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Career portfolios provide evidence of individuals' knowledge and skills in working with data, people, and things. Developing a portfolio can be a valuable career awareness and career planning activity for youth, including those with special needs, and adults; a productive instructional activity involving critical reflection and analytical thinking; and a very useful tool in job search and career change. This Brief describes practices in developing and using portfolios for career-related purposes.
Some Initial Questions
What is a career portfolio? What is its purpose? Why is it needed?
Definition
You might find terms like portfolio, career portfolio, employability skills portfolio, career passport, and career plan used to mean similar or different things. In particular, a portfolio can be broadly defined to include almost anything: resumes, transcripts, letters of reference, statements of philosophy, awards and honors, and examples of work or narrowly focused, including only examples of work . This Brief uses the broader definition for career portfolio, which can include almost anything.
Purposes
Portfolios can be used to promote student self-assessment and control of learning, build student self-confidence, support student-led parent conferences, select students for special
programs, certify student competence, grant alternative credit, demonstrate to employers certain skills and abilities, and evaluate curriculum and instruction. This Brief, however, focuses on career portfolios used for the specific purposes of career awareness and planning and providing evidence and samples of knowledge and skills to employers.
The Need
Why are career portfolios so valuable for career awareness, career planning, and employability? First, changes in the nature of work and the workplace mean that employers want more than just narrow academic or occupationally specific skills. Employers want generalizable workplace skills like those identified by the Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS) managing resources, acquiring and using information, working with a variety of technologies, and using interpersonal and teamwork skills that are not well portrayed in traditional career assessment measures, transcripts, or diplomas. At the same time, students are often not adept at communicating their knowledge and skills to
employers; they may not know just what skills they have, how those skills are relevant, and what employers want.
A Solution
Career portfolios can help resolve that dilemma in three ways. First, as part of a career awareness and career planning process, they help collect and structure realistic information about the workplace, careers, jobs, education, training, and personal knowledge, skills, abilities, and experiences. Second, the reflection and analysis involved in selecting items for a portfolio provides the opportunity to discover and understand the connection between and relevance of personal knowledge, skills, abilities, and experiences and employers'
needs. Third, as a job search tool, portfolios can communicate such connections and relevance clearly and effectively to employers.
The advantages of career portfolios also extend to youth with disabilities and other special needs and adults in career transition, especially dislocated workers, displaced homemakers, welfare recipients, and work force training participants The career awareness, self-assessment, and reflection activities in the portfolio development process can be of great value to such individuals, who often have a particular need for realistic information about the workplace and about themselves, for structure and assistance in finding a good fit between the two, and for an effective tool to communicate their results to employers.
Developing and Using Portfolios
Educators who have developed and implemented career portfolio programs have a number of lessons to share with others. Special efforts are necessary to implement a career portfolio program: the roles of different actors need to be defined, some specific issues of portfolio design must be addressed, and the process of student portfolio development requires careful attention.
Initiating a career portfolio program requires administrative support, program leadership, and inservice training. Administrative support should include staff time for design, planning, and outreach activities. A knowledgeable, committed coordinator can be key to successful implementation. Inservice training and informational materials (e.g., program guidelines) are needed to orient administrators, counselors, and academic and vocational teachers; likewise, sample portfolios are highly recommended for orienting teachers to the specifics of successful portfolios. One critical topic in inservice activities is the role of career portfolios within the overall career planning and development program or system.
Roles
Career portfolio programs involve not only a coordinator and vocational teachers but also academic teachers and counselors. Vocational teachers will play a large role in student portfolio development, of course, and in providing links to local employers. However, academic teachers should play an equally large role in student portfolio development. Many of the skills to be captured in student portfolios are taught in academic as well as vocational classes, so collaboration and integration between academic and vocational teachers are needed both in planning portfolio design and in portfolio development. Likewise, counselors will have a role in portfolio design and development as practitioners in the overall career planning, career development, and developmental guidance system.
There are important roles for those outside the school. Parents need to know what the portfolio program is, how it works, and how they can contribute (e.g., providing items to include in portfolios, participating and assisting in the overall career planning and development process). Local employers also play a vital role in the portfolio program they are the most likely consumers of the products students develop. It is important to inform employers of the portfolio program, gather input from them on what they would want to see in portfolios, and encourage them to use portfolios in their hiring processes. Other community groups (e.g., chambers of commerce) can be helpful in informing the community about the portfolio program and promoting its use.
Portfolio Design
If you develop a program of your own, you can design it specifically for the purpose you intend; if you adopt or adapt a program, you need to know the purpose behind its design to use it appropriately. Portfolios used to assess student learning or evaluate curriculum and instructional effectiveness tend to be more structured and uniform, with specific quality
criteria to promote uniform assessment. If used primarily to promote learning and self-assessment for career planning, portfolios would more likely be less structured, with quality
criteria focusing on the process of learning and self-assessment. If the portfolio is primarily a tool for job search and career change, structure would depend specifically on what employers want to see.
The contents of portfolios would also vary according to purpose. A portfolio for authentic assessment of student learning would not need to contain a transcript or Certificate of Initial
Mastery but a portfolio for curriculum evaluation or job search might. Likewise, a career planning focus might include the results of career information searches, aptitude and interest
assessments, and postsecondary financial aid research, but those items would probably not be included for authentic assessment or job search. For job search purposes, portfolios must include, for each item demonstrating a skill, an analysis explaining how that item demonstrates that skill.
