The context

A K-12 school has adopted a portrait of a graduate to articulate the skills, dispositions, and habits of mind it hopes students will develop over time—capacities such as curiosity, resilience, ethical judgment, collaboration, and creative problem-solving. The portrait is central to the school’s mission and strategic priorities, and it shapes conversations about curriculum, assessment, and student experience.

While the portrait provides a compelling vision, school leaders often struggle with a practical question: how do you know whether students are actually developing these kinds of capacities? Many of the traits named in a portrait—such as grit, empathy, or adaptability—do not lend themselves to simple tests or numerical metrics. As a result, portraits can remain aspirational documents rather than tools that inform instructional decisions.

The school is seeking a clearer, evidence-informed understanding of how the portrait shows up in student experience and classroom practice. Rather than attempting to “score” or rank students on complex traits, the goal is to understand where and how these capacities are being developed, how students and teachers perceive that growth, and how consistently the portrait is enacted across the school.

Sample questions guiding this work include:

• How do students describe the skills and dispositions they are developing through their learning experiences?

• Where in the curriculum do students encounter the strongest opportunities to build the capacities named in the portrait?

• How do teachers intentionally design learning experiences to support these outcomes?

• What kinds of evidence do educators use to understand whether students are developing portrait-aligned capacities?

• How coherent are students’ experiences across divisions, subjects, and programs in relation to the portrait?

How we support schools

In situations like this, Wasatch Education Group works with schools to examine how the portrait of a graduate shows up in student experience and instructional practice using a targeted mixed-methods approach.

A typical engagement includes:

• Brief student and teacher surveys to identify patterns in perceptions of skill development, learning experiences, and portrait-aligned outcomes

• Student interviews or focus groups to surface concrete examples of when and how students believe they are building the capacities named in the portrait

• Teacher conversations to understand how portrait-aligned skills are intentionally supported, assessed, and reflected in classroom practice

• Review of curricular materials, performance tasks, and program artifacts to examine where portrait outcomes are most clearly embedded

• Targeted, non-evaluative classroom observations (if helpful) to see how portrait-aligned capacities appear in learning environments

The focus is on identifying patterns across classrooms, programs, and divisions rather than evaluating individuals. Findings are synthesized to help leadership understand where the portrait is most clearly enacted and where greater alignment or support may be needed.

What schools gain from this work

Through this type of inquiry, schools gain:

• A clearer understanding of how the portrait of a graduate is experienced by students in daily learning

• Insight into where portrait-aligned capacities are most strongly supported across the curriculum

• Evidence about how instructional practices contribute to the development of key skills and dispositions

• Shared language for discussing strengths, gaps, and opportunities for alignment

• Data to inform professional learning, curriculum design, and strategic decision-making

Typical deliverables

• A concise executive summary highlighting key themes and strategic implications

• A comprehensive findings report synthesizing survey, interview, observation, and artifact data

• A facilitated findings conversation with leadership to support reflection and next-step decision-making

• A slide deck communicating major findings and recommendations

Why this work matters

Portraits of a graduate are now common in independent schools, yet many leaders ask how to meaningfully assess growth in complex capacities such as resilience, curiosity, collaboration, or ethical judgment.

These capacities can be assessed in thoughtful, credible ways. Research-based survey items allow schools to gather meaningful data about students’ perceptions of their own development. At the same time, numbers alone do not tell the full story.

By combining survey data with qualitative inquiry—speaking directly with students and teachers, examining classroom practice, and reviewing evidence of learning—schools gain a holistic, evidence-informed picture of student growth. The goal is not a single score, but a deeper understanding that can guide curriculum, instruction, and professional learning over time.