One of the most fundamental components of a child's portfolio include a checklist of age- or grade-specific goals. The goals are based on daily activities considered to be normal activities, such as educational level, social skills or developmental skills. For example, elementary educational skills might include reading proficiency. Social skills in early education might include cooperation, and developmental skills might include toilet training.
Rating scales are used in a child's portfolio to understand how a child is progressing in behaviors that have several components as part of the behavior. In order to succeed, a child might need to incorporate several things in the process. For example, a second grader doing a mathematical word problem needs to incorporate math concepts, reading ability and critical thinking skills. The child can be rated for each of these components to learn if there is a deficiency.
Anecdotal records add dimension to a child's portfolio beyond the educational and developmental milestone ratings found in other parts of the portfolio. The anecdotal records account for spontaneous events in a factual and nonjudgmental fashion. In reading these notes, a person should be able to see a chronological pattern in the child's behavior and abilities.
All results from screening tests should be part of the child's portfolio. These tests help current and future educators understand the existing and potential strengths and weaknesses of a child. While other components of a portfolio can be used to determine passing or retaining a child at any one grade level, screening tests are used to gather more information to better tailor educational efforts.
A section on questions and responses helps evaluators and educators gain insight into the way a child thinks as well as her understanding and use of language. Open-ended questions invite a child to formulate an answer; these answers demonstrate a child's area of interest--which might or might not correlate to her strengths.