Portfolio Defense System

At various points in our students' careers at SEEQS, they will present a portfolio of work that demonstrates their progress in developing the SEEQS Sustainability Skills. In their 8th grade year, SEEQers will also deliver a public defense of their progress before a panel, making the case that they are ready for the next stage of their education. 

About the Process
The system is divided into two main parts: 1) the portfolio and 2) the defense.

The relationship between the portfolio and the defense is similar to the relationship between a resume and a job interview. The resume describes what a you can do on paper, and it can be reviewed independently, ahead of time and without you in the room. The job interview, in contrast, is a live event, providing the opportunity for you to expand upon what’s in the resume, and for the interviewer to learn things about you that cannot be communicated on paper.

Similarly, the portfolio and the defense are related but distinct. Once a student's portfolio is assembled, it can be viewed by an assessor anywhere, anytime. The defense is a live event before a panel of evaluators.

SEEQS Sustainability Skills

At SEEQS, one of our core values is Living Sustainably: helping ensure that the planet can continue to support life as we know it for humans and other living species. In order to help create and maintain such a sustainable world,  SEEQers work to master these skills:
  • Reasoning Analytically
  • Thinking Systemically
  • Collaborating Productively
  • Managing Effectively
  • Communicating Powerfully
The Portfolio
In the portfolio, students present and reflect on work they have done that offers observable evidence of the ability to apply the SEEQS Sustainability Skills. The portfolio contains five pieces of work—we call them exemplars—each one chosen by the student to represent one of the five Sustainability Skills.

For each of the five exemplars, students write a reflection, or in some cases an artist statement, that explains in detail how the work demonstrates understanding of and growth in that Sustainability Skill. 
Check out some of our students' online portfolios by clicking on the buttons below!
The Defense
The defense is a live event before a panel of evaluators. Students make the case that they are ready to move on to the next level — in this case, ninth grade. As with any argument, students must cite evidence to support their claims. In this case, they cite evidence from the portfolio.
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Based on the strength of the presentation, the panel—which includes SEEQS teachers, community members, and at least one fellow student—makes a decision as to whether the student has passed or that he/she has room for improvement and needs to make another attempt.
Why the Portfolio Defense?
The SEEQS Portfolio-Defense is based on a tested model developed by Envision Education, in collaboration with education researchers at Stanford University. You may read more about the power of defenses here.
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Schools that have designed and implemented some version of a portfolio-defense system benefit from transformative changes to school culture, student identity, and organizational awareness. Among the benefits, a portfolio-defense system can . . .
  • ensure that a school focuses on what it most values
  • ​provide clear targets for a school in developing the vital life success skills that transcend particular academic disciplines
  • allow students to make sense and tell the story of their education, seeing it not as a collection of credits but as a multi-year project toward a unified end
  • culminate the hard work of learning with a commensurately powerful rite of passage, much deeper and more substantive than what graduation ceremonies provide
  • increase parental and community involvement in a school
  • promote teacher collaboration
  • help a school community to self-assess and to reflect on its progress toward its goals
  • embody a school’s mission in actual student performances
The Portfolio Defense is only one element of what makes SEEQS special. If you haven't already, be sure to check out our "Why SEEQS?" page to read about how we have designed a whole school to help develop "whole" students.