State 48 Graduate Profile

The 48GP emerged from Arizona’s collective commitment to place students and their futures at the heart of education. It was not created by a small group of “experts” in isolation, but by Arizona’s educators, business and industry leaders, nonprofit organizations, families, and students. The framework reflects a year-long, five-phase process that gathered insights from all 15 counties – ensuring it represents the collective voices of our state.

• Phase 1: 70 leaders representing education, business, and industry identified key skills and competencies Arizona students need now and in the future.
• Phase 2: A statewide survey of more than 3,000 teachers, family members, students, and business leaders revealed strong consensus on the skills and competencies most important for high school graduates.
• Phase 3: Hundreds of high school students weighed in on the learning outcomes they most need to feel prepared for life after high school.
• Phase 4: The SciTech Institute and Arizona Educational Foundation (AEF) helped shape the language and nuance of these skills and competencies.
• Phase 5: Hundreds of individuals representing education, business, philanthropy, and nonprofit organizations provided input that further refined Arizona’s shared ideals.

At the conclusion of this process, over 200 Arizona organizations offered their collective “green light” on this version of the 48GP.

The State 48 Graduate Profile is designed for adoption or alignment by any Arizona school, district, or organization. It can be used to guide conversations about student outcomes and instruction, update strategic plans, or strengthen an existing graduate profile. 
We’d love to hear from schools and districts that adopt it, so please let us know.

Yes, we anticipate future opportunities for training and support from our partner organizations across Arizona. If you are interested in becoming a training or implementation partner, please email State48GP@nau.edu.

Using a graduate profile to guide efforts can be transformational for any school system. And we think there is even more power in using a statewide profile to unify AZ school systems in a common vision for education. However, the 48GP is not a mandate – it is a north star that organizations can use to inspire student-centered, future-focused learning models. Schools and districts may adopt all or part (e.g., the 4 Futures) of the 48GP; they may also adapt it to better meet their needs.

While there is no requirement or mandate to adopt the 48GP, we encourage school systems that already have a profile or portrait of a graduate to consider adding the 4 Futures to their existing Profile/Portrait right away, and the 8 Essentials when it comes time to revisit their existing Profile/Portrait.