Portrait of a Graduate Process

This tool provides a framework and includes resources teams can use when undergoing the Portrait of a Graduate (PoG) Process.

Lay the Foundation

Gathering a team and laying a strong, collective foundation is crucial to designing your Portrait of a Graduate.

  1. Identify a PoG steering committee
    1. Who has the will, skill, time, and resources to engage in this work?
    2. Is the group representative of the community?
  2. Review State & District Documents to identify themes and values
  3. Identify what you will share with your community for feedback 
    1. An example of a completed PoG
    2. A draft PoG
    3. A list of themes and values
Seek Community Input

An important part of the Portrait of a Graduate design process is seeking input from school community members.

  1. Identify community partners
    1. Parents and caregivers, community members, local business owners, local faith leaders, students, alumni, policy makers, educators, and representatives from non-profit organizations.
  2. Plan for equitable engagement 
    1. How will you ensure diverse community partner participation?
    2. What might be obstacles to participation? 
    3. How might we mitigate those obstacles?
    4. Who has historically not been represented? 
    5. Use this communication strategies template as a starting place: How will you communicate with your community?
    6. You may also want to refer to these other GSP tools:
  3. Hold community forums to collect input from a diverse range of community members
    1. Consider time, date, and accessible location for in-person forums.
    2. Collect feedback using an exit survey, audio recordings, and notes.
    3. Here are some helpful strategies for facilitators
Draft, Refine, and Share

Cycles of drafting, refining, and revising are crucial to building a strong final Portrait to share with the community.

  1. Examine, discuss, and analyze data and feedback collected to date
    1. Use this Data Analysis
  2. Synthesize community partner feedback  into the working Portrait of a Graduate documents
  3. Share the revised draft and next steps with all participating community partners
  4. Create a plan to share the new Portrait of a Graduate and next steps with the full community
    1. How will this draft inform decision-making, strategic planning and/or budgeting?
    2. How will this draft inform teaching and learning?
    3. How will you continue to engage the community?
  5. Share the final Portrait
    1. Update your district and school websites and social media.
    2. Include it in school-based newsletters and feeds.
    3. Include local media.
    4. Review it with staff during convocations and orientations.
Portraits in Action

See how some GSP partners have used the Portrait of a Graduate to set the vision in their districts and school communities.

  1. Springfield, MA Public Schools
  2. Keene, NH Public Schools
  3. Dighton-Rehoboth, MA Public Schools
  4. Vermont Public Schools
  5. Springfield, MA PoG Podcast 

Creative Commons License This resource was produced by the Great Schools Partnership and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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