Go to FGCU home page

Fort Myers, FL - 1-800-590-3428

graphic of green bar

photo

http://coe.fgcu.edu/faculty/valesky/spacer.gif
    

 

portfolioguidelinesimg

Updated December 2008

 

All students in the Educational Leadership programs must complete a Learning Portfolio and a Professional Portfolio. This includes student in the MEd, MA, and Modified Educational Leadership programs.

 

Students who began the program in fall of 2005 or later will use the Florida Educational Leadership Standards, instead of the ISLLC Standards, for their Learning Portfolio.

Click here for quick access to important links. Be patient as some of the links take time to open. Some are provided as Web pages for easy opening.

·         Learning Portfolio Tips and Requirements

·         Guidelines for Explaining Portfolio Artifact Entries

 

Tools for Students who began the program prior to the fall of 2005:

·         ISLLC Standards

·         Matrix for Program Outcomes

 

 

Example Portfolios. These portfolios are examples electronic portfolios. Some contain examples of all three portfolios required in your program: Internship, Professional, and Learning Portfolios. This website describes the Learning and Professional Portfolio requirements. See the Internship Guide website for information on the Internship Portfolio.

 

This is an example using the new State Standards:

Adrienne McElroy (Uses New Florida Educational Leadership Standards, however does not use KSDs. Your essays must all begin with a listing of the KSDs about which you have knowledge and that are contained in your essay.)

 

This is example from spring 2006, that has good essays, but it uses the ISLLC Standards:

Terrilynne Walker

 

These three are older, but have good essay examples. These are not good examples of Artifact Entries however, because the requirements have changed since these three portfolios were developed:

Karen Atkinson (Uses ISLLC Standards)
Nicole Osterholm (Uses ISLLC Standards)

 

Click Here to see an excellent example of an essay thanks to Mary Alice Schad. (Uses ISLLC Standards)

 

 

Program Completion and Assessment

As part of the final assessment in the Educational Leadership Program, students will demonstrate successful completion of program objectives by the presentation of two portfolios. In addition, students will demonstrate proficiency in program objectives through an oral interview during which they will present their portfolios orally to a panel of faculty. The two portfolios will be comprised of a Professional Portfolio and a Learning Portfolio. A rubric for scoring the Learning Portfolio is included in this website. This rubric will help students develop their Learning Portfolio in terms of the assessment criteria.

The Learning Portfolio and the Professional Portfolio are due no later than two weeks prior to the end of the semester in which you intend to graduate, and you must contact the faculty to schedule an exit interview, which is described below. Two copies of the portfolio must be delivered to your advisor. He or she will give one copy to another professor who will score it and attend your exit interview. You must put your portfolios on a CD or a flash drive. You may also include the Internship Portfolio for your own purposes in the same set of portfolios, but this is not required. The Internship Portfolio is a requirement for the internship class and you must deliver it to the instructor in that class.

Since you are planning to graduate in the semester you submit your portfolios, you must submit an Application to Graduate to your advisor during the first two weeks of the semester. If you submitted an application the previous semester, you must re-submit the Application to Graduate. There are several reasons for this: one, each semester, plans must be made for identifying intended gradates so that graduation paperwork can be prepared.

The Learning Portfolio is designed to present artifacts and documentation that have served as a basis for student learning. The Learning Portfolio is written according to student accomplishment of the Florida Educational Leadership Standards. The Florida Educational Leadership Standards are based on the national ISLLC (Interstate School Leadership Licensure Consortium) standards developed by the Council of Chief State School Officers in collaboration with the National Policy Board on Educational Administration (NPBEA) to help strengthen preparation programs in school leadership (Van Meter & Murphy, 1997.

The Professional Portfolio is intended to present professional accomplishments and goals in a very succinct form and to indicate to the reader the integration of academic learning and experiences. Professional accomplishments and goals are presented through: a sample letter of application for an administrative position; a fine-tuned resume; an APA styled "administrative platform/philosophy" paper; a set of college transcripts; copies of certificates of teaching/administrative certification; letters of support and recommendation from colleagues, supervisors, former students/parents, and others with knowledge of the student’s educational abilities; and artifacts which demonstrate mastery. This portfolio will prepare each student for one or more job interviews for administrative positions.

The Learning Portfolio will be developed throughout a student’s program of studies. Students should begin to develop their Learning Portfolio during the first semester they begin the program. Working with their advisors and talking with other students, each student should begin the process of thinking about the Florida Educational Leadership Standards and how their own philosophy of leadership, teaching, and learning, integrates with them. Students are encouraged to review completed portfolios with their advisors, and to seek assistance and mentorship from one another.