One additional issue in portfolio design is medium; paper and cardboard, diskettes, CD-ROMs, and Web pages all have advantages and disadvantages. Paper is inexpensive but sometimes unimpressive and may not capture some interpersonal or communication skills well. Diskettes and CD-ROMs can capture different kinds of skills very well, but they're relatively expensive and require technology skills. Web pages can capture almost any kind of information as long as you have needed software, software skills, and server space.
Student Portfolio Development
If students are to derive the learning benefit of building a portfolio, they must do the work of self-assessment, reflection, and analysis themselves in particular, the analysis of how a
portfolio item demonstrates specific knowledge and skills. Employers may not intuitively understand how a state fair blue ribbon demonstrates personal management and responsibility or how a varsity sport letter demonstrates teamwork and interpersonal skills.
By the same token, teachers and counselors must play the roles of facilitator, guide, mentor, and collaborator, leading students through the process of self-assessment, reflection, and analysis, rather than doing that work for students. One final note to teachers: be sure to communicate a clear, detailed vision of what a portfolio is to students, along with some samples of successful portfolios.
References
Alberta Department of Education. Creating a Career Skills Portfolio: Showcasing Students' Strengths and Abilities. Edmonton: Special Education Branch, ADE, 1997. (ED 412 362)
American Association for Career Education. AACE Citations for Career Education Initiatives: Programs, Practices, and Publications that Work. Hermosa Beach, CA: AACE, 1996.
Arter, J. A.; Spandel, V.; and Culham, R. Portfolios for Assessment and Instruction. ERIC Digest. Greensboro: ERIC Clearinghouse on Counseling and Student Services, University of North Carolina, 1995. (ED 388 890)
Blincoe, R.; Corbett, M.; and Stewart, D. "What's a Passport...LISD Variety?" Agricultural Education Magazine 69, no. 1 (July 1996): 22-23.
Brown, B. L. Community Involvement in K-12 Career Education. ERIC Digest no. 177. Columbus: ERIC Clearinghouse on Adult, Career, and Vocational Education, Center on Education and Training for Employment, The Ohio State University, 1996. (ED 402 473)
Chappell, D. S., and Schermerhorn, J. R., Jr. "Using Electronic Student Portfolios in Management Education: A Stakeholder Perspective." Journal of Management Education 23, no. 6 (December 1999): 651-662.
Colette, M.; Woliver, B.; Bingman, M. B.; and Merrifield, J. Getting There: A Curriculum for People Moving into Employment. Rev. ed. Knoxville: Center for Literacy Studies, University of Tennessee, 1996. (ED 413 477)
Conley, D. T., and Stone, P. Evaluation of the Oregon Business Council-David Douglas Model School District Partnership Program. Portland: Oregon Business Council, 1996. (ED 402 650)
Drier, H. N. "Career Portfolios-Don't Leave Home without One." Career Planning and Adult Development Journal 12, no. 4 (Winter 1996-97): 55-60.
Felstehausen, G.; Lawver, D.: and Couch, S. Authentic Assessment for Occupational Competency for Career and Technology Education. Lubbock: Texas Tech University, 1995. (ED 388 857)
Koehmstedt, S.; Edman, J.; Contreras, A.; Campisi, C.; Longmore, P.; and Kilbourne, J. Campus to Career Mentor Projects for Students with Disabilities: Project Manual. San Francisco, CA: San Francisco State University, 1997. (ED 411 613)
McDivitt, P. J., and St. John, R. "The Use of Alternative Assessments in Adult Career Counseling." Career Planning and Adult Development Journal 12, no. 2 (Summer 1996): 55-72.
Ohio School-to-Work Office. Ohio School-to-Work Glossary. Columbus: OSWO, 1996. (ED 396 125)
Perry, N. S. "Life Career Portfolios across a Life Span." Career Planning and Adult Development Journal 12, no. 4 (Winter 1996-97): 41-46.
Pond, B. N.; Burdick, S. E.; and Yamamoto, J. K. "Portfolios: Transitioning to the Future." Business Education Forum 52, no. 4 (April 1998): 50-54.
Powell, K. S., and Jankovich J. L. "Student Portfolios: A Tool to Enhance the Traditional Job Search." Business Communication Quarterly 61, no. 4 (December 1998): 72-82.
Schutt, D. A., Jr.; Brittinghars, K. V.; Perrone, P. A.; Bilzing, D.; and Thompson, M. J. The Wisconsin Developmental Guidance Model: A Resource and Planning and Guide for School-Community Teams. Madison: Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, 1997. (ED 414 541)
Smith, C. "Assessing Job Readiness through Portfolios." School Administrator 50, no. 11 (December 1993): 26-31.
Smith, C. "What Have We Learned from Assessing Employability Skills Portfolios?" Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the
National Council on Measurement in Education, New York, April 9-11, 1996. (ED 397 102)
Wilhelm, W. J. "A Delphi Study of Desired Entry-Level Workplace Skills, Competencies, and Proof-of-Achievement Products." Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Montreal, Quebec, April 19-23, 1999. (ED 430 093)
This project has been funded at least in part with Federal funds from the U.S. Department of Education under Contract No. ED-99- CO-0013. The content of this publication does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the U.S. Department of Education nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. Practice Application Briefs may be freely reproduced.
http://www.ericdigests.org/eric-digests.html
Judy Wagner
ERIC Clearinghouse on Adult, Career, and Vocational Education
1900 Kenny Road / Columbus OH 43210-1090 USA
614/292-8625; 800/848-4815 (ext 2-8625); FAX: 614/292-1260
TTY/TDD: 614/688-8734
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About The Author:
Practice Application Brief no. 13
ERIC Clearinghouse on Adult, Career, and Vocational Education, 2001 |
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