Date of Award
2003
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Fischler Graduate School of Education and Human Services
Advisor
Karen D. Bowser
Committee Member
G. Jeremiah Ryan
Committee Member
Larry McCarthy
Committee Member
Barbara Packer
Keywords
assessment criteria, educational assessment, English as a Second Language, ESL students, English language acquisition, formative evaluation, high school education, implementation, performance based assessment, portfolio assessment, progress monitoring, Roberto Clemente Charter School, Rural Schools, secondary education, student evaluation, summative evaluation
Abstract
This dissertation was designed to pilot an alternative assessment to help English as a Second Language (ESL) students complete their high school education. The purpose of this project was to develop a portfolio assessment to meet the needs of the ESL students at the Roberto Clemente Charter School (RCCS).
There were 5 research questions for this project: Is a portfolio assessment the proper form of evaluation for students? What should be the criteria for the portfolio assessment? What form and content should be included in the portfolio? How should it be implemented? and How should it be evaluated?
This project used the development and evaluation methodologies. The writer developed a portfolio assessment for the ESL high school students. The portfolio assessment provided help to all ESL high school students at RCCS.
There were 10 procedures used to develop the portfolio assessment. These procedures guided the writer in the development of the portfolio assessment. The formative and summative committees helped guide the writer to complete the process.
The results of this project answered the 5 research questions. Also, the results clearly showed that the portfolio assessment met the criteria for the project and helped all ESL high school students at the RCCS monitor their progress in acquiring the English language.