The effect of self-reflective portfolios on the writing achievement of third grade students

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of self-reflection and self-evaluation on the writing achievement of third grade students in a midwestern elementary school. The reviewed literature suggested that student self-evaluation was an essential component for developing metacognitive thinking skills therefore, the hypothesis was stated that self-reflective portfolios would significantly affect the writing achievement of third graders. The control and experimental group received pre-writing instruction together, then during a ten week period, each student wrote ten compositions. The control group filed its compositions in a cumulative file, whereas the experimental group evaluated each composition using a rubric before filing in a portfolio. Because findings of the study indicate a significant gain by the students using self-reflective evaluation of their compositions, as compared with the group that did not, the hypothesis was accepted. Discussion and recommendations for further study are provided.