The product (might be a project, essay, or creative piece) that students produce that demonstrates what they know and are able to do. It is scored on one of the core competency rubrics and students must obtain a score of "proficient" or above in order to use in their portfolio. This means that a teacher must design an artifact that gives students the opportunity to score proficient on every bullet point in the rubric.
As teachers are planning artifacts, they should include time for students to reflect on what they know and what they can do. Students complete reflections as they are working on an artifact or at the end of the artifact. A reflection gives students the opportunity to reflect on their process, leadership skills, and growth throughout the artifact.
An artifact is ready for the portfolio when a student has attained proficient or above on the competency rubric AND when they have completed a proficient reflection to accompany the artifact.
Envision has four academic competencies:
Envision teachers are competency teachers, which means that each grad-level teacher takes primary ownership of a competency. Competency teachers work to design authentic artifacts where students demonstrate proficiency in each of the domains of the rubric. In addition, competency teachers design smaller projects and learning experiences where students practice skills associated with each domain. For more on each of the competencies, click here.
In addition to academic competencies, Envision has four leadership skills:
Teachers plan opportunities for students to utilize each of these skills as well as opportunities for students to reflect on their use of these skills. Additional resources: leadership skills rubric or in-depth explanation of leadership skills.
CSP = College Success Portfolio. A student's CSP is completed by the end of their senior year and is the portfolio of student work that includes ALL of the following:
BP = Benchmark Portfolio. BP provides an opportunity for our sophomores to demonstrate what they know, what they can do, and how well they reflect. A student's BP includes ALL of the following:
WLE = Work Learning Experience. WLE is similar to an internship and is completed while the student is in upper division.
DOD = Defend on Demand. Middle school students complete Defend on Demands periodically throughout the year to build to their 8th-grade defense. Students write and record a short (1-2 minute) video of themselves talking about what they learned from doing a specific assignment. They describe which Mindset they used, and how they have grown as a student. 6 grade students complete 6 DODs, 7th grade 7 DODs, 8th grade 8 DODs.
After a student has a completed portfolio (for CSP: five proficient artifacts in each of the competencies and five proficient reflections), the student creates a digital element that showcases three of the five artifacts and highlights their learning and use of leadership skills. The student practices for their defense, receives feedback from teachers, advisors, and peers, and finally, defends their learning in front of a panel.
In a Benchmark Defense, students reflect on their first two years and demonstrate why they should move on to the upper division of 11th grade. The College Success Portfolio Defense takes place at the end of students’ senior year and serves as the culmination of a four-year process. In order to graduate students must demonstrate that they are ready for college level work by showing what they know, what they can do, and how well they reflect.
Defenses last between 45 and an hour minutes and include the student's prepared presentation as well as questions from the panel. A student passes their Defense if they are score proficient or above based on the Oral Defense Rubric.
Each general education teacher--at every grade level--will plan a minimum of two artifacts per year in a focus competency (Analysis, Creative Expression, Inquiry, or Research). If you choose to teach a competency outside of your focus competency, you will plan for at least three artifacts.
Two is a minimum and we know the more kids get to practice, the more authentic the skills become. Therefore, you are encouraged to imbed key skills into your everyday instruction.
Learning Specialist and general education teachers collaborate to plan artifacts that give every student the opportunity to be successful. The Learning Specialist works with general education teachers to create scaffolds, accommodations, and modifications as needed throughout the unit to ensure all students gain the necessary skills to produce an artifact. When Learning Specialists aren't included until the end, when students are producing the artifact, the support is less successful in engaging student agency.
In addition, Learning Specialists work in collaboration with advisors to support students in preparing for the defense. This support does not replace the support an advisor gives to every student, but is in addition for students who need it. When in doubt, general education teachers and Learning Specialists should frequently communicate to ensure student success in this process.
World Language teachers who teaching a world language for beginners class (for example, Spanish I or II) have the unique opportunity to incorporate aspects of the World Language Rubric with key domains from the Creative Expression rubric (or another rubric of their choice). The goal of this is that students create a product (written, oral, or media based) in the target language. The majority of the artifact and reflection should be completed in the target language in order to maximize students practicing their language skills. For project examples, click here.
As an advanced language teacher, you can simply choose a competency and substitute the Use of Conventions in the Target Language domain for the Conventions domain of any rubric. This will ensure you are assessing students skills in the target language instead of in English.