The Certification Portfolio is a compilation of materials and documents designed to validate and fulfill the MTNA Professional Certification Teaching Standards required to become a Nationally Certified Teacher of Music. As a teaching portfolio, it provides concrete evidence of certification candidates’ knowledge, attitude and skills as a professional. It reflects candidates’ individuality, creativity and self-sufficiency. One of its primary purposes is to provide the National Certification Commission with an effective and accountable documentation of certification candidates’ professional teaching competence.

The Certification Portfolio can provide:

1. Additional accessibility to the Certification Program for certification candidates with physical disabilities and/or difficulties with English language skills
2. Added convenience for some certification candidates, especially for those living in remote areas
3. An option that gives consideration to the different learning styles and personal skills of certification candidates
4. An opportunity to emphasize research for (gathering) information rather than the repetition of information
5. A focused picture of certification candidates as developing professionals

The Certification Portfolio can function as:

1. A personal learning tool for certification candidates to document, describe and articulate their teaching and professional knowledge, and to reflect on what, why, whom and how they teach
2. A device for enabling certification candidates to determine the selection of materials and documents
3. An evaluation tool for the MTNA Professional Certification Program and a self-evaluation tool for certification candidates
4. A consolidated record of certification candidates’ expectations, goals and abilities
5. A means for demonstrating and marketing certification candidate’s professional services