About the Program
The Ph.D. in Education Portfolio is an organized, yet selective, collection of documents designed to facilitate a student’s academic and professional development and to provide a basis for evaluating degree progress. The portfolio represents the scope and depth of a student’s goals, plans, and accomplishments in coursework, independent study, research, internships, and other advanced learning activities. The portfolio thus provides a comprehensive record of a doctoral student’s experiences and ongoing progress toward his or her academic and professional goals.
Students use the portfolio to:
- Define and clarify academic and professional goals;
- Formulate specific plans to achieve those goals through coursework, research, and field-based activities;
- Reflect upon the process and results of their learning activities;
- Modify goals and plans as needed based on reflective self-evaluation and feedback from faculty advisors; and
- Demonstrate readiness to proceed to the dissertation phase of the doctoral program.
As students progress through the program, they periodically meet with their doctoral advising committee to review goals, plans, and accomplishments, and to discuss possible modifications and additional work needed to facilitate continued progress in the doctoral program.
The first portfolio review must be completed before the end of the third semester. The second portfolio review must be scheduled at the completion of 30 credit hours. When a student has completed the coursework phase of the program, a final meeting is held with the doctoral advising committee. This meeting is the context for conducting the Comprehensive Portfolio Assessment, a formal evaluation of a student’s readiness to proceed to the dissertation phase of the Ph.D. in Education program, (analogous to the traditional doctoral comprehensive examination.)