Electronic portfolios are required for both portfolios. The method you use to develop your portfolio (PowerPoint, Publisher, or web editor, such as FrontPage, Netscape Navigator or Dreamweaver) is up to you, though we recommend a web editor. Most students use PowerPoint since they are familiar with this program from class and professional presentations. Many, however, have trouble with linking artifacts to their essays because of the way in which they tell PowerPoint to link items together.

Here is how to avoid link problems:

·         Be sure you have all files in the same folder and do not put any drive designation in front of the file name in the link.

·         Wrong: c://myfilename.doc

·         Correct: myfilename.doc

·         Use the help menu in PowerPoint to learn how to do the links.

Alternatively, an easier method is to insert an "object" into the essay. This object will be your artifact. In this way, the actual artifact file does not have to be included in the folder when submitted since the artifact is actually a part of the standard essay.

The Learning Portfolio and the Professional portfolio are described in more detail below. Go to the Internship Guide for a description of the Internship Portfolio.
 <Top of Page>

The Learning Portfolio

This portfolio should be divided into sections according to the Florida Educational Leadership Standards. Sample portfolios are available in this website. In the first class that is recommended for students, Principles of Educational Leadership, students will be provided an orientation to the program in Educational Leadership with particular attention to the portfolio requirements. In this class students also develop several portfolio artifacts that become integrated into Learning Portfolio essays.  It is recommended that you begin developing your portfolio during the first semester of classes. Click here for Learning Portfolio Writing Tips and Requirements.

For each Florida Educational Leadership Standard, each student writes an Integrative Essay that explains how he/she has accomplished this standard. Included in this handbook is a guide for writing integrative essays entitled What Goes Into an Integrative Essay? Each integrative essay should contain research and artifacts to address the Key Indicators of each standard to show one’s accomplishment of the standard. Your essays must all begin with a listing of the KSDs about which you have knowledge and that are contained in your essay. A typical integrative essay will be at least 5 pages in length, double-spaced, not including the title page and the references. Better essays are typically from 7-12 pages and include numerous artifacts to support the accomplishment of the Key Indicators in the standard. There will be 10 integrative essays that appear in the Learning Portfolio--one for each standard area.

Integrated into each Florida Educational Leadership standard will be the supporting artifacts that document the student's accomplishment of the standard. In the appendix of this guide are sample artifact entries from a scholarly paper presented at a national conference for each of the original ISLLC standards. The Learning Portfolio should contain many artifacts that demonstrate student experiences, classroom products, or readings that support accomplishments of Key Indicators to meet each standard. Each artifact reference in an essay will be an active link to the complete description of the artifact. In front of each artifact there should be a short written explanation to help the reader understand why this product has been included in the portfolio and what was learned from creating the product. The written explanation should be done using the attached Guidelines for Explaining Portfolio Entries. The artifacts can and should include combinations of class experiences, field-based experiences, internship experiences, professional journal articles read, books read, and other professional experiences. For example, an artifact may be a copy of the school discipline plan that a student helped write, a letter to the parents and community written for the school newsletter, a Professional Development Plan written for a teacher, book reviews, research papers, and literature reviews, etc. Products might also include critiques of academic literature that integrates with the standards. In addition, artifacts can be critiques of individual articles, chapters, and books or can be papers that compare/contrast two or more pieces of literature.

At the completion of the Program in Educational Leadership, the expectation is that students will have met all knowledge benchmarks in the Florida Educational Leadership Standards. This does not mean that knowledge growth ends at the completion of the program as these are considered “entry level” indicators.

<Top of Page>

Professional Portfolio Content

The Professional Portfolio is expected to include: a sample letter of application for an administrative position; a fine-tuned resume; an APA styled "administrative platform" paper; a set of college transcripts; copies of certificates of teaching/administrative certification; letters of support and recommendation from colleagues, supervisors, former students/parents, and others with knowledge of the student’s educational abilities; and artifacts which demonstrate mastery and accomplishment. All of this material is collected, sorted, and professionally presented in a three-ringed binder with a cover page specific to the place and position the student is seeking. The Professional Portfolio may also be done electronically, which is recommended. If no particular position is being sought at the time of graduation, the student should write a sample letter for the type of administrative position the student first expects to seek.

