Districts use a wide variety of methods to assess Portrait of a Graduate skills, varying across contexts and grade levels¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · qualitative r1 · q2
Currency · newest study 2025 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Across 16 interviewed districts, assessment approaches for Portrait of a Graduate skills varied widely, with the seven districts having assessments in place using multiple approaches across contexts and grade levels. → Kyle Dunbar 2025

Evidence¶

Kyle Dunbar 2025¶

Kyle Dunbar, Katie Wilczak, Kelly Mills, Nick Mireles, and Alison Shell. (2025). Portraits in Progress: Emerging Future-Ready Skills Assessment Strategies. Digital Promise and Pearson. https://digitalpromise.dspacedirect.org/items/0a2c7a9e-634b-4ec1-ba5d-3c8bfa19e696 doi:10.51388/20.500.12265/266

q2 · i? · qualitative · r1

Landscape scan of interviews with 16 districts, seven of which had assessments in place. The report found "a wide variance in how districts are planning for and implementing assessment," with districts often using different assessments for yearly data collection versus ongoing monitoring, and at secondary versus elementary levels.

"Of the sixteen school districts included in this report, we found a wide variance in how districts are planning for and implementing assessment on future-ready skills named in their Portrait of a Graduate."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Districts face validity, reliability, comparability, and accountability-tension challenges in assessing future-ready skills — related
• Fewer than one fifth of districts with Portraits have taken the step of identifying actionable Practices within their Skill Sets — related
• Student portfolios are reported to be a useful method for noticing student growth on Portrait of a Graduate competencies — related
• The authors assert that innovative assessment measures capture POG competencies more fully than traditional standardized tests — related
• Integrating POG assessments into traditional standardized-test-centered accountability systems is complex, and lack of a standardized framework can produce inconsistent measurement across regions — related
• Districts report more success with future-ready skill assessment focused on student growth than on proficiency — related
• An analysis of 69 district Portraits of a Graduate finds six Skill Sets that capture 90 percent of the attributes districts articulate — related
• POG frameworks most frequently emphasize communication, critical thinking, collaboration, and perseverance/adaptability among their competencies — related