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Education QUESTION #6781
Question 1
Which of the following BEST explains why portfolios have very low reliability as an assessment tool compared to standardized tests?
  • Portfolios always favor high-ability students because they choose their own best work
  • Portfolio scoring lacks the standardized criteria, uniform conditions, and objective scoring procedures that characterize reliable measurement — different assessors apply different criteria to different content✔️
  • Portfolios contain too many items, which statistically reduces internal consistency
  • Portfolios are only valid for formative purposes and reliability is not applicable to them
Correct Answer Explanation
Reliability requires consistency across administrations, scorers, and conditions. Portfolios are diverse in content (student-selected), judged subjectively by different assessors using loosely defined criteria, and lack uniform conditions. All of these factors introduce variability into scores, which by definition reduces reliability. This is listed as a known weakness of portfolios.