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Kenton County schools tie "portrait of a graduate" to measurable goals in district accountability system
Summary
Dr. Webb told the KCSD podcast the district's long-standing "portrait of a graduate" emphasizes three traits—engaged citizen, critical thinker and effective communicator—and is woven into Kenton County's community-based accountability system with measurable indicators such as student engagement and extracurricular participation.
Dr. Webb said the Kenton County School District has used a regional "portrait of a graduate" framework for about six to eight years and adapted it locally to emphasize three traits — engaged citizen, critical thinker and effective communicator.
"It's imperative in what we do for kids that when kids leave our school system that they know how to be an engaged citizen, that they know how to be an effective communicator, and we all understand the importance of being a critical thinker," Dr. Webb said on the district podcast Inside the KCSD.
The district links the qualitative portrait to quantitative targets in its community-based accountability system (CBAS). Dr. Webb pointed to the CBAS pillar on student, family and community engagement and said the district measures student engagement through co-curricular and extracurricular participation as indicators that feed into portrait outcomes.
"We have some measurements for things that lead to the portrait of a graduate," Dr. Webb said, noting that attendance, participation in co-curricular activities and other engagement metrics are tracked as part of the system.
Dr. Webb described how the traits are developed across grades: in elementary school students learn basic communication skills — listening, writing and participating in small groups — and those skills are intentionally developed so seniors enter the workforce prepared to write resumes, interview and take part in internships or job-shadowing opportunities.
"By the time they're seniors, they're leading, they're creating resumes, they're having job interviews while they're still in school," Dr. Webb said.
The episode also reiterated district performance targets read by a student at the start of the show: a stated goal of 100% transition readiness and an attendance-rate target of 96.25%.
Why it matters: By describing how qualitative goals are mapped to CBAS indicators, district leaders signal a plan to make broader learning goals auditable and to direct family and community support toward measurable behaviors such as attendance and extracurricular engagement. The podcast closed with a student Q&A and a calendar note from the district communications team.
The podcast did not specify Dr. Webb's official job title on the recording.
