Portrait of a Graduate: Framework for real-world readiness

A LinkedIn analysis found that the top skills needed in the workforce today are adaptability, communication, customer service, leadership, and project management. 

Looking at the pipeline of students set to enter the workforce in two, five, or ten years, there’s a problem. Our schools aren’t assessing students for these competencies. 

A traditional education model measures student progress through standardized testing, knowledge-based quizzes, and essays. Schools are recognizing that they need a better index of the value they offer students— and that’s how the Portrait of a Graduate was born. 

What is a Portrait of a Graduate?

A portrait of a graduate is an aspirational picture of what a student will learn and embody from their educational experience. These competencies include durable skills and characteristics that students need to succeed in their careers, current and future education, and society. 

This concept of Portrait of a Graduate, also called a Portrait of a Learner or Graduate Portrait, has become popular over the past decade as a way for schools to redefine success beyond academic achievement. According to CASEL and Civic, at least 20 states have now adopted Portraits of a Graduate. 

How a Portrait of a Graduate benefits schools, students, and communities

According to Battelle for Kids, 69% of districts say that their Portrait of a Graduate has had a moderate to high impact on their district and community, and 65% say it’s had a moderate or high impact on their student learning experience. Here’s why it makes such a difference. 

Creates a shared language and shared identity

A Portrait of a Graduate creates a collective vision for the skills and characteristics that set young people up for success. This develops a shared vocabulary for teachers, administrators, students, and parents to work toward common goals. It also helps students create a shared identity by being able to talk about their competencies with their peers, on college applications, and in job interviews. 

Furthers recruitment and advancement goals

Having a clear vision of student outcomes and skills better equips schools for recruitment efforts. Similarly, schools can fundraise more effectively by demonstrating how they prepare students for a lifetime of success. 

Gives strategic direction for teaching and learning

More than half of hiring managers in 2024 believe that recent graduates are unprepared for the workforce. Among the top skills missing are initiative, communication, and problem-solving. 

As industries are begging schools to send graduates with better soft skills, schools are recognizing that they need a different rubric for success. Creating a Portrait of a Graduate allows you to align your teaching and curriculum with real needs in your community.

Portrait of a Graduate example

This Portrait of a Graduate developed by North Carolina showcases six “durable skills” it wants students to possess: adaptability, collaboration, communication, critical thinking, empathy, learner’s mindset, and personal responsibility. You can read more about North Carolina’s durable skills and process here. 

Core competencies to include in Your Portrait of a Graduate 

A Portrait of a Graduate document should contain four to seven core competencies describing the top skills and abilities each student must master to graduate. Most states and districts have overlap in the competencies they choose, as you can see in the analysis of popular competencies from CASEL and Civic.

Most popular Portrait of a Graduate competencies and skills

• Critical thinking
• Problem-solving
• Social awareness
• Communication
• Self-management
• Academic or technical knowledge
• Collaboration and teamwork
• Responsibility
• Digital literacy
• Self-awareness

6 steps to develop a Portrait of a Graduate in your district

The process of creating a Portrait of a Graduate can be just as important as the document itself. The development process is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to engage stakeholders, build trust, and align a unified strategy around student success. 

The most successful Portrait of a Graduate processes can take up to two years and include feedback from hundreds, if not thousands of stakeholders. Here are the steps you need to get started. 

1. Create a steering committee

First, appoint a steering committee that can shepherd your state or district through the process. 

The leadership of this committee will vary depending on whether you are a state, district, public school, or private school. Aim to include an administrator, board member, teacher, and potentially alumni or community members. 

The team should establish a regular meeting structure and timeline to create the document. Provide the team with an accountability framework that connects back to the district, along with necessary resources such as technology, communication support, and meeting spaces.

2. Solicit feedback

Feedback is the most important part of developing your portrait. States like New York, the latest state to pass a Portrait of a Graduate, spent a full academic year listening and collecting feedback. If you’re wondering who should give input on this, the answer is everyone. Superintendents, principals, teachers, state or local bodies, parents, employers, community organizations, and especially students should all have a voice in creating the portrait. 

