The application level of portfolio assessment methodology at the primary schools (an application in Sakarya)

The aim of this research is to determine the degree of the implementation at the primary school level, recording the attitude of the teachers, students and their parents about the portfolio assessment methodology which is being implemented in a more efficient way with the renewed primary school curriculum. In addition the positive and negative aspects of the implementation of this methodology will be discussed. Primarily the portfolio assessment methodology is analyzed with the research made in the literature with the aim of rating the student success. Later surveys are made over the teachers in order to decide the level of implementation of the portfolio assessment methodology. With the help of the results of the surveys achieved, we made one on one interviews with the teachers who came to be the most efficient implementers of the methodology. Surveys were realized in a range of 287 primary school teachers from 21 schools of the 120 public and private schools of the Adapazar district of the Sakarya region also representing different socio-cultural regions. The interviews were made with 8 teachers who were choosen within the 287 teachers. At a classroom which was identified as one of the classes where P.A.M is applied, we made a survey with the students and their parents in order to identify the approaches and behaviours of the involved parties against the P.A.M. Open ended questions were directed to those parties to understand the evens and odds of the implemantation of P.A.M. Evaluation of the data collected showed that P.A.M is being applied in a high ratio within the first class of the primary schools in the Adapazar district of the Sakarya region. Although it was observed that the aprroaches of the teachers and schools implementing the system caused some differences in different places, that did not showed as a main concern. All of the related parties including teachers, students and their parents replied positively to the implementation of the methodology, but also underlined the disadvanteges emphesising that it is not enough for a proper measuring and assessment by itself. The conceptions of the related parties including the advantges, disadvanteges and the implementation of the P.A.M and their recommendations for other teachers who are willing to aplly the system are also included in this study.