For more than a decade, Battelle for Kids, along with our EdLeader21 Network, has been at the forefront of developing Portraits of a Graduate—shared community visions that expand the view of student success in enrollment, enlistment, entrepreneurship, and employment. Today, Battelle for Kids brings the Portrait to life through our Portrait to Practice work, which purposefully integrates essential academic content with durable skills for future success. Moving forward, our Portrait to Impact framework will highlight evidence and storytelling to showcase student growth, assess knowledge and skills, and demonstrate real-world application.

The Battelle for Kids Future-Ready Journey Map helps educators fearlessly reimagine what education can be. It is designed to guide learning organizations through a journey from Portrait to Practice to Impact. This model emphasizes the importance of aligning every part of the educational system to support deeper learning and future-ready mindsets. 

At the heart of this approach are three conditions for successful impact: 

• Readiness: Establish a high-impact ecosystem by building clarity and conviction for a shared vision of learning, ensuring that every step of the journey is thoughtful, strategic, and engaging. 

• Alignment: Nurture a hopeful, resilient, and future-ready culture that is aligned with a shared vision of learning, increasing clarity, coherence, and collaboration. 

• Activation: Implement future-ready learning through capacity-building, assessments that matter, and powerful practices that nurture hope and resilience to bring the vision to life. 

The first condition of success in moving from Portrait to Practice to Impact is Readiness, which focuses on the work of establishing a high-impact ecosystem by building clarity and conviction for a shared vision of learning, ensuring that every step of the journey is thoughtful, strategic, and engaging. 

In Readiness, districts:

• Determine their readiness to create the Portrait of a Graduate;
• Develop a human-centered strategic framework/strategic plan;
• Work to implement a culture of success through well-being;
• Engage their communities through the Portrait of a Graduate and strategic planning;
• Build long-term community understanding and support of the Portrait of a Graduate to prepare every student for the future.

In Alignment, districts focus on the work of putting the district’s vision into practice and nurturing a future-ready culture that is aligned with a shared vision of learning, increasing clarity, coherence, and collaboration.

This includes:

• Developing a Portrait-aligned learning framework;
• Creating learning progressions and designing rubrics to advance deeper learning;
• Creating a Portrait of a Graduate Roadmap;
• Integrating durable skills through strategic curriculum mapping;
• Designing innovative approaches to bringing the Portrait of a Graduate to life in student-centered classroom experiences.

Activation focuses on big picture strategies in the implementation of future-ready learning through capacity-building, metrics that matter, and powerful practices that nurture hope and resilience to bring the vision—your Portrait of a Graduate—to life.

This involves:

• Developing a purposeful system of measurement for your district;
• Showcasing the impact of your Portrait through strategic storytelling;
• Investing in the developing and growing your building-level leaders, instructional coaches, and educators through professional learning focused on the Portrait;
• Empowering classroom teachers through learning design studios;
• Leaning into strategic communications to build and sustain momentum around your district’s vision.

The Portrait to Practice Expo & Reception is your opportunity to showcase how your district is implementing its vision for future-ready learning – making the Portrait of a Graduate a reality for your students. It’s part gallery walk, part social experience. It’s your chance to learn from other school districts from across the country at different phases of their Portrait journeys and has been one of the most popular parts of the Annual Event experience.