Portfolio Requirements

The completeness, accuracy, organization, and appearance of the professional portfolio will influence the decision by program faculty about the candidate’s admission to the program of Educational Leadership.

Ø Information must be typed, double-spaced on standard size white paper. All spelling and grammatical errors should be corrected prior to submitting portfolio. Be sure to give credit to other authors where appropriate. Plagiarism is unacceptable.

Ø All documents and information for the portfolio need to be arranged in the order specified below, stapled together, and placed in a simple file folder. Pages in sections with multiple pages should also be numbered. Please do not use page-protectors, sleeves, etc.

Ø Because the portfolio will not be returned, copies of documents need to be retained by the applicant.

Ø Portfolio organization (information must be typed):

1. Graduate School Application for Admission – Make a copy of form submitted to Graduate School.

2. Resume’ (vita) – Include candidate’s name; social security number; home address, telephone number, and email address; school name, address, telephone and fax numbers; any other appropriate information, such as cellular number. Candidate’s relevant professional skills, training, and experiences should also be included.

3. Transcript(s) – Copy issued to student is okay. Information will be verified through Graduate Office.

4. Educator’s License – The school or district usually has a copy of your license and will provide one for you. If you do not have access to a copy, you may request a duplicate from the Office of Licensure ($5 fee).

5. Test Scores - Copy issued to student or copy from another source is okay.

6. Teaching Experience – (a) Provide verification (for example, a letter from the district office) of a minimum of three years of teaching experience occurring prior to admission to the educational leadership program. (b) A typewritten list of teaching experience, to include year(s) taught, district, school, grade assignment, and immediate supervisor.

7. Performance Appraisal – A completed copy of the candidate’s most recent performance appraisal, including any professional improvement component.

8. Education and Leadership Philosophy – Must include but is not limited to the candidate’s beliefs about curriculum and curriculum development, teacher/student relationship, educational goals, student discipline, teaching methodologies, and the purpose of school. Limit to a maximum of one page.

9. Personal Biography - Include background information that highlights work ethic, integrity, moral compass, values, events or people that shaped candidate’s character, etc. Also address candidate’s potential as an education leader. Candidate may want to discuss his/her vision of educational leadership. The essay should clearly delineate the nature and extent of the candidate’s interest/commitment to becoming or expanding personal capacity in educational leadership.

10. Letters of Recommendation – Three recommendations using the form provided by MC. One of the recommendations must be completed by
the candidate’s principal or supervisor. If the candidate is no longer teaching, the most recent principal or supervisor should complete the
recommendation. A copy of the recommendation form may be downloaded from the following site:
http://mc.edu/academics/graduate/forms/MEDEduLeadLtrofRec.pdf or obtained from the Office of the Graduate Dean or the Office of
Teacher Education and Leadership. The candidate should duplicate the form and provide a copy to each individual who will serve as a
reference. The candidate should also provide envelopes, pre-addressed to the Department of Teacher Education and Leadership and
stamped, so that recommendations can be sent directly to the program coordinator by the references. The recommendations will be added to
the candidate’s portfolio by staff before it is reviewed.

Ø Evaluation of Candidate Portfolios – The Department faculty will review the portfolios. Each reviewer will rank the portfolio on the following scale:

o Outstanding – all of the required elements are presented in a well organized manner demonstrating sophisticated skill in presenting written information. Additional information and artifacts that attest to the candidate’s abilities are included. The candidate has presented evidence that s/he has a high potential to be a successful educational leader.

o Good – all of the required elements are presented in an organized fashion with average skill in presenting written information. The candidate has presented evidence that s/he has potential to be a successful educational leader.

o Fair – all the required elements are presented. There is some evidence that the candidate may have potential to be an educational leader.

o Unacceptable – required elements may not be presented or may be presented in a poor manner or may be of poor quality. There is little evidence of potential to be an educational leader. In no case will a candidate whose portfolio has been rated as unacceptable be admitted to the program.