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Edison board presents "Portrait of a Graduate," outlines new academies and AP courses
Summary
District presenters described an iterative strategic plan focused on six graduate characteristics, an assessment tool co-developed with Newella/Formative, student-driven academies, and proposed AP offerings as part of deeper-learning pathways.
At a January board meeting, presenters rolled out the Edison Township School District's "Portrait of a Graduate," an iterative strategic plan intended to embed six key academic and social-emotional characteristics across curriculum and extracurricular programming. District presenters Rick Cohen (presenter) and Brian McGrath said the effort grew from a year-long action team and extensive student engagement.
The plan's core, Cohen said, is ‘‘to engage all of our students in deeper learning of these characteristics and also for them to become masters of putting all these pieces of the puzzle together so they can navigate and contribute to our diverse and interconnected schools, classrooms and community.'’ He described the POG as both an academic and social-emotional framework rather than a single outcome.
Why it matters: district leaders said the Portrait of a Graduate will shape curriculum, assessment and pathway development so students graduate with both content knowledge and transferable skills. McGrath described concrete next steps: embedding POG characteristics into instruction, creating innovation processes usable across subjects, and increasing student voice in pathway design.
Among the implementation details: the district has customized an assessment tool with Newella/Formative to measure where students demonstrate the POG competencies and identify areas for curricular support. Cohen said the vendor highlighted Edison's work at a recent company retreat as an example of innovative assessment development.
Presenters also previewed expanded course options and pathways intended to give students real-world experiences. The district plans to offer AP Human Geography, AP Cybersecurity and AP Psychology, and to expand career academies (examples cited: a STEM Academy at Edison High, computer science and robotics pathways, allied health, architecture, business and hospitality). Cohen said the goal is for some pathways to include internships, external experts in classrooms and certifications that students could use after graduation.
What wasn't decided: the presentation outlined goals and pilot paths but did not include final adoption language or a timetable for systemwide rollout. Cohen and McGrath asked for continued stakeholder input and said the work is "iterative" and ongoing.
The district then recognized dozens of students for athletic, academic and arts achievements before returning to regular business.
