Electronic Portfolio

The use of a portfolio is one approach to assessing and documenting student experiences and employability skills development from a WBL experience. A portfolio is a purposeful collection of student work that demonstrates student learning across time. Portfolios promote self-reflection, give students greater ownership in assessing and articulating their learning and provide a resource that students can use for future employment. Schools and districts can embed a portfolio to assess WBL experiences as part of a student’s IPS. 

An IPS involves development of a flexible career focus and an education plan that is clearly defined to ensure a successful, efficient transition to postsecondary education and/or the workforce. At minimum, an IPS requires the following components: 

• A series of strength finders and career-interest inventories to help students identify career cluster preferences. 

• An eighth- through 12th-grade course-builder function with course selections based on career interests. 

• A postsecondary plan (workforce, military, certification, two-year college, four-year college). 

• A portable electronic portfolio. 

Instead of requiring a student to create a second portfolio solely to document WBL experiences, schools and districts can embed the WBL portfolio within the IPS. The result is a single, encompassing portfolio that documents the student learner’s goals, career interests, postsecondary plan and experiences (such as a WBL experience) that help the student achieve those goals. Embedding how students assess and document their learning from WBL experiences within the IPS can help streamline the process and ensure students are career ready. Schools and districts can regard the WBL portfolio as a subsection of the IPS 

Recommended Components of A WBL Electronic Portfolio 

1. Table of Contents of student’s work items contained in the portfolio. 

2. Career Development Materials: A. Resume. B. Cover letter. C. Letter(s) of recommendation. D. Other artifacts demonstrating career development (i.e., job application, LinkedIn profile, demonstration of interviewing skills, etc.). 

3. IPS Required Components (Included in Kansas Education Systems Accreditation - KESA): A. Strengths finder. B. Career-interest inventory. C. Courses aligned to interest inventory. D. Postsecondary plan. 

4. WBL Experience Work Samples: WBL Experience work samples are products or materials developed throughout the WBL experience that demonstrate at least one employability skill in each of these domains: Effective Relationships, Workplace Skills and Applied Knowledge. 

5. Writing/Research Samples: These samples demonstrate in-depth knowledge about a career area and include descriptions of required skills and forecasted industry trends. Students must draw on multiple sources (interviews, literature review and internet search) and use proper citations. 

6. Project: The project involves creating work samples and preparing writing samples and it culminates in a presentation. (Note: The student may substitute for writing/ research sample and other work samples, if the project already will include these.) 

7. Assessments and Certifications: A. Business/mentor evaluation. B. WorkKeys assessment. C. Industry certification. D. Coordinator evaluation.