The Future-Ready Journey: From Portrait to Practice to Impact

Understanding the power and purpose of Battelle for Kids’ Future-Ready Journey Map 

By Shannon King, Ph.D., Chief Learning Officer 

The future of education is at a defining moment. Districts are facing significant challenges, and many of them need immediate attention. These challenges include attendance issues, student disengagement, and a growing need for future-ready skills. Learners at all levels in our school systems need hope, resilience, and a deep sense of agency—qualities that empower them to navigate the complexity of the work ahead, support them as they persist through challenges, and adapt to new possibilities.  

However, school systems sometimes struggle to bridge the gap between their visionary aspirations and sustainable classroom change. 

Battelle for Kids (BFK) collaborates with districts to ensure that the Portrait of a Graduate is not just an inspiring document but a catalyst for real change. Our research-informed Future-Ready Journey Map guides schools through the shifts necessary to move from Portrait to Practice to Impact, ensuring that students not only master content but also develop the enduring skills and mindsets necessary for lifelong success. 

A Research-Based Framework for Systemic Change 

BFK’s work is encapsulated in the Future-Ready Journey Map, which supports school systems at every stage of transformation. Informed by research, this framework ensures coherence between a district’s vision, learning practices, and assessment strategies (Leithwood et al., 2020; Harvard Business Review, 2015). 

• Readiness: Establishing a clear, compelling, and community-engaged vision for the district’s Portrait of a Graduate. 
• Alignment: Ensuring coherence between a district’s vision, instructional practices, and leadership structures to support durable skills. 
• Activation: Empowering educators and leaders to focus on effectiveness by implementing deeper learning experiences, performance-based assessments, and reflective practices grounded in continuous improvement. 

Moreover, at the heart of our approach is the belief that we must move beyond compliance-driven change and focus on learning environments that prioritize well-being, resilience, and authentic engagement (Masten, 2015; Snyder, 1994).  

From Theory to Action: Building Future-Ready Systems  

BFK’s offerings emphasize capacity-building, instructional alignment, and assessment strategies that elevate student learning. We provide leaders and educators with structured tools, professional learning experiences, and collaborative networks that drive real impact. 

Creating a Culture of Hope, Well-Being, and Resilience  

Research underscores that psychological safety, student well-being, and a sense of belonging are essential conditions for learning (Berkowitz et al., 2017; Coyle, 2018). Hope is not just an abstract concept but a measurable cognitive skill that correlates with higher achievement, persistence, and life satisfaction (Seligman, 2018; Lopez, 2013). By embedding these principles into strategic planning, instructional practices, and leadership development, BFK helps districts foster engaged, future-ready learners. 

Learning Frameworks & Portrait Roadmap: Translating Vision into System-Wide Coherence 

A Portrait of a Graduate cannot live in isolation — it must be integrated into curriculum, assessment, and professional learning structures. Our Learning Frameworks and Portrait Roadmap services help districts:  

• Define deeper learning expectations and competency-based progressions.  
• Ensure vertical and horizontal alignment across grade levels and disciplines.  
• Embed concept-based learning to foster transferable skills and adaptive thinking (Bransford et al., 2000; Wiggins & McTighe, 2005).  

Unpacking Portrait Competencies: Clarifying the Durable Skills and Creating Tools for Reflection & Feedback  

A district’s Portrait of a Graduate is a bold vision, but that vision only drives transformation when educators and students understand what each competency truly means. To move from inspiration to implementation, BFK partners with districts to unpack Portrait competencies into clear, observable indicators of student growth. These indicators support the development of durable skills, such as critical thinking, communication, and adaptability, that are essential for success in a rapidly changing and increasingly complex world (Schleicher, 2020; Darling-Hammond et al., 2019). 

Grounded in contemporary learning science and future-ready skill development research, our tools help educators translate broad competencies into student-friendly language and developmental progressions. These progressions foster self-reflection, goal setting, and meaningful feedback conversations. These are key drivers of learner agency and cognitive growth (Farrington et al., 2019; Immordino-Yang, Darling-Hammond & Krone, 2018). 

