This exploratory study describes a teacher educator's efforts to organize her instructional practice around an assessment portfolio mandated by the state and examines the effectiveness of such endeavor. Findings revealed that, when a link between teaching and the required assessment portfolio was created, students' self-efficacy and performance in compiling the portfolio substantially improved, the instructor's instructional practices were better organized, students' metacognitive awareness of learning process was heightened, the instrumental value of course assignments increased, and students' understanding of teaching and learning as reflective acts was reinforced. The article concludes with a suggestion that teacher education programs should make learning portfolios, not assessment portfolios, their first and second year students' first formal experience with portfolios to ensure a high level of student engagement in the process of portfolio development. (Contains 3 tables.)