The Portfolio Process
The Indiana Professional Standards Board has developed a set of performance-based requirements for teacher education programs in Indiana. Many states (including Indiana) now require beginning teachers to develop professional portfolios during their initial teaching years as a condition of their continued employment. Since CoT has always based teacher licensing on the successful completion of 30 performance-based Expectations and organizing this evidence into a comprehensive Portfolio, we now find ourselves identified as a program on the cutting edge of innovation in teacher education.
CoT's Portfolio is a powerful personal history, mapping an individual's growth as a professional educator; it constantly evolves to reflect the student's habits of mind, values, character, and commitment. Artifacts that are selected as evidence to include in the Portfolio are not limited to written documents, but often include audio and video recordings, photographs, and even actual works of art. Portfolios mean more than evaluation or assessment; they are tied to our definition of what it means to be a capable teacher. As our students build evidence, they reflect on who they are and who they want to be; they cannot help but grow. Portfolios catalogue their accomplishments and goals, from successes to instructive failures. Portfolios reflect our students' views of their abilities and intellectual processes as they articulate their own choices and purposes; they engage in a process of self-evaluation and constant transformation. Their Portfolios are ever-changing reflections of who they are, what they value, and their progress toward becoming strong professional educators. Some CoT alumni continue to maintain and update their Portfolios after graduation.
CoT Testimonial:
"[The Portfolio] is the greatest accomplishment of my life."