Over the years, the understanding of what people expect from students graduating from high school has evolved to a point where now those expectations can seem to vary quite a bit. Through our collaborative Portrait of a Graduate process, school leaders can guide their communities in identifying the competencies they most value in their graduates.
Using Human-Centered Design, our team works with school leaders to develop the initial portrait through ongoing stakeholder outreach and engagement, encouraging anyone who has a vested interest in the district’s graduates to contribute to the final outcome. Educators, students, school board members, business owners, and other community members provide input on or react to various stages of the development.
The Consortium’s team works with school leaders to design a process that best supports their unique goals. The level of our team’s collaborative involvement in the process – planning, designing, implementing – is tailored to meet the context and needs of each district. We also encourage all schools to use the portrait to develop grade band competencies that scaffold the key skills and attributes of the portrait for students K-12, and to work with their educators to find ways to identify and cultivate the development of those skills throughout a student’s educational journey.
Sample Portrait of a Graduate work with Cornell School District
