Hi Everyone - I've read the excellent article on portfolio assessment. I learned some things I didn't know, which is always a good thing. What I am curious about is if there are companies who do portfolio assessment with credit recommendations similar to the foreign credential evaluation services. We do not accept experiential learning, nor do we do portfolio assessment at Aspen. As a pioneer in DL we did not want to do anything that might be construed as making things too easy for anyone to earn credit at our institution. Before deciding that we should even consider working with CAEL and creating a porfolio course similar to those at many insitutions catering to adult learners, I thought I would see if someone is in fact doing this since I would rather rely on a reputable third party assessment. For the record, I have seen the assessments done that will validate work experience, but these are usually for immigration purposes and do/cannot be used for academic credit so am not interested in that type of assessment. Perhaps what I am looking for does not exist, maybe it shouldn't, but if it does, I know this group will find it! Thanks, Mary
There are dangers in perception of portfolio credit at for-profit universities. Most degree-mills claim legitimacy by granting complete degrees on such a basis. Charter Oak State College and Thomas Edison State College do portfolio assessment, but the danger to for-profit schools is losing the students. Perhaps a group of schools could set up an independent organization to conduct such assessments.
Mary A writes: > What I am curious about is if there are companies who do > portfolio assessment with credit recommendations similar to > the foreign credential evaluation services. There are colleges, including Charter Oak State College and Thomas Edison State College, that will do portfolio assessments for students registered elsewhere. Excelsior College does not itself assess portfolios, and relies on other colleges to do so. The portfolio for each course is assessed by a professor of the relevant subject. This requires wider resources than a foreign credential evaluation service is likely to have. It also typically costs more than a foreign credential evaluation. So I think "reputable third party assessment" will be possible, but (unless someone heeds Dennis's suggestion) not by a company.
Mary, As other people have pointed out, both TESC and COSC will evaluate portfolios and then 'credit bank' them for transfer to another college on an official transcript. I am not familiar with COSC proceedures, but TESC will permit students to take a course description from any accredited institution and submit a portfolio for credit in that course. A good starting point might be to restrict your students to submitting portfolios for courses already taught at Aspen. Let them submit the portfolios to TESC for assessment and have a duplicate portfolio assessed in-house, on an informal and non-binding basis and see how this relates to the official TESC assessment. The TESC award should be accepted for credit, regardless of the in-house outcome. You can then use the outcomes as a foundation on which you can later build your own program, if that is your intention. Obviously it would be appropriate to advise TESC of your intentions. The most important thing is to get the academics on board and this can happen in surprising ways. Thus, in 1992, when I did my portfolio on "Writing Humor" for TESC, I was gratified to receive a note from the assessor asking if she could make use of my portfolio, apparently as a basis to teach the course at her institution. As I said in my article, academics can benefit from the process and stock courses, which are taught year after year in numerous sections, can often be rejuvenated as a result of the lessons to be learned from a good portfolio. Incidentally, TESC had a "Portfolio Hall of Fame," in which the best portfolios were preserved. A release was obtained from the student and personal information was blacked out or elided. TESC also does an excellent workshop on portfolio assessment, usually in June, for people from other colleges.
Dennis - I thought the same thing - but decided it must be a bad idea since no one has done it yet! I couldn't agree more with the dangers of a for-profit school taking portfolio credit - without extremely rigorous procedures, quality control and random/blind checks to validate appropriateness of credits being granted I think any school is at risk. Personally I would rather take a test than go to all the trouble to do portfolio work, but that's just me! Thanks for your comments. Mary
Hi Martin - Thanks for this suggestion. I plan to forward it to our VP for AA. I don't believe we will move to in-house evaluations, for the reasons that Dennis raised, and given our fairly modest tuition and ability for students to earn credit by exam. The idea is truly still in the exploratory stage, a result of increased requests from potential students. Best, Mary
As another incidental, for many years TESC has also given The Arnold Fletcher Award, "for exceptional achievement in independent learning." This is the closest thing that TESC has to an honor roll or scholar recognition at the undergraduate level, and is often awarded to students who have made extensive use of the portfolio process. In 1987, the year in which I graduated, there were approximately 650 graduates, and 11 Fletcher awards were issued. (Modesty prevents me from saying whether I was one of the recipients. ) __________________ P.S. - Nice to see ya, Martin!
