Abstract
Educators working with preservice teachers in regular and special education teacher training programs are integrating teaching portfolios as alternative assessment methods for documenting teacher competency and determining preparation for student teaching. Concerns by researchers and practitioners regarding the reliability and validity of teacher portfolio ratings. This study addresses some of those concerns: (a) interrater reliability using teacher portfolios, (b) relationships between evaluations of teacher portfolios and traditional methods of assessment, and (c) the utility of teacher portfolios for evaluating instructional competency in special education preservice teachers. The findings from this study indicate moderate agreement exists between trained raters' evaluations of teacher portfolios. A statistically significant relationship was found after comparing preservice teacher portfolio ratings and ratings from a checklist of skills completed while observing classroom instruction. The trained raters support using teacher portfolios as a supplement for evaluative decision-making to determine preservice teachers' readiness for student teaching.
Gibson, Vicki Lynn (1995). The reliability, validity, and utility of teacher portfolios in special education preservice teacher training. Texas A&M University. Texas A&M University. Libraries. Available electronically from
https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /DISSERTATIONS -1574725.