Program standards

People interested in accountability always seem to be looking for program standards which they treat as a checklist. Many portfolios (especially exit portfolios) are organized around such checklists. This isn't the vision I have for my portfolio, but I need to be prepared to answer the "Checklist Charlies" of the world. Today I was musing about how I might defend my work to the accountability crowd without turning my portfolio into an exit portfolio. I believe I've decided how to handle it.

I have a list of the program standards which I will link to from my narrative. I've decided to annotate the list of standards with brief explanations of what is in my portfolio that shows evidence of meeting each standards and why it demonstrates evidence. Naturally, I'll provide hyperlinks to the artifacts under discussion. Fortunately, most artifacts will offer evidence of more than one standard.

The ISTE Resources for Assessment book discusses their Leadership team's decision to recommend specific entries to best meet the NETS-T standards. According to this book, only five artifacts are required to demonstrate meeting all NETS-T standards. Their example demonstrates the power of the wise selection of rich artifacts.