EXAMINATION REFORMS: PORTFOLIO ASSESSMENT AS A TOOL OF PERFORMANCE EVALUATION

Our entire education system is centered on examinations. In the present Evaluation system we conduct the examination and give marks and ranks to students. Student's knowledge is often limited to memorization and reproducing the same in the examinations. Each student has its own innate talents which are not recognized; instead their capability in writing examination is being tested. It is restricted to only by – rote memory. The present day examinations are only testing the memory power of the students. The examination should be designed in such way that they should measure the higher order skills of learning, like analysis synthesis and problem solving. The examinations are mechanical in nature so it is a work of correcting and posting of the marks routinely. There is no scope for diagnostic and remedial teaching. This type of testing is not able to know how far a student is lagging behind. These Examinations are not helping the teacher in assessing the all-round development of the student. The all round development means to develop cocurricular, social, personal qualities and health status. It is also not helping in testing their level of competency. However, in constructive teaching, the process of gaining knowledge is viewed as being just as important as the product. Thus, assessment as per constructivism is based not only on tests, but also on observation of the student, the student's work, and the student's points of view. Portfolio assessment is one of the best methods of evaluation which is very popular forms of performance evaluation. The teachers will use it for understanding the learners learning ability and he will truly understand their students. The students are the products of significant instructional activity so the portfolios reflect contextualized learning and complex thinking skills. The decisions for constructing items for portfolio should be based on the purpose of the portfolio. If we take a right decision for item construction so it will prevent for becoming simply a folder of student work. Portfolio exists to make sense of students' work, to communicate about their work, and to relate the work to a larger context. They may be intended to motivate students, to promote learning though reflections and selfassessment, and to be used in evaluations of student's thinking and writing process.