The Teaching Portfolio

by Peter Seldin

Published 1 January 1997
A teaching portfolio is a collection of materials that document teaching performance. It brings together in one place information about a professor's most significant teaching accomplishments. It can be used for tenure and promotion decisions or to provide the stimulus for self reflection about areas for teaching improvement. Approximately 2,000 colleges and universities in the United States and Canada now use teaching portfolios, and they are gaining increasing popularity worldwide. Since the publication of the first edition of this best selling guide, tens of thousands of faculty have used it to prepare teaching portfolios. This third edition continues its focus on self reflection and documenting teaching performance, and has also been significantly revised and expanded. Its straightforward approach, practical suggestions, step by step instructions, and field tested recommendations will prove invaluable to those involved in evaluating and improving teaching.
Now organized into five parts, this edition includes new information on web based electronic teaching portfolios, descriptions of how seven colleges and universities have actually implemented portfolios, and 22 new sample teaching portfolios from an array of disciplines from accounting to theatre arts and a variety of institutions from large public universities to urban technological schools. The book also includes: an expanded list of 31 possible items that might appear in portfolios; an enhanced section on the process of self reflection; a new section on cautions to consider in preparing a portfolio; new suggestions for updating portfolios; new resources for portfolio development; new red flag warnings and benchmarks for success; and ways to differentiate between portfolios created for personnel decisions and those created for teaching improvement.

Over recent decades, the evaluation of teaching has undergone dramatic change. In accessible language and supportive detail, Changing Practices in Evaluating Teaching provides not only a cogent overview of these changes but also reflects on current developments to present several useful strategies for implementing new tools and methods in the evaluation of teaching. The authors are all prominent educators who have performed seminal work in the improvement of teaching evaluation. Written for university and college administrators as well as faculty, this book is a complete guidebook that supplies a wealth of case studies, examples, tables, Web sites, and exhibits that further enhance its utility.
It explains how to * Gain genuine faculty and administrative support * Avoid common weaknesses in teaching evaluation by students, peers, and self * Evaluate teaching by examining student learning * Successfully combine disparate sources of data * Establish a climate conducive to evaluation * How to structure and use classroom visits, rating forms, electronic classroom assessment, and teaching portfolios Changing Practices in Evaluating Teaching makes evident the compelling reasons why colleges and universities must institute fair teaching evaluation systems, and explains how to do so. With a notable focus on improving student learning, this book offers readers the kind of research-based and ready-to-use information required to foster truly effective and equitable teaching evaluation at their institutions.

Academic administrators occupy a position that is highly complex and entails unrelenting demands such as managing heightened workloads, stretching ever-tightening budgets, and promoting collegiality among intensely driven individuals. At the same time, administrators are facing increased accountability for their job performances. While confronted by these challenges, how can they supply concrete evidence of their accomplishments? The authors of this practical guide recommend preparing an administrative portfolio.

Including ready-to-use and field-tested information, The Administrative Portfolio is a hands-on look at the why, what, and how of preparing and successfully using the portfolio. It includes

  • Practical suggestions for getting started and then maintaining the most effective use of portfolios
  • Key issues, red-flag warnings, and benchmarks for success
  • Helpful answers to common questions
  • Differentiation between portfolios for personnel decisions and those that are used for performance improvement
  • A list of 21 possible portfolio items from which administrators can choose the ones most personally relevant
  • A selection of 13 real portfolios from across administration positions and institutions

Written for presidents, provosts, academic vice presidents, deans, department chairs, and program directors, The Administrative Portfolio presents as well as demonstrates sensible strategies for how to develop and use a strong portfolio.