• First, read through the entire page of General Portfolio Information
• A letter will be sent to all teacher candidates informing them of the dates for portfolio interviews. Each teacher candidate is responsible to sign up for an interview time on the sheet posted in the Education Department. Each sign-up sheet will specify the interview location. Please do not call or e-mail the education office secretary or faculty members to schedule your interview.
• Elementary and secondary professors in the Teacher Education Unit may be involved at all interview levels.
• The completed original copies of the interview/portfolio forms will be housed in the Teacher Education Office.
• The entire interview process should take between 15 and 20 minutes. The teacher candidate is expected to respond to direct questions for approximately 10 minutes.
  

• Regular Portfolio Requirements (Level II & III only)
• Electronic Portfolio Requirements (Level I, II, and III)
• Attendance Form
• Informed Consent Form
• Transition Point Assessment Form (Level I, II, and III)
• ePortfolio Submission Form (Level I, II, and III)
  

In order to qualify for the LEVEL I Interview, teacher candidates must do the following by March 15 of their freshman year:

1. Complete the application for admission to Teacher Education (A $25 late fee will be levied for applications arriving after March 15.
2. Verify with the Education office secretary that all references have been received in the Teacher Education office. It is the teacher candidate’s responsibility to follow through on this step in the process.
3. Pass the Basic Skills Test component of the Illinois Certification Testing System.
4. Achieve acceptable academic standing (2.5 cum GPA) with appropriate courses complete or in process.

Transfer students may be granted conditional status during the first semester enrolled at the University.

COVER PAGE: (N/A for ePortfolio) Include your name, the date, and the title – Professional Teaching Portfolio.

TABLE OF CONTENTS: (N/A for ePortfolio) List all the items you have chosen to include in your portfolio and sequence those items in a logical order. Your portfolio should be user friendly, as well as attractive.

EDUCATIONAL AUTOBIOGRAPHY: This will be completed in EDUC 150. The autobiography should be one page in length and considered an introduction for cooperating teachers in field experience.

PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION: This will be initiated in EDUC 150 and should be revised and updated throughout your educational process. Include a demonstration of your understanding of education of students of diversity and exceptionalities. This paper will also be used to demonstrate your proficiency in the use of written English. This should reference the philosophies studied in EDUC 150.

CULTURAL DIVERSITY PAPER/PROJECT: Provide evidence of a demonstration of respect and affirmation of culturally and linguistically diverse children, and sensitivity to differences in family structures and social and cultural backgrounds.

FOUR YEAR PLAN: You must provide evidence of competency in developing short and long range goals to support your own development.

ATTENDANCE (TWO COURSES): You must provide evidence of professional conduct in punctual and satisfactory attendance. A form for you to request professor’s signatures is available in this handbook (see page 16).

COMMUNITY SERVICE/CHRISTIAN SERVICE: As a teacher candidate, you must provide evidence of participation in a variety of experiences which support the professional standards. You must have at least one official letter to satisfy the requirement.

TEACHER EDUCATION APPLICATION: You must provide evidence of professional conduct in completing requirements for Teacher Education. You will need to have your own copy in the portfolio; keep a copy before you turn it in.

Transition Point Assessment: Each candidate will provide two completed TPAs. The TAP is designed to assess each candidate's growth and development in the knowledge, skills and dispositions needed for success in the field of teaching. One TPA will be self-assessment, completed by the candidate himself or herself. the other TPA will be completed by a professor  of the candidate's choosing, who has taught the candidate in a course in the Teacher Education Program, usually a professor at Olivet Nazarene University who has an understanding of the Teacher education Program.

*ALL papers must be free of professor comments.