PORTFOLIO POLICY (Portfolios due Monday, November 30th)

SANTA BARBARA CITY COLLEGE
ENGLISH DIVISION
PORTFOLIO POLICY

In order to establish students' preparedness for the next English composition course, the English Division has established the following portfolio assessment process: All eligible English composition students submit a portfolio of their three best essays selected from the 5 essays written during the term. (In the case of English 65, students will submit the three essays written during the term.) The student's departmental essay exam—an essay written under timed, supervised conditions—is automatically added to the portfolio. Only students in good standing, that is, those who have completed their instructor's course requirements, are eligible to participate. English Division faculty who have been normed (trained to assess portfolio essays) meet to evaluate the portfolios. Using the departmental rubric (i.e., the criteria score sheet), they review final drafts and earlier drafts, assessing the student's ability to think, plan, draft, revise and edit. Portfolios are then scored pass/no pass.

Portfolio requirements:

1) English 100: At least two of the three revised essays must be expository. And at least one of the three revised essays must respond to a text, using MLA format. Expository essays are the following: definition, causal analysis, comparison/contrast, classification, argumentation, analysis of a text, research essay or a combination of these. The third revised essay may be descriptive, narrative or expository as defined above. Descriptive or narrative essays must demonstrate carefully considered analysis. English 80 and 65: At least one of the three revised essays must be expository. The other two essays may be descriptive, narrative, or expository.

2) English 100: The three revised essays must be over 2 and one half pages and no more than 5 pages long. English 80: The three revised essays must be at least 2 complete pages and no more than 5 pages long. English 65: The three revised essays must be at least one and a half pages and no more than 5 pages long.

3) There must be at least 2 drafts per essay, with evidence of instructor's input; there may be no more than 4 drafts per essay, including the final draft. All drafts must be stapled together with the final draft on top.

4) The final draft must be typed and double-spaced, with 1.25-inch margins and standard
12-point font. It should be free of instructors' and tutors' comments. Minor corrections neatly written in ink are acceptable. For English 80, the student's name and the days and time of the course should appear at the top left of page one and a title should be centered below. For English 100, the student’s name, the course name, and the date should appear at the top left of page one and a title should be centered below. The instructor’s name should not appear on any papers. Substitutions of K#’s for student names are acceptable.

Students with passing portfolios receive credit for their current English course and are eligible for the next level English composition course if they have also fulfilled the reading requirement (that is, if they have been assessed as eligible for English 103 and the next level course is English 110). If not, their writing placement will be held until they fulfill the reading requirement.

Students whose portfolios do not pass receive credit for the A level of their current course. They may enroll in a course at that level once more for credit (and for no-credit thereafter).