University of Houston-Clear Lake ยท College of Education
Educational Leadership Letter of Intent and Rubric
Please provide a letter of intent for pursuing the Doctoral Program in Educational Leadership at
UHCL. Respond to the following prompts as the structure of your letter.
Paragraph 1 - Why do you wish to pursue an educational leadership graduate degree.?
Paragraph 2 - What are your career goals and how will this graduate degree help accomplish
long-term goals?
Paragraph 3 - What are your research interests as they relate to education?
Paragraph 4 - What are your scholarly and professional accomplishments as they relate to your
educational leadership?
Paragraph 5 - How does your prior work experience relate to your interest in educational
leadership?
Your letter will be evaluated based on the following criteria, you must receive a minimum score
of 7, with no rating in the Below Expectations column, to be considered for admission.
Letter of Intent Rubric
CRITERIA
Exceeds
Expectations
2 points
Meets
Expectations
1 point
Below
Expectations
0 points
Rationale to
pursue an
educational
leadership
graduate degree.
The rationale goes
from general ideas to
specific conclusions.
The appropriate
content is covered in
depth. The rationale
summarizes the
content piece
thoroughly.
Not all sections or
paragraphs follow in
a natural or logical
order. All major
sections of the
pertinent content are
included, but not
covered in as much
depth, or as explicit,
as expected.
The rationale
appears to have no
direction; is
disjointed. Major
sections of pertinent
content have been
omitted.
Career goals and
how will this
graduate degree
help accomplish
long-term goals
The rationale goes
from general ideas to
specific conclusions.
The appropriate
content is covered in
depth. The rationale
Not all sections or
paragraphs follow in
a natural or logical
order. All major
sections of the
pertinent content are
The rationale
appears to have no
direction; is
disjointed. Major
sections of pertinent
summarizes the
content piece
thoroughly.
included, but not
covered in as much
depth, or as explicit,
as expected.
content have been
omitted.
Research
interests as they
relate to
education
The rationale goes
from general ideas to
specific conclusions.
The appropriate
content is covered in
depth. The rationale
summarizes the
content piece
thoroughly.
Not all sections or
paragraphs follow in
a natural or logical
order. All major
sections of the
pertinent content are
included, but not
covered in as much
depth, or as explicit,
as expected.
The rationale
appears to have no
direction; is
disjointed. Major
sections of pertinent
content have been
omitted.
Scholarly and
professional
accomplishments
as they relate to
educational
leadership
The rationale goes
from general ideas to
specific conclusions.
The appropriate
content is covered in
depth. The rationale
summarizes the
content piece
thoroughly.
Not all sections or
paragraphs follow in
a natural or logical
order. All major
sections of the
pertinent content are
included, but not
covered in as much
depth, or as explicit,
as expected.
The rationale
appears to have no
direction; is
disjointed. Major
sections of pertinent
content have been
omitted.
Prior work
experience
related to
educational
leadership
The rationale goes
from general ideas to
specific conclusions.
The appropriate
content is covered in
depth. The rationale
summarizes the
content piece
thoroughly.
Not all sections or
paragraphs follow in
a natural or logical
order. All major
sections of the
pertinent content are
included, but not
covered in as much
depth, or as explicit,
as expected.
The rationale
appears to have no
direction; is
disjointed. Major
sections of pertinent
content have been
omitted.
Logic &
Organization
Develops ideas
cogently, organizes
them logically with
paragraphs and
connects them with
effective transitions.
Clear and specific
Develops unified
and coherent ideas
within paragraphs
with generally
adequate transitions;
clear overall
organization relating
Does not develop
ideas cogently;
uneven and
ineffective overall
organization;
unfocused or no
introduction and
conclusion.
most ideas together,
good introduction
and conclusion.
introduction and/or
conclusion.
Format
Develops concise
standard English
sentences, balances a
variety of sentence
structures
effectively. The
writing is essentially
error-free in terms of
spelling and
grammar.
While there may be
minor errors, the
writing follows
normal conventions
of spelling and
grammar throughout
and has been
carefully proofread.
Presence of a few
errors is not
distracting.
Writing contains
frequent spelling and
grammar errors
which interfere with
comprehension.
Errors are seriously
distracting.
Adapted from The University of Scranton Kania School of Management Assessment Council
(http://academic.scranton.edu/department/assessment/ksom/)
