A publication of the Association of California School Administrators

Who am I? What do I want? How do I get it?

How our Profile of a Graduate is shaping career readiness for all students

By Jennifer Schriver | May | June 2025

In response to the evolving demands of the 21st-century workforce, Murrieta Valley Unified School District has redefined its educational priorities. We’ve transitioned from a focus solely on ensuring students are college-ready to preparing them to be career-ready by graduation. Over the past two years, we’ve aligned our practices to help our students answer three critical questions: Who am I? What do I want? How do I get it?

The birth of the Profile of a Graduate In 2021, our Career and Technical Education coordinator introduced the idea of a “Portrait of a Graduate,” encouraging us to explore how it could guide our work. After meeting with several vendors and carefully considering their ideas, our secondary team quickly recognized an opportunity to merge several important initiatives into one unified framework. The result was the development of our Profile of a Graduate (PoG) — our North Star. The profile is now central to our efforts to ensure students are career-ready by the time they graduate.

Aligning practices around career readiness Once we established the PoG, we knew that the next step was to develop a way to assess student progress toward its criteria. To make this a reality, we brought together teachers, counselors and administrators from all our high schools to redesign the Grade Level Projects (GLPs). These district-mandated assignments, which had become outdated, were in need of modernization. The revised projects will offer students authentic experiences that reflect the values outlined in our PoG and demonstrate their learning.

We based our projects’ designs on five non-negotiable pillars:

1. Guided by the Profile of a Graduate — The PoG provides the foundation for every project, ensuring that students’ experiences are aligned with the skills and attributes we want them to develop.

2. Annual review and timely feedback — Students need consistent, formative feedback to foster self-reflection and growth. We’ve built in opportunities for review and support at every grade level.

3. Digital portfolios for continuous reflection — Each student maintains a digital portfolio to document their growth throughout high school. This not only supports their individual learning but also helps staff gain insights into each student’s development.

4. Stackable and progressive projects — Our projects are designed to build upon each other, encouraging students to reflect on their growth, adapt their plans and set new goals.

5. Whole-school ownership — The GLP process is not limited to one subject area or teacher. We’ve made sure that all staff members contribute to the process, ensuring that it has a far-reaching impact on students’ learning experiences.

The four-year journey to career readiness The Grade Level Projects are structured around the guiding questions: Who am I? What do I want? How do I get it? Each year, students engage in activities that help them reflect on these questions, make adjustments to their goals and prepare for their future careers:

Ninth grade: Students complete an aptitude assessment and create a 10-year plan for their future.

10th grade: Students revisit and revise their 10-year plan and create a 90-second “elevator speech” about their goals and ambitions.

11th grade: Students update their plan again and submit a written task reflecting their progress and future aspirations.

12th grade: The Senior Culminating Project asks students to present their plans to a panel in an interactive presentation, demonstrating their readiness for the next step in their career journey.

Supporting students every step of the way For the Grade Level Projects to have a meaningful impact, we knew we needed a system for consistent implementation across all sites. Our team developed a plan to integrate four dedicated sessions each year, built into students’ schedules. While individual sites have some flexibility in how to implement the projects, we have created a structured set of activities for each grade level. All student work is stored in their online portfolios, which follow them throughout their high school years.

Additionally, grading is a collaborative effort. On minimum days, staff members come together to norm, review and assess the projects. The junior and senior projects are graduation requirements, underscoring the importance of these assignments in our overall educational framework.

The Senior Culminating Project asks students to present their plans to a panel in an interactive presentation, demonstrating their readiness for the next step in their career journey.

A unified approach to career readiness We are thrilled to see how our collaborative efforts have come together to align multiple initiatives and create a system that truly prepares students for the workforce. Our vision doesn’t stop with our high school program; our ultimate goal is to backward design the GLP process to extend from transitional kindergarten through high school, ensuring career readiness begins early and is reinforced throughout students’ academic journeys.

As part of our districtwide Careers for All initiative, we’ve built career-focused structures at each educational level:

Elementary school: Career Awareness, where students explore different jobs and career possibilities through lessons, career and college fairs, dress-up days, field trips and guest speakers.

Middle school: Career Exploration, where students research careers and start developing academic plans for high school. Students are engaged in career assessments, CTE high school kick-off, career exploration, career and college fairs, guest speakers and field trips.

High school: Career Preparation, where students refine their goals and work toward a specific career pathway. Students engage in academic planning, college credit courses, CTE pathways, financial literacy, career interest inventories, leadership/military science, job fairs and community service.

Looking ahead While we are still in the early stages of fully implementing these systems, we are confident that the structures we are putting in place will provide students with a dynamic and adaptable foundation for their future careers. By focusing on career readiness from an early age, we are ensuring that all students — regardless of their background or interests — are equipped with the skills, knowledge and opportunities they need to pursue the career of their dreams. This is no longer just an aspiration; it is an expectation for all of our students.

Jennifer Schriver is executive director of Secondary Education at Murrieta Valley Unified School District.