WCSU Profile of a Graduate

Work Group Presentation - Consensus Draft

Spring 2018

22 Person Team

Kathleen Willis, Parent Morgan Willis, Student

Erica Kurash, Student Julie Brown, Staff Member

Jennifer Lockhart, Parent and Staff Member Frank Leibly, Parent

Tim Brennan, Teacher Mary Guggenberger, Elem. Principal

Mark Lackley, Parent Rebecca Claffey, Parent

Tammy Meyers, Parent Pat Fitzsimmons, Agency of Ed.

Carin Ewing Park, Parent and Board Member Matthew Farrington, Parent

Cynthia Emery, Parent and Staff Member Jennifer Stainton, Curriculum

Maggie Mills, Elementary Principal Mary Beth Banios, Superintendent

Garon Smail, MSHS Principal

Heather Lawler, MSHS Assoc. Principal

Jody Henderson, Teacher

Bettyann McGuire, Community Member

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What is a Profile of a Graduate?

“... a graduate profile is a document that a school or district uses to specify the cognitive, personal, and interpersonal competencies that students should have when they graduate.”

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“...Co-created with input from key stakeholders, this profile is a clear visualization of priority goals for teaching and learning that can be easily communicated to students, parents, faculty, and staff to align their collective efforts.”

“Until you identify and prioritize these competencies for your school or district, you won’t have a shared vision of your destination.”

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(Ken Kay, https://www.edutopia.org/blog/graduate-profile-focus-outcomes-ken-kay)

Process

• 3 Full Days
• Review of other district’s Profile of a Graduate documents
• Different Schools for a Different World (McLeod and Shareski)
• Thank You for Being Late (Thomas L.Friedman)
• Panel Discussions: Innovation in Learning Study Group, Coding and Computational Thinking
• Whole group and small group discussion and debate

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Driving Questions

• What has a successful student looked like for the past 25 years?
• What is the world asking of our students today and into the future?
• What are the shifts in skill sets required for post-secondary success in today’s world? Is there anything specific, locally that we should consider as well?
• What are the critical skills (Profile of a Graduate) that all WUHSMS students must possess in order to be well prepared for the world they will enter?

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Self Direction

• Pursues interests
• Perseveres through an ongoing process of success and failure
• Develops intrinsic initiative and responsibility for learning
• Demonstrates skills in time management and prioritizing
• Exhibits a growth mindset

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Participant Quote:

“Students need more opportunities to be self-directed from an earlier age. There is increasingly lots of problem solving expected in the work world for a variety of careers and fields. This is in part due to the technology and information age we are living in.”

Skillful Communication

• Communicates for a range of purposes and with a variety of audiences
• Articulates thoughts and ideas effectively (e.g. oral, written, artistic expression, non-verbal)
• Cultivates the ability to listen and network
• Leverages multiple media and technologies
• Communicates effectively in digital and face-to-face environments

Critical Problem Solving

• Makes judgments and decisions based on evidence and reasoning
• Understands the layers of complexity associated with a given problem and creates solutions that are reflective of this understanding
• Identifies, defines and solves problems and essential questions both collaboratively and independently that connect to the real world
• Acts on creative ideas to make tangible and valuable contributions

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Participant Quote:

“Engagement and agency are critical dispositions for our graduates. The concept of the creator mindset vs. consumer mindset is a simple and powerful portrayal of the importance of engaged learning.”

Stewardship

• Serves local and global communities
• Contributes to personal and community health and wellness
• Respects diversity and differing points of view
• Acts with empathy and care for others

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Participant Quote:

“This work has confirmed my thinking and, I hope, my practice of getting students to develop critical skills through content. In addition, I'm loving the distinctive element of 'stewardship' that this district has embraced and hope to instill that virtue with my students .... and live it myself particularly as we have expanded the word from its traditional view of environmental stewardship.”

Academic Proficiency

• Has enduring understanding of essential concepts in academic domains
• Applies and uses content knowledge in authentic situations
• Accesses information efficiently and effectively
• Evaluates information critically and competently
• Has ability to navigate and create in a technology rich, global environment

Next Steps

• Public Comment May 15th - June 5th
• Community and Parents
• Faculty and Staff
• WUHSMS Students
• Foundational Document for Strategic Planning
• Fall 2018 - Get the Word Out!

Participant Quote:

“I feel the POG draft addresses some of the most important aspects of education. In a world changing so fast with so many options of what to learn, and how to learn, the POG draft will bring some great focus to our students and teachers.”

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Participant Quote:

“[My biggest takeaway was] the importance of preparing our children (students) to have a different set of skills then formerly required to be successful citizens in this world. To involve kids more fully in their learning rather than just feeding them information to regurgitate. Hopefully it will lead to more joyful and purposeful lives.”