El Segundo Unified School District

Using input from local stakeholders to specify the cognitive, personal, and interpersonal competencies that students should possess when they graduate from high school, we developed a graduate profile for our district. The Graduate Profile describes the expectations our community believes are required of ESUSD graduates who can become successful leaders of tomorrow, outlining the necessary foundation for students’ future success in college or their careers.

We conducted discussions and workshops with key stakeholders—teachers, administrators, parents, business and civic leaders—to develop the graduate profile for ESUSD. Feedback was obtained through the use of guiding questions such as:

1. What skills and characteristics should high school graduates develop to ensure success in the workplace of the future?
2. What skills and characteristics are most important in a graduate?
3. What can we do as an educational organization to better prepare graduates?

ESUSD teachers and administrators then took the set of 21st century learning skills and applied the stakeholder feedback to develop a subset of skills, attributes, and key performance indicators.