Progress is monitored through the use of a kindergarten portfolio. Each child's portfolio contains copies of standard based assessments and a collection of student work samples that have been gathered throughout the year. These artifacts document children's progress towards end of year expectations and stages of development. A progress report summarizing this work is issued once every nine weeks. When evaluating student work the terms - not yet, developing, and meets benchmark are used.

For children the portfolio system:

*enhances self-esteem because the portfolios celebrate what they can do...

* encourages kindergartners to take responsibility for their own learning as they reflect on accomplishments and work alongside their teachers and care takers to plan next steps for their learning...

*is noncompetitive because each child's porfolio emphasizes his or her own unique development...

Reading

Standard 3: Uses a variety of print and non-print resources to locate and gather information.
*Generates questions about topics of interest.

Standard 4: Uses the general skills and strategies of the reading process.
*Demonstrates awareness of the basic sound units of language.
*Demonstrates knowledge of basic print concepts.
*Recognizes letters of the alphabet.
*Demonstrates understanding of letter/sound correspondence.
*Uses a variety of strategies to make sense of print.

Standard 5: Reads, Interprets, and responds to a variety of literary and informational texts.
*Selects stories for personal enjoyment and knowledge.
*Demonstrates comprehension.

Standard 6: Uses speaking and listening strategies for a variety of purposes.
*Follows rules of conversation.
*Asks and responds to questions.
*Listens and follows direction.
*Indicates listening by looking at the speaker and staying quiet.

Writing

Standard 1: Uses the general skills and strategies of the writing process to write for a variety of purposes and audiences.
*Expresses ideas in words or pictures.
*Draws, dictates and/or writes a logical sequence of events with three or more steps.
*Dictates and or/writes descriptions of familiar persons, objects or experiences.

Standard 2: Uses the grammatical and mechanical conventions of written language.
*Prints own name.
*Prints numbers and letters.
*Represents sounds with letters to express ideas in writing.
*Uses directionality of print in writing.
*Puts spaces between words.
*Uses some conventional spellings.