Most schools have a portrait of a graduate or employability skills framework. Often, these tools are anchored in a strong vision but sit on the edges of instruction.
Think about the last one you saw. Was it a long list of abstract traits? Conceptually rich, but unclear on classroom-level implementation?
Many districts are facing this disconnect between the goal and day-to-day instruction. And with the working world advancing so quickly, there is an urgent need to create skill pathways with future-looking criteria tied to teaching and learning.
The Latest Employability Insights
At Marzano Research, we have rigorous insights into postsecondary readiness. Contracted by the U.S. Department of Education, we recently completed pre-phase research for the forthcoming federal Employability Skills Framework 2.0. We analyzed over 1,100 reports, literature, and existing frameworks to determine where work is headed and what skills are now necessary for success.
Students are stepping into a future shaped by evolving technologies, shifting industries, and new expectations. Districts that build clear, instructionally connected skill pathways will move ahead. They will have students who are better prepared, teachers who know what success takes and how to embed skills development into academics and CTE, and systems that reflect the demands of a constantly shifting world of work. (Read our full report.)
A promising example of updating employability skills has unfolded in Colorado, where the Generation Schools Network-powered Colorado Rural Education Collaborative (CREC) rethought how to define, teach, and measure employability skills to support rural districts.
Here’s how they developed a new graduate profile that reflects workforce changes and integrates into everyday instruction.
Start with What Matters to Your Community
In Colorado, Generation Schools Network (GSN) and Marzano Research partnered with rural districts to design “NorthStar Skills.” A locally-focused effort, we shared findings from an extensive literature review on skills definitions with administrators, educators, and community employers for their input.
The results led to a focused list of evidence-based competencies like adaptability, leadership, integrity, and communication. These competencies reflected both shared values and real-world needs, and became the foundation for the work that followed.
Define the Skills Clearly Enough to Teach and Measure
Once skills were determined, the next step was to define them in ways that could actually guide instruction and assessment. Drawing on our findings and stakeholder insights, we developed clear definitions and associated competencies for each skill. These definitions described what the skill looks like in real practice, setting the stage for the next effort: building skills over time.
Map the Skills Over Time, Across Grades
Colorado’s NorthStar Skill districts didn’t stop at definitions. Together, we mapped what each skill looks like at three grade bands: elementary, middle, and high school.
For example, “leadership” might begin as contributing ideas during a group discussion in elementary school. By high school, continuing to develop this skill could look like managing a team project or community-based initiative.
These learning progressions show how competencies develop over time. They also help teachers set goals, provide feedback, and guide students with clarity.
Assessing Skills Without Adding More Work
Instead of creating a new layer of assessments, these districts integrated skill measurement into what teachers and students were already doing. Group work. Writing prompts. Career exploration. Community engagement.
Marzano Research helped create sample assessment tasks tied to regular classroom and career-connected experiences. Each task includes a rubric, tailored by grade band, that teachers can adapt for their subject area or context.
A student might demonstrate adaptability by adjusting their approach during a lab experiment. They might show integrity by citing sources responsibly in a research paper. These are real, observable moments. And when assessment is built in, the skills become visible, teachable, and measurable.
In the following stage of this partnership, we followed a similar process to co-develop a set of Entrepreneurial Mindset Skills. Notably, these included student self-assessments, allowing students to reflect on their growth and take greater ownership of their learning – an important step toward helping them internalize the competencies that matter.
The Entrepreneurial Mindset Skills build on the NorthStar Skills, expanding the focus from how students engage with others to how they approach challenges and opportunities. By adding skills like initiative and creative problem-solving, they deepen the framework and provide a more complete picture of what it takes to thrive in a changing workforce.
Positioning Your District for the Future of Work: 4 Quick Steps to Get Started
Districts that focus now on defining, mapping, and embedding real skills will be better positioned to support student success long-term. If this work reflects where your district needs to go, here are a few simple steps to get the ball rolling:
- Take inventory: What framework or profile of a graduate is already in place?
- Check for recency: When was it last reviewed or updated?
- Review our employability skills report and use it to check for gaps: Are all essential competencies covered? Are they defined clearly enough to guide teaching and assessment?
- Bring people together: Who should be part of the conversation? Set up a meeting to start exploring possibilities.
Additional Resources and Support
Marzano Research helps districts across the U.S. turn big ideas and data into evidence-based, practical resources and protocols. If you want to explore what this could look like in your local context, we’re ready to support you – whether you need rubrics, facilitation, assessment strategies, or clear processes to guide your teams. Reach out to one of our experts to chat about your goals.
Sources
Cherasaro, T., & Yanoski, D. (2025, September 23). Future-proofing employability skills: 5 urgent shifts education leaders can’t afford to ignore. Marzano Research. https://marzanoresearch.com/future-proofing-employability-skills/
Marzano Research. (2025). Building a future-ready workforce: Insights for Employability Skills Framework 2.0. Washington, D.C., U.S. Department of Education, Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education. https://cte.ed.gov/resources/building-future-ready-workforce-insights-employability-skills-framework-20
