Introduction

Up to this point, we have been considering writing assessment primarily in terms of collecting and evaluating individual writing samples as single performances, and making inferences from these performances about the writing ability of the test takers. However, as has been noted earlier, this approach to writing assessment is limited in several ways. Two of the most serious limitations are: (1) the fact that writing done under timed conditions on an unfamiliar topic does not accurately reflect the conditions under which most writing is done in non-testing situations or writing as it is taught and practiced in the classroom, and (2) the fact that it is difficult to generalize from a single writing sample to a much broader universe of writing in different genres and for different purposes and audiences. Chapter 8 deals to some extent with the first limitation, in that classroom evaluation of writing can be accomplished through untimed as well as timed writing, but a different approach is needed to deal with the second limitation. Portfolio assessment is seen by many as an alternative approach to writing assessment that can allow broader inferences about writing ability than are possible with single-shot approaches to evaluating writing, both in the individual classroom and on a larger scale.

Portfolios have long been a standard form of assessment in fields related to the visual arts such as architecture, design, and photography. In first-language writing as well, portfolios have a fairly long history, although they have only recently become used in large-scale assessment.