6 Ways State Policymakers Can Build More Future-Focused Education Systems: A Podcast Series with the Aurora Institute: Episode 1

Series Overview: Join EALA for an in-depth discussion with Virgel Hammonds and Jennifer Kabaker of The Aurora Institute as they explore the 2024 State Policy Priorities. In April 2024, The Aurora Institute released state policy recommendations aimed at transforming education for all learners, especially those underserved by the current system. Each bite-sized segment in our series covers one of the six identified policy shifts.

Episode 1: Building a Profile of a Graduate In this episode, we break down the first policy recommendation: Establish a vision by developing a Profile of a Graduate. Discover how defining a profile of a graduate can set the foundation for future-focused education systems. Virgel Hammonds and Jennifer Kabaker discuss how this policy shift can help states ensure that all students develop the knowledge, skills, and dispositions needed for success after graduation. To learn more, visit Aurora Institute and read the Policy Priorities.

Access the full podcast transcript at: https://bit.ly/3MoVjxg 

Episode Transcript

(00:03):
Hi, this is Aurora from the Educating All Learners Alliance,
and you're listening to Six Ways State Policymakers Can Build More Future-Focused
Education Systems, a podcast series with the Aurora Institute.
The Aurora Institute is a national nonprofit organization working on policy
advocacy, field building and capacity building, research and knowledge sharing,

(00:24):
and convening to advance innovative approaches that transform education for youth across America.
In April of 2024, the Aurora Institute released state policy recommendations
to transform education for all learners,
especially those who have been underserved by the current system.
Each five-minute segment in our series will cover one of the six identified policy shifts.

(00:47):
Joining us today is Virgil Hammons, CEO of the Aurora Institute,
and Jennifer Kabaker, Stocker, Director of Strategy and Partnerships.
Let's just dive right in and start with some background. You know,
what is this resource and why is it needed?
You know, there's so much out there right now in the world of education.
So why this and why now?

(01:07):
Yeah, great question, Aurora. And for us, we believe it's important to help
provide some guidance and help shift and shape some priorities for our policymakers.
So we've created in this year, these state policy priorities to offer policymakers
six levers to transform education for all learners, and especially for those
for whom have been historically marginalized yet resilient.

(01:29):
And taken together, we believe these recommendations will help empower and inspire
a shift in our system from one that was created in the industrial age,
more of a one-size-fits-all model, to one that is much more future-focused and supports innovation,
learner agency, knowledge, and prioritizes the skill set and competencies that

(01:49):
our learning communities and states believe are important for the future success
of our kids and their region.
One of the priorities we referenced was the idea of reading a profile or a portrait of a graduate.
We think it's important to create this to help shape the learning system.
The idea is to identify the knowledge, skills, and dispositions that are important

(02:15):
to the success of our young people.
And what we have learned is that oftentimes across the country,
many states have taken the lead in creating a statewide profile or portrait of a graduate.
And our states are utilizing this process to help create exemplars for how to
engage community in identifying those key skill sets and to think about ways

(02:39):
to help inspire ways for learning communities to utilize profiles in ways that
are meaningful within their local context.
Thanks so much, Virgil. So with your first policy recommendation,
establish a vision by developing a profile of a graduate.
You know, what might that look like in practice, in a classroom?
Yeah, it's a great question. And, you know, the profile of a graduate essentially

(03:01):
helps us to create a shared goal across a state or across a learning community
to create some tailored instruction and assessment opportunities that meet the
individual needs of our learners while inspiring them to pursue their evidence
of learning in new and unique ways.
Any kind of challenges that you've run into or that you anticipate with this
policy shift? I think one of the biggest potential challenges is putting it into action.

(03:26):
What does it look like for these competencies to exist for four-year-olds versus 16-year-olds?
And many states like Utah and South Carolina and North Dakota have essentially
created exemplar continua around the competencies and those skills and those
dispositions identified in their profiles so that local learning communities

(03:48):
can take a look at those exemplars and say,
great, what does it mean to be an effective communicator as a five-year-old?
And how does that scaffold to be an effective communicator as an 18-year-old?
And then how do we embed that in our instruction and our assessment practices?
Not a challenge, but really an opportunity to think about how we do teaching

(04:09):
and learning differently.
That's it for us today, folks. Thank you to Virgil Hammons and Jennifer Kabakar.
Be sure to check out the next episode in our series.
I'm Aurora from ELA, and this was Six Ways State Policymakers Can Build More
Future-Focused education systems.