The Graduate Profile: A Distrcit Strategy for the Coherent Alignment of Student Outcomes

A district’s graduate profile organizes a comprehensive range of expectations for student learning into a clear, cohesive vision of college and career readiness. By starting with the end in mind—a high school graduate who is prepared for postsecondary learning and the 21st-century workplace—a district’s graduate profile can help schools and teachers provide the instruction, work-based learning experiences, and authentic assessments that students need to demonstrate the knowledge and skills necessary for success beyond high school.  This paper unpacks the collective ownership that makes the graduate profile a kind of “contract of educational goods and services” for which districts, schools, and teachers are responsible and accountable.