We also provide scaffolded reflection frameworks that support educators in making these durable skills visible across instructional practices and performance assessments. As students engage in deeper learning tasks, they build academic understanding and transferable competencies that endure beyond graduation (Mehta & Fine, 2019). Unpacking the Portrait ensures alignment across curriculum, instruction, and assessment, creating a coherent learning experience with a shared language of success. 

By making competencies actionable, measurable, and visible, districts create learning environments where students not only know what success looks like but also see themselves in it and have the tools to achieve it. 

Purposeful Assessment Systems: Measuring What Matters  

Assessment should reflect what we value in education. Traditional testing often fails to capture the full range of student learning, growth, and skill development. A Purposeful System of Assessment shifts the focus from evaluation to empowerment, ensuring students engage in authentic, performance-based learning that fosters critical thinking, collaboration, and real-world application.  

Through this approach, districts move beyond standardized tests to holistic, student-centered assessments that:  

• Emphasize performance-based tasks, measuring academic content and durable skills such as critical thinking, collaboration, and communication.  
• Integrate Cornerstone and Capstone Experiences, allowing students to demonstrate learning in authentic, real-world contexts (Pellegrino & Hilton, 2012).  
• Promote reflection and goal setting, equipping students with metacognition, self-regulation, and self-efficacy—the building blocks of learner agency (Zimmerman, 2002; Hattie, 2009).  

Assessment is not an endpoint — it is an ongoing process that supports deeper learning, student agency, and equity.  

As part of this system, we provide educators with research-backed tools and frameworks to design authentic learning experiences that engage students in meaningful inquiry and application. If preferred, districts can implement our field-tested performance tasks aligned to academic content and durable skills, with the flexibility to contextualize and scale them based on local needs.  

By equipping educators with instructional design expertise, scaffolded learning strategies, and meaningful reflection practices, we ensure that assessment is purposeful, equitable, and future-ready — preparing students to apply their learning in an evolving world.  

Portrait Walks: Ensuring Alignment Between Vision and Practice  

The Portrait Walk process is a structured, observation-based protocol that helps school leaders assess instructional alignment, student engagement, and the integration of the Portrait of a Graduate work. Research supports learning walks and instructional rounds as high-impact strategies that build reflective leadership and collective efficacy (City et al., 2009; Fullan, 2014). 

By gathering data on real classroom experiences, leaders can make informed decisions that refine professional learning, deepen educator capacity, and improve student outcomes. 

The Leadership Lab: Leading Change with Purpose  

School leaders are the catalysts for transformation. Our Principal Leadership Development program prepares administrators to:  

• Align school-based conditions with 21st-century learning goals.  
• Support teacher growth and instructional innovation.  
• Foster hope and resilience as core leadership values (Fullan, 2014; Robinson, 2011).  

Strong instructional leadership is one of the most significant levers for student success (Leithwood et al., 2020). This program provides principals with a structured process to implement future-ready learning environments that empower both students and teachers.  

Why This Matters  

The Future-Ready Journey Map ensures that educators and leaders are not just passive observers of transformation but active participants who live it, from the boardroom to the classroom. Our work is about more than compliance or new initiatives; it is about ensuring every student develops the skills, mindsets, and confidence to succeed in an evolving world.  

At Battelle for Kids, we believe that the future is not something we wait for—it is something we build together. Through strategic partnerships, research-backed frameworks, and meaningful professional learning, we help districts turn vision into reality, fostering a shared purpose among all involved. The Future is Ready. Let’s Build It Together. 

Battelle for Kids is joining AASA, The School Superintendents Association, effective July 1, 2025, to amplify our impact in transforming public education. This includes scaling up the Future-Ready Journey Map and Portrait to Practice to Impact to more communities around the nation. While this closes the chapter on the storied 24-year-old organization that has been BFK, the important work continues at AASA. Read more.