The professional portfolio can open doors for students seeking positions in educational leadership. It can do this by conveying a very direct and profound message to prospective employers about an applicant’s readiness and acceptability for employment. Sizer (1984, 1992, & 1996) continually refers to the importance of helping students to learn to demonstrate their mastery, particularly in authentic assessment situations. The professional portfolio does exactly that. Students have the opportunity to show what they can do in structuring a document that clearly shows mastery in many crucial areas.
 

Following are detailed explanations of each section of the Professional Portfolio:

Letter of Application

Each professional portfolio should begin with a table of contents, allowing the reader to have ready access to particular sections. Each section of the portfolio should be tabbed and identified with a content descriptor. The first section of the portfolio would likely include the letter of application and resume. The letter of application is expected to be professionally presented, typed and error-free. The letter would be addressed to the prospective employer. It would contain a brief introductory statement that identifies the position for which the student is applying. The letter would then briefly address qualifications, preparation, and certification. There should be a summary statement about the position that includes the student’s availability for an interview, willingness to provide additional information, and the strong desire of the student to receive consideration for employment. The letter would typically be two pages in length, no more or less.

Resume

The resume is a more concise description of the student’s qualifications and preparation for the position. It might begin with several lines providing the reader with current information regarding address, phone numbers, email address, and fax numbers. This would be followed by a listing of current and past places of employment, beginning with the most current. This listing should include only employment that begins to build a case for the applicant’s experience that serves to support qualification for the position.

A listing of colleges attended, dates of completion, and degrees obtained generally follows employment record. Students should start with the most recent academic record. A listing of educational certifications including the state or states, specific areas, and dates awarded can follow the college degrees.

Many resumes reverse the order of the above by beginning with the college degrees first, followed by the certifications, then the employment history.

The resume should include experiential examples that demonstrate a pattern of growth, expertise, and success. These might include supervisory assignments, staff development, additional coursework, and committee membership. If the student has a record of publication, this would be an appropriate place to include it. The same would be true for a record of professional presentations.

The concluding portion of the resume might include a list of references or state that references are available upon request. This list should indicate full names, titles, addresses, work and home phones, and e-mail addresses. Students are expected to have made contact with each referent to gain permission for their inclusion on the list. Typically three to five references are included. It is critical that these referents have knowledge of the student’s professional ability. Preferably, current and former supervisors are the best source of recommendations.

Your Leadership Philosophy (also called Administrative Platform)

It can be argued that the "administrative platform" is the most important element of the professional portfolio. Students struggle with the concept of a platform. It makes them stretch their thinking and forces them to commit their beliefs to writing. The administrative platform is a heart-felt statement of beliefs about school leadership. Students are asked to consider the audience for the platform. For example, a student applying for a principal position would expect a superintendent, along with a team of classroom teachers, to be primary readers. In this case, the platform might state what the applicant’s building would "look like."

The administrative platform allows the applicant to address such issues as climate, empowerment, vision, and a host of other crucial questions that arise during most interviews. Other topics might include: the aims of education, student achievement, social significance of learning, preferred pedagogy, preferred student-teacher relationship, school climate.

Forcing students to commit their ideas in writing provides a wonderful opportunity to work out the answers, in advance, to the hard questions. The administrative platform should not be too long as the purpose is to get prospective employers to read it carefully to give them insight into a student’s leadership qualities. If it is too long, they will either not read it, or not read it thoroughly. Typically, two pages, single-spaced, should be sufficient.

Transcripts and Certificates

This section of the professional portfolio is quite simple. The student would obtain copies of transcripts from colleges and universities. Transcripts that show completion of undergraduate work are certainly important, but not quite as essential as graduate transcripts. Prospective employers want to see evidence of graduate coursework that qualify the applicant for positions. Also, it is typical for employment offers to be tentative until submission and receipt of "official" transcripts.

The same ideas hold true for certification documents. Copies of teaching and administrative certification should follow the transcripts. The certification should be current, appropriate to the respective state, and should indicate teaching areas and administrative areas that make the applicant eligible for employment. In many cases, an applicant may not yet have full certification. If this is the case, a letter from the state certification authority or university certification official should be included to indicate that certification is in progress or under consideration and review.
 
  Letters of Recommendation and Support

Most educators, from time to time, receive letters from students, parents, colleagues, or employers telling expressing appreciation of something done well. A simple thank you note carries with it a wonderful opportunity to be used as future evidence of accomplishment or success. These documents add to one’s credibility. Over a period of time, it is likely that a student would have received a number of written remarks about performance.

