| CATEGORY | Exceeds | Meets | Approaches | Needs Improvement |
| Helping Skills | The portfolio addresses a minimum of six helping skills in a logical, thorough and concise manner. | The portfolio addresses 90% of the helping skill requirement or does an adequate job addressing helping skills. | The portfolio addresses less 70% of the helping skill requirement and addresses them minimally. | The portfolio addresses less than 70% of the helping skills requirement and lacks detail and accuracy in the discussion. |
| Content – Accuracy | All facts in the portfolio are accurate. | 99-90% of the facts in the portfolio are accurate. | 89-80% of the facts in the portfolio are accurate. | Fewer than 80% of the facts in the portfolio are accurate. |
| Attractiveness & Organization | The portfolio has exceptionally attractive formatting and well-organized information. | The portfolio has attractive formatting and well-organized information. | The portfolio has well-organized information. | The portfolio’s formatting and organization of material are confusing to the reader. |
| Knowledge Gained | Students accurately address all helping skills related to the study abroad experience and to technical processes used to create the portfolio. | Students accurately address most of the helping skills related to the study abroad experience and to technical processes used to create the portfolio. | Students accurately address several of the helping skills related to the study abroad experience and to technical processes used to create the portfolio. | Students accurately address few of the helping skills related to the study abroad experience and to technical processes used to create the portfolio. |
| Graphics/Pictures | Graphics go well with the text and there is a good mix of text and graphics. | Graphics go well with the text, but there are so many that they distract from the text. | Graphics go well with the text, but there are too few and the portfolio seems “text-heavy”. | Graphics do not go with the accompanying text or appear to be randomly chosen. |
| Spelling & Proofreading | No spelling errors remain after one person other than the typist reads and corrects the portfolio. | No more than 1 spelling error remains after one person other than the typist reads and corrects the portfolio. | No more than 3 spelling errors remain after one person other than the typist reads and corrects the portfolio. | Several spelling errors in the portfolio. |
| Writing – Grammar | There are no grammatical mistakes in the portfolio. | There are no grammatical mistakes in the portfolio after feedback from an adult. | There are 1-2 grammatical mistakes in the portfolio even after feedback from an adult. | There are several grammatical mistakes in the portfolio even after feedback from an adult. |