Online Portfolio for Alternative Licensure (OPAL)
For Teachers
Welcome to the process of preparing your Online Portfolio for Alternative Licensure (OPAL).
What is the Online Portfolio for Alternative Licensure?
The Online Portfolio for Alternative Licensure (OPAL) is the online system you will use to complete an individual profile and to upload your portfolio template and support materials for review by officials in your district, by independent reviewers and the Public Education Department.
To find out more about OPAL and the OPAL review process, read the Requirements & Guidelines for Preparation of the Online Portfolio for Alternative Licensure. Most importantly, the Requirements & Guidelines contain all directions on how to complete your online portfolio.
When may your online portfolio be submitted for review?
You may begin this immediately as this process is ongoing.
What is the process of preparing and submitting the Online Portfolio for 
Alternative Licensure (OPAL)?
View the step by step process below.
The 
icon refers to documents you will need in order to prepare and submit your portfolio online.
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| Register and create an account with the NM Public Education Department online OPAL system. | Read carefully the Requirements & Guidelines for Preparing the Online Portfolio for Alternative Licensure, including appendices that include important forms. |
Use the OPAL Resources to support your work as you collect evidence and complete your writing. | Use the OPAL Strand A-D Templates to complete your portfolio and submit each OPAL strand. | Submit Strands A, B, & C online.
You are responsible for submitting the Strand D: Administrator Letter Notification for Verification to your administrator. The Strand D OPAL template can only be obtained by registering and creating an account with the NM Public Education Department online OPAL system. Your administrator will complete Strand D online. |
OPAL Resources NM Teacher Competencies & Indicators Student Release Form: English Student Release Form: Spanish Online Modules |
Strand A-D OPAL TemplatesOpal Templates can only be obtained by registering and creating an account with the NM Public Education Department online OPAL system. |
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For questions concerning technical requirements or difficulty with the PED online submission system, including password or login issues contact opalhelp@visionlink.org. |
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The OPAL system is used to make licensure decisions, therefore the Requirements & Guidelines for its preparation are standardized, and you should follow them carefully. However, you should also remember that the intent of the Requirements & Guidelines is to allow you to tell a set of stories from your practice, stories that are illustrated and validated by concrete evidence from your work with your students and others in your classroom. The OPAL system is not a test with the right answer. Instead, OPAL allows you to construct a picture of your teaching.
To meet this goal, you are asked to provide explanations of what you did on several occasions in your teaching and to substantiate that explanation with data. Two outside reviewers will make decisions based on both the explanation and the data. As they review your portfolio, they will seek to understand what you do and how you think about instruction, student learning, and professional growth. Both outside reviewers will be experienced educators, but only one of the reviewers will have similar subject area expertise. Keep in mind this purpose and audience as you construct your OPAL.
For questions concerning OPAL content and preparation, contact ipd@unm.edu.
For questions concerning technical requirements or difficulty with the VisionLink system, including password or login issues contact opalhelp@visionlink.org