Be intentional in integrating diverse perspectives from all ethnic and racial backgrounds in your community, rural and urban areas, and representation from all educational levels. Translate your communications into Spanish and other relevant languages and offer interpretation at meetings. 

Here are some ways you can collect feedback:

• Send a survey to families and community partners
• Hold a listening session or focus group with key stakeholders
• Partner with community employers and/or higher education partners 
• Review and include relevant employment and higher education research 
• Create a student working group

3. Create a list of competencies

Once your committee has reviewed the initial data and feedback, they can create a draft list of competencies. Define each one and describe its relevance to student success. Provide evidence of why that skill is needed for ongoing education, career success, and effective citizenship. 

4. Refine your list

At this juncture, you can return to your stakeholders with a proposed portrait. Present your durable skills through webinars, meetings, or emails with the evidence behind them and a vision for all graduates. Collect additional feedback so you can refine your list if needed. 

5. Visualize your Portrait of a Graduate

Once finalized, create a visualization of your portrait. A graphic and simple one-pager makes it easy for families, community members, and teachers to understand the core competencies.

Some districts take an infographic approach to this, creating a compass, wheel, or tree image with the competencies fitting together to create a whole. Others create unique icons for each competency or integrate elements from their school colors and mascot. Battelle for Kids has a portrait gallery you can browse for visualization ideas. 

6. Create an implementation plan 

If you stop after simply creating a Portrait of a Graduate, the initiative will fail. For a portrait to make a true impact, you need to implement it and make it a part of your strategy and assessments moving forward. Here are some ways you can implement and operationalize your Portrait of a Graduate. 

• Map educational activities and curricula to each competency. This way, students and families can understand and buy into the importance of each educational activity.
• Allott professional development time and funds to training teachers in each competency area. 
• Communicate your portrait to new, current, and potential families.
• Create student success stories for each durable skill.
• Have students create a display wall or posters showing how they are reaching the competencies.
• Replace “Student of the month” or other recognition programs with awards aligned to the portrait.
• Establish an assessment strategy to measure your impact. 

Measuring the impact of your Portrait of a Graduate

Measuring soft skills like problem-solving, resilience, and creativity is always more challenging than traditional knowledge-based assessments. As you develop a portrait, you need to take a different approach to student assessment. Most schools and districts find they need a multi-faceted approach to measuring student progress, both traditional assessments and new ones. Provide teachers with rubrics with clear criteria for assessing complex skills. 

Portrait of a Graduate assessment methods

• Digital student portfolios allow for comprehensive and authentic assessment of durable skills and enable students to document and reflect on skills they’re developing. 
• Performance-based assessments evaluate students’ ability to apply skills in real-world scenarios. 
• Self-assessments encourage students to reflect on their own growth and development.  
• Peer assessments allow students to evaluate each other’s skills and provide feedback. 
• Teacher observations/assessments enable educators to assess students’ competencies in various settings.

How Xello helps

Xello supports the self-discovery process students need to develop the skills and competencies to meet the requirements of a PoG. 

In Xello Elementary, students learn to create the foundation for understanding who they are, what they like and are good at, and how to navigate the larger world and their own internal feelings.  They begin to develop the skills needed to build on future success. 

As students progress through middle and high school, Xello helps them build on that self-knowledge and explore how to get to where they want to be in their post-secondary education, career, and life.  Xello provides students with the tools and resources to forge the 21st century skills they need to thrive. 

Xello also offers free resources and learning materials on this and other topics to help district leaders and educators provide the best support for their students. 

On a final note, hear from one of our clients on how Xello is helping them build their PoG: 

“Pre-K through 12, we want to see what a student is accomplishing by the end of the year— what skills and social-emotional targets they need to meet,” shares Jen Park, Career Counselor at Gadsden ISD. 

“Xello will help us with that significantly because it builds in all of those things. We can show a student’s skill sets and interests alongside their academics. In the past, we haven’t had a way to gather that data and hold it in one place. Xello will help us build that portrait of a graduate with all the other things like resume building and scholarship tracking that are available in it.”

Contact one of our Education Specialists today to see how Xello can help you build and implement your own Portrait of a Graduate.