1. What is a Digital Portfolio?

A digital portfolio is simply a web page that each student uses to store a select number of assignments.  It is useful for measuring growth and for showcasing long-term academic development.  I have chosen to use the digital portfolio to achieve these ends as well as to provide my students with a meaningful interaction with the outside community in the form of the Portfolio Panel Interview.

The digital portfolio occupies a central position in the Academy sophomore English curriculum for the following reasons:

1. It challenges each Academy student to apply a wide range of technological skills into the existing curriculum.
   
   
2. It provides a rich and sophisticated account of individual student achievement in a way that is impossible to measure through conventional standardized testing.
   
   
3. When combined with the Portfolio Panel Interview, it imposes a level of real-world relevance and genuine accountability that increases student work quality as well as motivation.
   
   
4. It showcases an important curricular innovation in that each task conforms not only to Virginia's Standards of Learning but also to desired competencies required by post-secondard education and the 21st century workplace. In other words, the Digital Portfolio helps prepare students for success in high school, university and the modern workplace simultaneously.
   
   
5. It provides a meaningful and rewarding connection between the Landstown High School campus and the surrounding community.

3. How much information is in each digital portfolio?

The following entries are included in the standard digital portfolio:

1. Two original 30-second television commercial parodies that highlight logical fallacies used in modern media
   
   
2. Video footage of a 35-minute public forum debate centered on a controversial social issue
   
   
3. A university-level research paper that analyzes one aspect of America's role in an increasingly globalized world through the perspective of a famous philosopher, writer or leader (minimum length: 2500 words)
   
   
4. A written literary criticism of the novel I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (between 1000 and 1500 words)
   
   
5. A short video of the student reciting a poem and then reflecting on its personal significance
   
   
6. An original short story that incorporates the elements of literature and figurative devices of modern fiction

You can preview student responses to most of these assignments on the Sample Portfolio page.

In order to gain an accurate idea of each student’s development, you should devote approximately 1 ½ to 2 hours perusing each digital portfolio prior to meeting the student in the formal interview session. 

The Academy students have invested an entire year of hard work into the development of those assignments.  As an interview panelist, you are not obligated to view, read, study, grade and critique each portfolio entry in its entirety—that’s my job! 

Your only responsibility is to understand the nature of all six assignments and then develop an impression of the student’s response to these tasks by reviewing--not studying--their work products. In other words, while you are expected to at least peruse all the work samples, you are not required to become intimately familiar with them. Remember also that you will receive the portfolios about three weeks in advance of the interview appointment, so you’ll have plenty of time to review each portfolio at your leisure.

6. What is the best way to properly review each digital portfolio prior to the formal interview session?

By the middle of May, you will be able to access your assigned portfolios, leaving you 10-14 days to preview both the assignments and student work samples at your leisure.  Please feel free to incorporate any or all of these suggestions into your routine:

1. Find a quiet, comfortable environment.
   
   
2. Locate the URL that I will provide in May. Click on the candidate number that corresponds to your assigned interview appointment.  You will access all information and content through this one page by clicking on the buttons included below each entry.
   
   
3. Be sure to review the characteristics of each assignment before perusing student work samples!  Click on the ‘ASSIGNMENT’ button below each assignment description to learn the nature of each challenge. If you are curious, you may also click on the 'HIGH SCHOOL', 'UNIVERSITY' and 'WORKPLACE' buttons to see how each task connects to high school, university and workplace standards.
   
   
4. Take brief notes while you preview each work sample.  Remember that your job as Interview Panelist is to help students reflect on their development as readers, writers, thinkers, communicators, and citizens.  By the time of the interview, students will be familiar with their work samples, so feel free to question them on details.
   
   
5. Read the Sample Interview Questions prior to previewing the digital portfolios.  Doing so will put you in a mindset that will help students better reflect on their development and defend the quality of their work.
   
   
6. Don’t feel obligated to review all six assignments in one sitting.  Many of the student work samples, including the research paper, public forum debate, and short story, are rather lengthy.  Sample these entries on separate occasions to alleviate fatigue.

7. This idea sounds great!  I would love to read more than the suggested two portfolios. Sign me up for more!

Wow.  Your enthusiasm is admirable.  Before you commit to such an endeavor, read the following paragraph…

If you volunteer to read the standard two digital portfolios, you will be expected to spend approximately 1 ½ to 2 hours sampling the student work products associated with each digital portfolio.  Combined with the interview, this already amounts to a sizeable commitment of both time and energy.  While I do not require interview panelists to know each student document in intimate detail, it will nevertheless take a while to understand the nature of each assignment and develop an idea of each student's response to the workload.  Given how busy our schedules can be, the 3-4 hours it will take to peruse two portfolios is probably enough. 

That said, however, if you are still up for the challenge, give me a call: (757) 468-3800 x.3037

8. Your interview slots are 90 minutes and you say the interviews are expected to last 30 minutes.  Given that you are looking for folks to take two 30-minute interviews, where does the other half-hour go?

I am building in a ten-minute time frame for the interviewers to get settled and prepared as well as an uninterrupted ten-minute period after each interview for each panel member to complete the Assessment and Feedback Rubric for the benefit of each student's growth.  Because your time is valuable, I also wanted to make sure that you could plan your schedule knowing that your chosen time frame is concrete.

9. I noticed that all six assignments are connected to Virginia’s Standards of Learning (SOL) as well as two other sets of standards published by less familiar organizations: The Inter-segmental Committee of Academic Senates and the National Association of Manufacturers.  What is going on here?

In order to maximize the Academy student’s competitive edge in high school, university and the workplace, I have coordinated each portfolio task with the following educational standards.

Virginia’s Standards of Learning  

These standards serve as a collection of the expected minimum competencies for successful study in Virginia’s secondary education system.

Inter-segmental Committee of Academic Senates: Statement of Competencies

Released by the University of California system in 2002, this collection of standards identifies skills, attitudes and habits deemed crucial for successful post-secondary study. This document is especially useful because it highlights a range of competencies that many incoming university students either lack or require remedial assistance.

National Association of Manufacturers: Framework of Competencies

America’s largest private manufacturing organization released a sequence of standards in 2005 that addresses the skills, attitudes and habits that it requires of employees in the 21st century workforce.  Once again, the Framework of Competencies is important because it identifies a number of competencies that many incoming employees either lack or require expensive remedial training.

Please don't be afraid to contact me with additional advice or queries regarding this project or the nature of your commitment.

You can contact me via the email address I used to send you this information:

You can also telephone me at Landstown High School & Technology Academy:

(757) 468-3800 x. 3037
(757) 468-1860 FAX

You can also stop by in person if that is most convenient. Simply check at the front office and ask anyone at the front desk to contact me.

Landstown High School & Technology Academy
2001 Concert Drive
Virginia Beach, VA
23456