In many cases, the process of creating a Portrait of a Graduate implicitly ties in discussions of career readiness. However, some frameworks are making this connection explicit in an effort to align PreK-12 learning experiences with workforce preparation.
Several states have already combined career readiness and durable skill building into their graduate frameworks. Texas’ Positive Character Traits Education, for example, leans on character development practices to integrate the development of personal and interpersonal skills throughout students’ K-12 experiences. In this same vein, Illinois’ Essential Employability Skills promote the growth of transferable skills that set students up for success in their education and career paths. While the naming of these frameworks may differ, the visible effort to prioritize transferable durable skill building across the country underscores just how essential this work is.
Kansas has also made great efforts in recent years to ensure students have the academic, cognitive, technical, and employability skills to succeed in their lives after graduation. Individual Plans of Study, coupled with opportunities for students to become civically engaged, support each student in grades 8 through 12 to apply academic and personal development to their real-life interests. Through self-exploration, career exploration, and career planning, Kansas students combine their strengths, interests, and goals to form a guiding roadmap to follow after they graduate.
Simultaneously, organizations like the National Association of Colleges and Employers are identifying career-ready skills and empowering schools to incorporate them into K-12 learning. Their Career Readiness Competencies mirror both the skills valued by employers and those being added to Portraits of a Graduate nationwide.
Career readiness integration has proven a great way to incorporate diverse opinions from community stakeholders. According to Fordham Institute surveys of families of K-12 children, despite wide variation in preferred terminology used for durable skills training and human-centered skill development, families of K-12 students agree overall that whole-student education benefits their children’s learning experiences. By making an explicit connection between durable skills and career readiness, states and districts can offer holistic learning experiences while respecting the expectations of their learning communities.
In fact, the Fordham Institute family surveys revealed that durable skills like reasoning + problem solving ranked highest among families’ education priorities, well above any academic competency. While mathematics, career and technical education, and English skills were also popular, so were taking responsibility, communicating effectively, and building self-confidence. Setting goals, approaching challenges with positivity, and developing self-esteem + self-efficacy were deemed important by 80-90% of respondents.
Several states have undergone multi-step processes to build career-ready Portraits of a Graduate, learning from employment trends, collaborating and consulting with local businesses, and incorporating the voices of community stakeholders. While these processes take time to craft, they also set up states and districts for intentional implementation, including teacher preparation, family involvement, assessment building, and more. Following are just a few of the steps taken by states to complete future-focused graduate frameworks.
To learn more about how states are incorporating durable skills into academics using Portrait of a Graduate frameworks, download our white paper, Portrait of a Future-Ready Graduate: Why Human Skills Matter More Than Ever.