DHS Student Portfolios
In today’s competitive world a standard resume may not be all that is needed to apply for a job or college scholarship. What businesses and educators are discovering is that a well-written application and resume are not enough to help students compete for jobs in a technological and global society. With performance assessments rapidly becoming a reality, a complete and comprehensive portfolio will display abilities, academic works, projects, and personal resources for each student. A student portfolio is a collection of a student's best work and will show the important career-technical and academic knowledge and skills a student has learned while at Douglass High School.
Some of the advantages and benefits of creating an individual student portfolio are as follows:
- Portfolios meet the diversity and individuality of each student. Each portfolio will be a unique and personal representation of the student’s skills, abilities and endeavors.
- Students perform better when they are informed of goals and expectations; they have a heightened sense of accountability. If their portfolio shows a gap in their learning, they have a better chance of seeing it and are more conscientious about doing something to correct the gap.
- Technology can be incorporated into the student portfolio. Digital pictures, recordings, videos, computer generated graphics, hypermedia projects and CDs may be included to display a professional and sophisticated appearance.
- Today’s workplace requires that individuals possess skills in accessing and using information and the ability to work well with people. Building a portfolio develops these real-life skills.
Students will have the opportunity to develop their portfolio during Learning Support Time throughout the school year. Specific portfolio requirements and deadlines will be given to the students to help them build and maintain their portfolios throughout their high school career. Portfolios will be kept in the high school building and may not be checked out until all requirements have been met.
At the end of their senior year, the portfolios will be used as part of the students’ exit interviews. The exit interviews will also be a chance for students to showcase their completed portfolios and communicate their accomplishments and growth while attending Douglass High School. Members of the community will be invited to be a part of the exit interview process. The Douglass Board of Education has given their approval and continued support for the portfolio and exit interview process.
Portfolios are a graduation requirement for all students. Each year students will have a checklist of the minimum requirements needed to complete the portfolio. Students who do not complete the minimum requirements by the posted deadline will be assigned to extended school day. If students do not complete the minimum requirements by the end of the school year, they will be required to come to summer school until their portfolio is up to date.
Purpose & Benefits of the Student Portfolio:
- Shows student progress, growth, and achievements.
- Demonstrates employability skills.
- Will enable students to:
- Practice job-related skills.
- Improve many academic skills such as writing and research.
- Collect samples of their work, which shows off their skills.
- Realize their weak areas because forms may be blank or lacking information.
- Possibly be used during application to a college program or as a tool to enter the work force.
- Asks students to perform, create or produce something.
- Encourages student self-reflection.
- Measures outcomes of significance.
- Taps higher level thinking and problem-solving skills.
- Uses tasks that represent meaningful instructional activities.
- Invokes real-work applications.
- Uses human judgment (rather than machines) for scoring.
- Requires new instructional and assessment roles for teachers.
- Provides self-assessment opportunities for students.
- Encourages students to continue the learning activity beyond the scope of the assignment.
Class Checklists
Students will maintain a checklist of all required portfolio items for the current school year. The LST / Mentor teacher will keep the students checklist in a binder or file, but will only use it to verify completion of requirements. The portfolio committee member in the library will initial the checklist when an item has been placed in a student’s portfolio.
Procedures
The portfolios will remain in the library at all times. Students wanting to update their portfolio will take their checklist to the library, update their portfolio, have their checklist initialed by a portfolio committee member in the library, and then return the checklist to their LST teacher. The LST teacher will post a copy of the checklist in their classroom.
The Portfolio Outline provides a sample structure for the student portfolio.
Community Service and Guidelines
Students will use the Community Service Work Form each time they perform a community service activity. When a student needs more copies they can get them from the LST teacher or in the library. Students MUST get prior approval for ALL community service done outside of school. If there is a question as to whether an activity would be considered community service, approval should be granted by the principal before completing the activity. Remember, students must have eight hours EACH year. If students need some ideas for community service they can ask any of the coaches, sponsors, LST teachers, or administrators. A list of opportunities will be posted on the bulletin board outside the office, the class bulletin boards, and in the LST classrooms. Students will have opportunities for gaining community service during school time or during a school organized event.
Best Work (Letter of Authenticity & Reflection)
Students will need to select a project from a course, which they feel is an example of their best work. This may not include a quiz, daily homework, review worksheets, etc. The students will then need to write a reflection paper and have the teacher who assigned the project sign a letter of authenticity. Students should be encouraged to select a best work during the first semester before it is too late. Students may, at any time during the year, replace a best work with something they feel is better. Guidelines for the reflection paper are outlined in the best work instructions and LST / Mentor teachers will have samples of approved reflection papers. If a teacher is in doubt regarding the quality of a reflection paper, he/she may refer the student to an English teacher for approval.
Freshmen
The following two portfolio requirements will be completed during English I:
Sophomores
The following portfolio requirement will be completed during English II with the counselor:
Juniors
The following two portfolio requirements will be completed during English III:
Seniors
The following items are required during the senior year:
Seniors will have a lesson on interview skills during the first semester. They must then follow these steps to complete the activity:
1. Make contact with potential interviewer.
2. Set time, date, and location for interview.
3. Inform interviewer what position you will be interviewing for.
4. Use what you have learned about interviewing skills.
5. Interviews should last 10 – 30 minutes.
6. Students should provide cover letter, resume, and references.
7. Students should complete their interviews between November 1 and December 15.
8. The interviewer may discuss the interview with the student but will give all of the
documentation to the principal.
9. See the principal to collect your results to place in your portfolio.
- Students may obtain a copy of their transcript on February 1 from the high school office.
- Students must obtain two letters of character reference from adults who can attest to their personal characteristics and employability skills. One letter must come from a person within the school and the other from a person outside the school.
- The Extra-Curricular-Award-Honor Form may be used to document activities which can be included in the portfolio. Students will type a list of their activities, awards, and honors during high school.
Freshman – Junior (Choose two per year)
- Test results
- (PLAN, ACT, PSAT, State Assessment, etc.)
- Academic achievements
- (Honor Roll, Academic Banquet Award, Scholarship, etc.)
- Extra curricular activities
- (Athletics, Band, Musical, Scholar’s Bowl, etc.)
- Personal accomplishments
- (Blue Ribbon, Eagle Scout, 5-K Run, Hunter’s Safety, etc.)
- Paid work experience
- (Check Stub, Evaluation, Letter of Reference, etc.)
DHS Student Portfolio Requirements & Deadlines:
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Deadline #1
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Deadline #2
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| Community Service (8 hours each year)
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12/1 (4)
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3/1 (4)
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| Example of Best Work (1 each year)
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3/1
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| Mission Statement (Fr.)
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12/1
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| Goals Essay (Fr.)
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12/1
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| Career Research Paper (So.)
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12/21
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| Job Shadow Experience (Jr.)
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5/1
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| Resume' (Jr.)
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12/1
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| Personal Reflection Essay (Sr.)
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3/1
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| Mock Interview (Sr.)
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12/15
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| Seven-semester Transcript (Sr.)
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2/1
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| Two Letters of Character Reference (Sr.)
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12/1 (1)
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3/1 (1)
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| Typed List of Honors / Awards (Sr.)
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3/1
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| Satisfactorily Complete Senior Exit Interview (Sr.)
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5/1
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| Two Additional Items per year (Fr. - Jr.)
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12/1 (1)
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3/1 (1)
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- Test Results
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- Academic Achievements
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- Extra-Curricular Activities
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- Personal Accomplishments
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- Paid Work Experience
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