

Fort Pilar, Zamboanga City
Tel No.: (062) 991-0643 Telefax: (062) 991-0777
Website: http//www.zscmst.edu.ph

ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF PORTFOLIO

Every portfolio must contain the following essential elements:

1. Cover letter – This element tells about the author of the portfolio and what the
portfolio shows about the author’s progress as a learner. “About the author” and “What
my portfolio shows about my progress as a learner” (written at the end, but put at the
beginning).

2. Table of contents with numbered pages - Shown in this element are the detailed
contents in the portfolio.

3. Entries – both core (items students have to include) and optional (items of student’s
choice). The core elements will be required for each student and will provide a common
base from which to make decisions on assessment. The optional items will allow the
folder to represent the uniqueness of each student.

Guidelines for portfolio entries:

 Purpose of the portfolio

 Time period that it should span
 Name people who will have access to it
 Description/list of types of work to include
 If applicable, what criteria will be used to evaluate portfolio

4. Dates – Specific dates have to be included for all entries to facilitate evidence of
growth overtime.

5. Drafts – Drafts of aural/oral and written products and revised versions have to be
included.
6. Reflection – Can appear at different stages in the learning process (for formative
and/or summative purposes) and at the lower levels can be written in the mother tongue
or by students who find it difficult to express themselves in English. Through reflections
students can express their feelings regarding their progress and or themselves as
learners.

For each item, a brief rationale for choosing the item should be included. Students can
choose to reflect upon some or all of the following:

What did I learn from it?

What did I do well?

Why did I choose this item? (based on the agreed teacher-student assessment
criteria)

What do I want to improve in the item?

How do I feel about my performance?

Sometimes, you can give students additional guidelines – e.g, the elements of the
learning objectives that they should address (organization, punctuation, coherence, etc.)

References:

http://cms.education.gov.il/EducationCMS/Units/Mazkirut_Pedagogit/English/Publication
s/PortfolioGuidelines/ESSENTIALelements.html

http://ed103shibboleth.blogspot.com/2011/05/chapter-20-essential-elements-of.html

https://www.geneseo.edu/sites/default/files/sites/education/p12resources-portfolio-
assessment.pdf