FY 2008 Annual Report of Achievements - Gallaudet University

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• collect, manage, and think about their work and what it means for today and the future
• interact with data about themselves over an extended period of time
• analyze and assess their own progress through reflection
• plan and manage their time to complete the work
• receive and use feedback
• make decisions about future goals based on evidence and criteria
Development
Prior years. In FY 1998, portfolios began on the senior team at MSSD. The five outcomes were
established, and senior portfolios began including an end-of-year senior presentation. Portfolios soon
expanded into the second semester for seniors. Students received a grade for senior lab, and senior
presentations included external panel members as graders. In FY 2000, portfolios expanded to a full year
for seniors, and the senior project was piloted. The senior project provides students with the opportunity
to pursue and manage a year-long project of their choosing. Throughout their senior project experience,
students are challenged to manage short- and long-range timelines, identify and locate needed resources,
and synthesize information from various sources. Portfolios were approved as a graduation requirement
in FY 2001, and in this same year the process was trialed on Team 1/2/3 through Team 11. Standard
portfolio requirements were implemented on teams 9–12 in FY 2002, and the initial exploration of
freshman introductory curriculum began. An educator’s guide for the now formally titled Portfolios for
Student Growth was completed in FY 2004 along with a PSG training presentation.
Much work took place in FY 2005. Activities included differentiation of student materials to
address the individual needs of high school students, development of a one-day PSG overview training,
and drafting of the PSG Foundations curriculum. The Foundations curriculum was developed to teach
new students the knowledge and skills needed for high school success and portfolio development and to
understand the KDES/MSSD student outcomes.
Additional PSG work completed in FY 2005 was the creation of a senior project guide to
provide advisors and students with information about all aspects of the senior project, including specific
requirements and suggestions for successful completion. Work to standardize PSG implementation at
KDES and make it consistent with student outcomes was also initiated.
During FY 2006, the program focused attention on piloting elementary and middle school PSG
processes and materials at KDES. Investigators completed a draft version of the elementary educator’s
guide, and early childhood and middle school processes were designed, implemented, and reviewed.
Revision of these processes and development of processes for early and upper elementary grades
continued through FY 2007. High school materials were further refined and developed to meet ongoing
program and student needs. The introductory Foundations curriculum, revised in FY 2006, was shared
with other schools using PSG and will be further refined based on their feedback. The senior project
guide, developed in FY 2005, was put into routine use at MSSD. During FY 2006, the one-day PSG
overview training was revised and a two-day PSG intensive workshop was developed and piloted.
During FY 2007 two new PSG workshops were developed and piloted, one for educators
working with students who have disabilities and the other for families who would like to develop family
portfolios at home. These workshops are now routinely offered by Clerc Center trainers. These, in
addition to PSG trainings for educators, continue to be popular Clerc Center offerings. PSG product
planning continued during FY 2007. The Web site was updated to include the elementary educator’s
guide and other support materials. PSG implementation continued at KDES and MSSD in FY 2007 as
part of standard school programming.
FY 2008 activities and/or product(s).
• The PSG Web site was updated.