Letters of recommendation are important elements of the professional portfolio. Students should solicit these from colleagues and supervisors. These letters will support, but not replace, placement files that most students keep with their colleges and universities. However, do not overdo this section. Be selective, as quality is better than quantity.

Artifacts

The artifact section of the professional portfolio should include two or three samples of graduate work, such as important term or position papers; innovations the student has created or successfully employed in curriculum development; internship or administrative assignments that have been completed, such as handbook revisions, schedules, in-service training conducted, and a host of other possibilities. Students should place only the most important and representative artifacts into the Professional Portfolio. It is recognized that the artifacts might be some of the same that are in the Learning Portfolio. The number of artifacts should be limited to encourage readers to carefully look at each item. There should be a reflective explanation of why each item is included in the portfolio.

During the internship portion of the FGCU student’s program, the field supervisor is asked to assign activities that might include opportunities to develop useful documents for the internship site. In addition, students are required to complete an important project for their internship assignment. These documents can be readily applied to the artifact element of the program.

<Top of Page>

Exit Interview with Faculty

An interview with the faculty must be scheduled at least one week after you deliver your portfolios to your advisor, which are due no later than two weeks before the end of the semester. Faculty need at least one week to read and score the portfolio. The exit interview is not a formal presentation of your portfolios. Rather, it is conducted in an informal setting in which the faculty will ask you questions about the contents of your portfolio. You should bring something to take notes as you may be required to make revisions to your work. At this meeting, the faculty will provide you with their scoring rubric assessments. If revisions are required, they will need to be completed in time for all paperwork to be submitted for your graduation. Therefore, we recommend that candidates not wait until the last two weeks of the semester to submit their portfolios and schedule their interviews.

If you have any questions about the content of this document, please see your advisor.

<Top of Page>

 

  APPENDICES

GUIDE FOR EXPLAINING PORTFOLIO ENTRIES. All artifacts/products must be introduced using the following format. Some artifacts are nothing more than this portfolio entry that describes an experience, the appropriate standards that apply and a reflection on what you learned. Other artifacts are products that you developed during an experience and this portfolio entry describes the development of the product.
 

In front of each product (artifact) in your portfolio, write a introduction (which can be in outline form) explaining the following:

1. A descriptive name of the artifact (which can be a title for this portfolio entry).

2. The context in which it was developed (in class, in a field-based project, during a leadership opportunity you had in your school, through academic reading, during your intensive internship experience, etc.). This should clearly describe the artifact to the reader.

3. When the product was developed.

4. If it was a joint product, what your role was and how much you contributed to the final form of the product.

5. The specifications for the product. If this was done for a class, include the class information, the professor, and any information from the syllabus to explain why the product has this particular format.

6. What grade and/or other feedback you got, if any.

7. Whether it was revised to get to this final form and what was changed.

8. What Standard(s) you see this product addressing.

9. How this artifact demonstrates depth and breadth in learning and accomplishment of the Standard(s), combined with a short reflective statement (no more than 5-10 sentences). The reflection should basically indicate what you learned from doing/creating the artifact.

10. Provide a link to the artifact itself (if this applies) or any documents that verify your participation in an activity.
 

 

For example:

Artifact #1
A Paper and PowerPoint Presentation About
Dealing With Conflict in Schools

(Click here to return to paragraph above on portfolio entries)


What Goes Into an Integrative Essay or Reflective Narrative?

Use the questions below as a guide in developing your reflective narratives. Ask yourself these set of questions for reading assignments, class assignments/experience, internship experiences, and other professional experiences. Consider keeping a reflective journal during the time you are in the program in Educational Leadership.  A reflective journal could be a significant tool in constructing your portfolio and helping you write your reflective essays.

Do not limit your essays to the artifacts you are including in your Learning Portfolio. Reflect on all of your learning experiences as indicated in the above paragraph. To help you identify areas of concentration for your essays, review the "knowledge" and "disposition" statements for the Florida Educational Leadership Standards as you write your narratives.

As you reflect on each of the Florida Educational Leadership Standards, the following questions should be considered in your reflective narratives.

1. What principles or approaches did you learn from that will assist you as you work on future issues with similar characteristics?

2. What new information did you acquire that changed your knowledge and understanding of the issue/topic under discussion?

3. Is it possible for you to construct an outline, model, or generalization about the processes involved in dealing with this topic?

