Fifteen years of portfolio assessment of dental hygiene student competency: lessons learned.

PURPOSE: Adoption of portfolio assessment in the educational environment is gaining attention as a means to incorporate self-assessment into the curriculum and to use evidence to support learning outcomes and to demonstrate competency. Portfolios provide a medium for students to demonstrate and document their personal and professional growth across the curriculum. The purpose of this literature review is to discuss the drivers for portfolio education, the benefits to both students and program faculty/administrators, the barriers associated with portfolio use, and suggested solutions that have been determined through several years of "lessons learned." The University of Missouri Kansas City School of Dentistry, Division of Dental Hygiene department has been utilizing portfolio assessment for over 15 years and has collected data related to portfolio performance since 2001. Results from correlational statistics calculated on the 312 dental hygiene students that graduated from 2001 to 2013 demonstrate a positive and significant relationship between portfolio performance and overall GPA as well as portfolio performance and NBDHE scores.