The effects of portfolio assessment on mathematics students' attitudes about grades, their awareness of their mathematics strengths and weaknesses, and their abilities to set reasonable goals were studied for 12 fifth-grade students given a survey on attitudes about grading near the end of a 10-week term. Students also wrote about their strengths and weaknesses in mathematics and completed a goal sheet. Mathematics achievement of the six students in the control group was measured using traditional assessment, and mathematics achievement of the six students in the experimental group was measured using portfolios. No correlation was found between portfolio assessment and students' attitudes about grades. However, five of the six students receiving traditional assessment stated goals and weaknesses in vague generalizations, while all of the students in the portfolio group described their strengths and weaknesses in detail and provided task specific goals to overcome their weaknesses. Results suggest that portfolio assessment might help students see their strengths and weaknesses so that they are more able to link successes and failures to performance. Portfolio assessment might also facilitate goal setting for some students. Appendixes contain the survey, the questionnaire about strengths and weaknesses, and the form used in the goal setting interview. (SLD)