Portrait of the Graduate

What is a Portrait of the Graduate?

A Portrait of the Graduate outlines the skills, knowledge, and dispositions that students across all grade levels should have. It is a promise that our educators make to ALL our students to prepare our students for the world beyond school. Additionally, a Portrait of the Graduate should reflect what our community values for our graduates.

A well-constructed Portrait of the Graduate is often compared to the North Star – serving as our compass guide to both a beginning and an end to our work as educators.

The characteristics and dispositions identified in the Portrait of the Graduate do not replace rigorous academic content. Rather, the characteristics and dispositions work in tandem with high academic standards, transcending and connecting independent content areas.

As a beginning, the Portrait of the Graduate can:

Help with strategic planning

Clarify Vision and Mission Statements

Assist in developing district and school goals

Drive curricular and pedagogical decision-making

Guide budget priorities and decisions

Create a cohesive K-12 instructional framework

As an end, the Portrait of the Graduate can:

Represent the aspirations we have for all our learners - ultimately it is the end product that we nurture and develop in our students and for our students.

Provide benchmarks along the way to identify when, where, and how we deliberately support students in attaining the Portrait of the Graduate.

Serve as a summative assessment of our students, so when they graduate, we know that they have the skills, knowledge, and dispositions of our Portrait of the Graduate.

Questions?

Why Now?

Beyond the educational philosophy that we should all be striving to create the graduates our community wants and needs, there are two pragmatic reasons for the development of the BOWA Portrait of the Graduate.

Beginning with the Class of 2023, all students must earn one mastery-based diploma credit. Demonstration of mastery of the characteristics of the BOWA Portrait of the Graduate will be one component of that mastery-based diploma assessment.

Second, the development of the Portrait of the Graduate will allow the high school administration and staff to address several of the recommendations from the 2019 New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) Accreditation visit and subsequent report. These include, but are not limited to:

Purposefully align the curriculum and ensure the integration of 21st-century learning expectations
Make connections throughout the written curriculum to inquiry and problem solving, higher order thinking, cross-disciplinary learning, authentic opportunities both in and out of school, and informed and ethical use of technology
Ensure alignment of the written and taught curriculum
Increase vertical articulation between the middle schools and Amity Regional High School.

Progress on these recommendations will be included in the required 2-year and 5-year NEASC Progress Reports.

How Was It Created?

Creating a Portrait of the Graduate is not a new concept and Amity was supported by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) in our process. We initially started with a 5-member Executive Committee. This small team attended a 2-day NEASC workshop where the committee members learned strategies, resources, and processes to develop a Portrait of the Graduate. This small POG Executive Committee established a development plan, set a timeline, and created the initial surveys to collect input on what the Bethany-Orange-Woodbridge-Amity Portrait of the Graduate should represent.

It was critical to the Executive Committee that the Portrait of the Graduate reflect not just the Amity school district values, but the values of our three towns, including elementary parents and local employers, as well as representatives from local post-secondary education institutions. To that end, surveys were administered to the following community groups:

Amity Regional School District Teachers
Elementary Teachers (Bethany, Orange, Woodbridge)
Parents (Grades Pre-K - 12)
High School Students
Middle School Students
Local Business Leaders
Post-Secondary Leaders (CT Colleges)

Approximately 14,000 responses were provided. A larger Portrait of the Graduate Committee was established to review the survey data. This Portrait of the Graduate (POG) Committee included teachers and administrators from all four school districts (Bethany, Orange, Woodbridge, and Amity), parents representing all three towns and all three school levels, community career and college representatives, and a member of the Amity Board of Education.

The initial data review resulted in 9 possible characteristics of the Amity Portrait of the Graduate. As the committee compared the concepts behind the characteristics, overlap developed, and ultimately the five characteristics came to comprise the Amity Portrait of the Graduate. Clarification of these characteristics was provided from the survey data and became the dispositions of the characteristics.

A draft Portrait of the Graduate was completed in summer 2021 and throughout the 2021-2022 school year, feedback on the draft was solicited from teachers (elementary, middle, and high school), students, and parents. This feedback generated further revision resulting in the final BOWA Portrait of the Graduate.

How Can You Assess?

Teachers will be encouraged and supported in the deliberate and purposeful instruction of the characteristics and dispositions of the Portrait of the Graduate. Additionally, as departments and content areas revise the curriculum, the shared learning experiences for students will be incorporated into the curriculum document.

Oftentimes, rubrics and portfolios are used by teachers and students to assess and demonstrate progress toward achieving the Portrait of the Graduate. The Amity Portrait of the Graduate Committee worked with the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) to develop our Portrait of the Graduate Learning Progressions to help in the assessment of the POG Characteristics. Spartan Seminar and Middle School Advisory provide additional opportunities for instruction in the POG characteristics and for student reflection on learning.

Mastery Based Diploma Credit?

A mastery-based diploma credit ensures accountability that all students are prepared for college, career, and civic life through multiple and flexible pathways for learning. Mastery-based learning places emphasis on rigorous college and career learning competencies and quality instruction and curriculum drawn from state graduation requirements and state content standards. It is intended to emphasize learning based on authentic experiences and the application of critical knowledge that students use in school, the community, or online.

Juniors will participate in a culminating activity that celebrates their POG journey through Amity Region 5. As part of earning one-half of their mastery-based graduation credit, juniors will develop a presentation that highlights how they have grown over the years in relation to the five POG characteristics. Eleventh-grade students will deliver their presentations to teachers and staff from throughout the district on the scheduled early dismissal day. We look forward to sharing more information about these students’ celebration of their POG journey throughout the school year.

Students will also need to earn one-half of their mastery-based graduation credit in an authentic learning experience, which could include the Unpaid Experiential Learning Program (UELP), Senior Interest Project (SIP), or Senior Summit. The credit earned for the Mastery-Based Diploma Credit will be P/F and will NOT be included in a student’s G.P.A.

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