Purpose of Objective
The partnership portfolio project was initiated as part of the work of the Institute for Urban Education Partnerships and the Basic School Eastern Consortia to provide schools with guidance in collecting data about partnerships and presenting them in an electronic digital portfolio. These portfolios are used to help conduct an assessment of the partnership’s accomplishments, and to inform members of the community about those accomplishments.
Main Partners
The main partners in this project were Virginia Tech’s Department of Educational Leadership, the National Association of Partners in Education, The Charles S. Mott Foundation, The Shell Foundation, and The Basic School Eastern Consortia.
Main Beneficiaries
The beneficiaries of the work of this project are those educators and community partners who are seeking better ways to evaluate the results of their work together and to disseminate that information to the community.
Main Contributors
The main contributors were Steve Parson and Judith Smith whose work was supported, in part, by grant funds provided by the Charles S. Mott Foundation and the Shell Foundation.
Essential Elements
The essential elements of the electronic digital portfolio are contained in a template to guide the collection of data. The components of the template are:
· History of the Partnership
- Leadership
- Goals
- Action Plan
- Partnerships Activities
- Input Documentation (example: numbers of mentors, volunteer hours, etc.)
- Indicators of Success
- Elements Identified for Improvement & Expansion
- Artifacts
- Photos
- Samples of student work
- Video clips
- Letters & other correspondence
- Honors & awards
- Main Factors of Success
This initiative is just getting underway in several locations. Results of the use of the Electronic Digital Portfolio have yet to be determined.
Impact
The use of technology to collect information about partnerships and to make them available to key leaders and the whole community has great potential for making an impact. Up to this point we have been limited in how we disseminate information about the impact that partnerships are making on students. By creating electronic digital portfolios schools can place this information on websites that can be accessed worldwide. The digital format also allows the information to be distributed in CD-Rom format that can be used by individuals to review partnership accomplishments.
Potential Replication
The template for developing Electronic Digital Portfolios can be used by a wide variety of partnerships. Urban, rural and suburban communities can use the portfolio approach to document and assess educational partnerships of all types.
Authors:
Dr. Steve R. Parson & Ms. Judith Smith
Address:
Virginia Tech
Institute for Urban Education Partnerships
7054 Haycock Rd. Rm 460
Falls Church, VA 22304
Telephone: (703) 538-8478
Fax number: (703) 548-8485
Email: parson@vt.edu
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