4. What questions have been raised in working with this subject matter that suggest the need for further study? (If the knowledge can be acquired easily, you should do so; otherwise, note the need to pursue this information at a later time and suggest a possible study plan).

5. What did you learn about yourself and your ability as a leader as you examined this issue?

6. How might you utilize your acquired knowledge and any skills obtained as an educational leader?

7. What did you learn in previous experiences that proved helpful in examining this issue?

8. Identify and describe points of differing opinions you may have about the issue(s) that were discussed.

Your integrative essays should identify the Key Indicators that you believe you have accomplished for each standard. Develop your essay around the questions above. You are required to use references and to include a list of references at the end of each essay.  In addition, each essay will be supported by artifacts (described above), and these artifacts will be referenced in the essay.

In your essays, avoid simply supporting your portfolio by indicating that you covered specific material in classes. Prove to us that you know the knowledge base for each standard.  Be certain to check the rubric for scoring portfolios as well so that you have a clear idea of how your portfolio will be scored.

During several classes you have been asked to write reflective statements, such as the philosophy statement about human resources development, and you have also responded in writing to various problem-solving cases in class activities and examinations. These experiences have helped prepare you to write the reflective statements required in your portfolio. In addition, you may examine previous student work to use as models for your essays.

Adapted from: Bridges, E., & Hallinger, P. (1992). Problem-based learning for administrators. University of Oregon: ERIC Clearinghouse on Educational Management.

(Click here to return to paragraph above on integrative essays)

<Top of Page>

 


Sample Artifact Entries for ISLLC Standards
adapted from Terry and Vier (2000)

Standard 1:
 

  1. Vision/mission statements and documented processes.
  2. School Improvement Plans and implementation plans
  3. Evaluation plan
  4. Newsletters and other stakeholder communications
  5. Data from stakeholders (survey, interviews, etc.)

Standard 2:
 

    1. Climate survey results and subsequent actions
    2. Professional development/growth plans and outcomes
    3. School/classroom observations
    4. Staff and student feedback

Standard 3:
 

    1. Crisis management plan
    2. Monthly facility check/custodial reports
    3. Databases and student information
    4. Budgets, account summaries
    5. Student scheduling summaries

Standard 4:
 

    1. Community partnerships
    2. School/community activities
    3. Stakeholder feedback
    4. PTA/PTO activities/documentation
    5. Stakeholder communication newsletters etc.


Standard 5:
 

    1. Supervisor, staff, and peer feedback
    2. School climate
    3. Code of conduct
    4. Ethics statements
    5. Confidentiality safeguards
    6. Staff and student belief statements


Standard 6:
 

    1. Possession and use of critical documents such as Florida School Laws, district policy manual, etc.
    2. Communications with school board members, legislators, etc.
    3. Documentation from IEP meetings
    4. Research papers regarding the political, social, legal, and economic context.

(Click here to return to paragraph about writing integrative essays)

<Top of Page>

References and Bibliography

Ashbaugh, C. R. (1994, November). The use of portfolios in preparing educational leaders. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Southern Regional Council on Educational Administration.

Bridges, E., & Hallinger, P. (1992). Problem-based learning for administrators. University of Oregon: ERIC Clearinghouse on Educational Management.

Carr, C. S. (1996, August). Preparation into practice: Authentic assessment of school administrators. Paper presented at the annual conference of the National Council of Professors of Educational Administration. Corpus Christi, Texas.

Sizer, T. (1984). Horace's compromise: The dilemma of the American high school. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Sizer, T. (1992). Horace's school: Redesigning the American high school. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Sizer, T. (1996). Horace's hope: What works for the American high school. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Terry, P. M. & Veir, C. A. (2000, November). Using Florida Educational Leadership Standards for reforming educational leadership preparation programs: A model. Paper presented at the meeting of the Southern Regional Council on Educational Administration. Nashville, TN.

Van Meter, E., & Murphy, J. (1997, August). Using Florida Educational Leadership Standards to strengthen preparation programs in school administration. Paper presented at the National Council of Professors of Educational Administration, Vail, CO.

Van Meter, E., & Murphy, J. (1997). Using Florida Educational Leadership Standards to strengthen preparation programs in school administration. Washington, D.C.: Council of Chief State School Officers.

Yerkes, D. M. & Basom, M. R. (1998, February). The professional portfolio: Its place in administrative job searches. Paper presented at the annual conference of the American Association of School Administrators, San Diego, CA.

Students should see their advisor if they have any questions about the contents of this document.

<Top of Page>