Portfolios are collections of selected student work representing an array of performance. This "Consumer Guide" presents information on what has been learned about using portfolios for administrative purposes, the problems involved, and possible solutions to these problems. Student portfolios are being used administratively for accountability reporting, program evaluation, and a variety of administrative decisions affecting the future of individual students. However, many questions are being asked about these uses, including the technical adequacy of portfolios for administrative purposes and how administrative use affects the utility of portfolios as instruction tools. Some of the problems with portfolios are: (1) students may be ill-prepared to carry out work that is a required part of a portfolio; (2) different students have worked on different tasks or projects; (3) teachers have used different criteria for rating portfolio work; (4) teachers' guidance and peer review are different in different classrooms; (5) students have worked on only a small number of tasks. Remedies are suggested for each of these problems. This education system in general, a broader, less well-defined audience. This shift is not necessarily negative. Some research projects in this area are reviewed, and a list of 10 additional sources of information is included. (SLD)