Department and Program Resources

• Name of academic program: This is the name of your academic program as it appears in the NAU catalog
  
  
• Primary contact for your academic program: This person will serve as the primary liaison between your program and the College of Education’s office of Assessment and Continuous Improvement.  The primary contact should be the person who submits information to the College of Education’s Office of Assessment and Continuous Improvement.
  
  
• List of courses to be included in the portfolio: Portfolios are typically organized by course, so it is important to know which courses will be included in the portfolio.  The decision about which courses to include in a portfolio is based on the alignment of program courses to standards (SPA, Unit, state, etc.).  For NCATE accreditation, programs may not include every program-course in the portfolio – only those which demonstrate candidates’ progress towards program, unit, and state standards.
  
  
• Title of each signature assignment: Each course in a program portfolio typically contains one signature assignment or portfolio requirement (though some courses contain more than one).  A course’s signature assignment is one that exemplifies candidates’ progress towards a specific outcome, or group of outcomes.  Each signature assignment needs a title within the portfolio structure.
  
  
• Description of each signature assignment: Each signature assignment needs a brief description within the portfolio structure (one paragraph or less).
  
  
• Standards addressed by each signature assignment: It is important to align signature assignments with standards so that our evaluations of those assignments reflect candidates’ progress towards specific state, SPA, and unit standards.  It is also important that our candidates are aware of the outcomes they are expected to meet as they progress through their program.
  
  
• Student prompt for each signature assignment: For each signature assignment in a portfolio, directions for completing that assignment should also be included.  Keep in mind that directions should only be as specific as the outcome to be measured; the more specific and detailed the instructions, the less “academic freedom” each instructor will have in facilitating signature assignments.
  
  
• Evaluation rubric for each signature assignment: For each signature assignment in a portfolio, an evaluation rubric based on relevant standards should also be included.  Rubric criteria should directly reflect the performance indicators for specific standards, not necessarily assignment details which are unrelated to the outcome being measured.
  
  
• *Instructional resources/scaffolds (*optional): For each signature assignment in a portfolio, it is possible to provide instructional resources and scaffolds directly, within the portfolio itself.  These can be web links, word documents, images, movies, or any other electronic resource that may help candidates with a particular signature assignment.
  

Program Portfolio Development Resources:

There are several resources at Northern Arizona University dedicated to assisting programs as they develop portfolio-based program assessment systems.  If your program is interested in using electronic portfolios for programmatic assessment, your first point of contact should be Kathy Hildebrand, the College of Education’s Assistant Dean for Assessment and Continuous Improvement.  Questions regarding the use and implementation of TaskStream can be directed to Chris Geanious, the College of Education’s Electronic Portfolio Project Director.

The College of Education's Learning and Assessment Information System (LAIS) Portal contains resources and information to assist the development and implementation of performance-based, portfolio-driven assessment systems for academic programs involved with accreditation and standardization efforts.

If your academic program is interested in using electronic portfolios for assessment, please visit the LAIS Portal: http://coe.nau.edu/lais