To look at the issue of institutional constraints that could be affecting the implementation of portfolios in teacher education courses, a 10-item survey was distributed over e-mail to subscribers of four listservs. In addition, several surveys were sent to colleagues of the author who were using portfolios but who were not subscribers to listservs. The first four questions were designed to provide background information on portfolio use. Questions 5-8 dealt with grading and the use of rubrics. Question nine asked about policies, structures or people that have either supported or hindered the use of portfolios. The final question asked about strategies designed to overcome institutional barriers to wider use of portfolios. In general, results indicated that portfolio use is still evolving. While there is concern about issues such as grade inflation, few institutions appear to have actual policies in place. In addition, few of the respondents at this point in time have let those discussions about grades affect them. There is, however, the institutional requirement to give grades; for some teacher educators, this appears to hinder their use of portfolios. Administrators appear to be responding to portfolio use in various ways: some are simply uninterested; others have attempted to prevent instructors from negotiating grades with students. This survey represents only a limited number of views and therefore may be unrepresentative. Of the 27 people who responded to the survey, 12 were not using portfolios and/or responded by requesting results. (TB)