WEBVTT

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Marielys Garcia: My
name is Marielys Garcia.

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I have been at Thurgood
Marshall for four years serving

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as a Spanish teacher
at all levels.

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Michael Somerville: And my
name is Michael Somerville.

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I am also a teacher here at
Thurgood Marshall Academy.

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I am a math teacher, and I am
also an 11th grade advisor.

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Garcia: The portfolio
process is something

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that our school takes
a lot of pride in.

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The real goals for the students
are articulation of the goals

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that they have set particularly
in their academic achievement

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and also in their citizenship,
their behavior at the school.

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Another part of it is really
allowing them to reflect

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on what they have done,
whether that be on the projects

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that they have completed,
whether they have done well

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on them or not-giving them
a chance to really think

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about how they are
producing solid work,

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how they are progressing
as an individual

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in the school building,
and really getting them

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to see the correlation
between the goals that they set

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and the goals that they
can set in the future.

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So it really gives students a
context to be able to do that.

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They are specifically
trained in how

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to track their academic
achievement via grade point

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average, so as a ninth grader
they begin to learn how

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to track their GPAs and
are really empowered

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by that information.

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And I would say that that's
something very specific

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and tangible that
students learn how to do.

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In addition, to really be
successful in portfolio,

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we really need the
community to be on board,

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and I think that
that is something

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that portfolio allows
the school to do.

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The entire school community
is very much involved

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in the portfolio process.

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Students have the support of
an advisor from the beginning

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of the school year in
September throughout the year.

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The way that portfolio works
is that students are presenting

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to a panel of at
least two faculty

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or school community members;
they present for about 10

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to 15 minutes, after which
that panel deliberates

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over how they have done on the
particular areas of portfolio,

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which is looking at
academic achievement,

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citizenship, project work.

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For seniors we are also
looking at their college work

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and their resumes, and for all
students they are either working

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on a cover letter or
an executive summary

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of what they have done,

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in addition to community
service hours.

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Somerville: Data is an
extremely important aspect

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of the portfolio.

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One of the areas in which
data is used is tracking

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and calculating GPA.

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So each time a student
receives a progress report,

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which occurs twice each quarter,
and then a final report card

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at the end of the quarter,
students will get a copy of that

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in their advisory time and
their first activity would be

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to calculate their specific GPA.

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Once the first quarter ends,
they will take their GPA

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and they will look at a chart
that's already been decided

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ahead of time to see
where they are currently

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and what would be a
good goal for them.

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Garcia: The portfolios
impact student achievement

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in several ways,

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but particularly it gives
students a very clear awareness

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of what it takes to show
a holistic understanding

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of the content area.

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And in that project they
really take a lot of ownership

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on what it is they
know that they need

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to not only know what the
project is about but they need

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to show a level of
mastery in that project.

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They have a rubric, they know
very specifically what a teacher

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wants and what it's going
to take to reach that.

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And it allows students to
set high goals for themselves

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because they know very clearly
what it is that it's going

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to take for them to get an A on
a project, if that is their goal

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that they are setting, or to get
a B-what that's going to look

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like compared to an A project.