Contract Open

Portrait of a Graduate Alignment Tool for Workforce Readiness Skills

NCER

Program: Small Business Innovation Research

Award amount: $250,000

Project director: Phil Holcombe

Awardee:

Project Wayfinder (dba Wayfinder)

Year: 2025

Award period: 8 months (09/12/2025 - 05/11/2026)

Project type:

Phase I Development

Contract number: 91990025C008Q

Purpose

Across the country, school districts are developing Portrait of a Graduate (POG) frameworks that outline the durable, future-ready skills students need for success in college, career, and life. However, districts face challenges in connecting these locally defined traits to classroom practice. This project will develop a prototype alignment tool that allows districts to map their unique POG competencies onto Wayfinder’s existing framework of workforce readiness skills. The tool will generate customized connections to lessons and activities that foster those skills, helping educators translate broad district goals into concrete student experiences. By making these connections visible and actionable, the tool will support schools in preparing students with the competencies they need to thrive after graduation.

Project Activities

In Phase I, Project Wayfinder will design and develop a prototype alignment tool that integrates district POG frameworks with its established durable skills curriculum. The tool will include: (1) an interface for districts to upload or select their POG traits, (2) a structured mapping system that aligns those traits with Wayfinder’s core skill framework, and (3) a searchable library of lessons and activities matched to those skills. Development will occur through iterative design cycles with input from educators and students, supported by partnerships with pilot districts. WestEd will conduct usability and feasibility testing to examine how effectively the tool helps educators align POG traits to classroom activities and whether it can be implemented in authentic school settings. At the end of Phase I, the prototype will function as a working alignment platform, enabling districts to generate customized pathways that connect their POG priorities to day-to-day instruction.