1. What is a Relicensure Portfolio?

A relicensure portfolio documents and validates the educator’s growth as a professional.  It provides a vehicle for accountability as a learning professional and the formal opportunity for the educator to reflect on his or her work and demonstrate accountability for professional growth and improved student learning.

The portfolio is an organized selection of evidence that indicates how an educator has met his or her IPDP goals, The Five Standards for Vermont Educators, and his or her school’s initiatives for improved student learning.  It is reflective and highly individualized.

The portfolio provides each professional educator the opportunity to reflect upon his or her goals and to assess his or her success in having met them during the relicensure period just completed.  This evaluation process should create a basis from which to identify new IPDP goals for educator and student growth.

2. When does an educator begin developing a Relicensure Portfolio?

The portfolio is a work in progress.  Educators should begin collecting evidence to support their IPDP goals, the Five Standards for Vermont Educators, and their school’s initiatives as soon as they begin a new relicensure cycle.  This collection represents an ongoing effort to document professional growth, so that portfolio development is a dynamic process.

Over the course of the relicensure cycle, the educator may continually edit the portfolio with artifacts and documentation that best reflect his or her individual growth.

3.  What must be included in a Relicensure Portfolio?

The relicensure portfolio must be presented in a clear and concise format.  The physical presentation may be a 1-2 inch binder or an electronic or other suitable format.

VSBPE required components:
* personal information – name, school, teaching or administrative context, year
* completed State Department of Education License Renewal Form
* table of contents (which clearly indicates the content)
* copy of current license and, if applicable, copies of any valid licenses or credentials required by the endorsement (i.e.  nurse’s, driver’s licenses etc.)
* completed IPDP and amendments
* evidence of a minimum of 9 relicensing credits in subject areas related to each endorsement and to the IPDP goals
* supportive documentation or evidence of new educator learning that shows how each of the Five Standards for Vermont Educators – Learning, Professional Knowledge, Colleagueship, Advocacy, and Accountability – has been addressed
* a narrative on each piece of supporting documentation which:
    -  describes the documentation or evidence (What is it?)
    -  connects the documentation or evidence both to one's IPDP goals and to the Five Standards For Vermont Educators (Which goal(s) and standard(s) does it meet?)
    - reflects on the impact the documented experiences had on one's practice and/or student learning  (How did the activity change your practice and impact student learning?  What meaning did it have for the educator or students?)
* new IPDP for the next relicensure cycle

 4. What might be included in a Relicensure Portfolio?

* resume
* statement of educational philosophy
* reflective narrative on the accomplishment of one’s IPDP goals
* additional evidence of student learning
* additional evidence of educator learning
* listing of additional relicensing credits earned in each of the Five Standards for Vermont Educators
* multiple means of documentation – student work, evaluations, videos, papers, case studies, transcripts, lesson plans, publications, testimonials, web page and programs

5. What are the indicators of a quality professional Relicensure Portfolio?