I spent a year working for the University of Missouri's College of Education as an Assessment Coordinator. Prior to my work there, the ePortfolio had become a cumbersome technical writing project. We quickly changed the process to include assessment of performance during student teaching internships. Students and professors raved about a sensible process to assess teaching ability along with the ability to do things like create unit plans. I also taught the final two courses in the sequence prior to student teaching. I helped students build their e Portfolios and get ready for the student teaching experience. We required students to create a presentation portfolio with their resume, philosophy of education, professional development plan, and some sample lesson plans. They were required to share this portfolio with the principal at the school where they hoped to serve as a student teacher. We then worked with students to practice the interview process. Every student would make an appointment with me or another instructor from the class in order to have a practice interview. After that, we required the students to interview with the principal at the school which they hoped to earn a student teaching internship. Most of the students did quite well and were able to secure an internship at their first choice. For those who were not successful, remediation was provided. We worked with these students to help them improve their portfolio, resume, and interviewing skills. Every one of them was able to secure an internship at their second or third choice school. Many of the students complained about this process as it was happening, however many of them came back to thank us after they were able to use what they learned to help earn their first teaching job.
I really enjoyed this position and am very grateful for the opportunities I had at the University of Missouri. While in this position I got to know the folks at Foliotek, the ePortfolio system we used. This led to my next career move.