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What if every student left school with more than just a transcript?

What if they graduated with a portfolio of real skills, badges earned through authentic experiences, and a sense of purpose about what they can offer the world?

This isn’t a distant dream—it’s a practical, necessary shift that forward-thinking schools are already making.

We Need More Than Seat Time

As a former superintendent and now a consultant helping districts prepare for the future of learning, I’ve seen firsthand how outdated our measures of success can be. We still reward seat time more than skill mastery. Students accumulate credits, not capabilities.

But the world is changing fast. Colleges, employers, and communities are all asking the same thing: What can this student actually do?

The traditional transcript just doesn’t answer that question.

Making Learning Visible

To truly prepare students for college, careers, and life, we need to make their learning visible—and portable. That means:

• Embedding project-based learning (PBL) into everyday instruction

• Using portfolio assessment to let students show their thinking, growth, and work

• Issuing micro-credentials or digital badges that verify their skills

• Connecting classroom learning to industry-recognized standards

In two districts I led, we brought project-based learning into every grade through the strategic planning process—ensuring it wasn’t just a pilot, but a cultural shift. Students choreographed shorebird migration dances and coded sensors to make the lighting for the performance. Others made welcome gift books for new kids moving into town, and some made a rain garden and taught families how to make their own with grant funding for homeowners. These weren’t side projects—they were deeply tied to academic goals and student identity.

Enter: K16 Learning and Employment Records (LERs)

Now imagine those projects and skills captured in a permanent, portable record—a modern transcript that includes:

• Credentials

• Portfolios

• Endorsements

• Work-based Learning

• Community Service

That’s the promise of (LERs), which countries like New Zealand are already using at a national level. These records follow learners from K–16 and beyond, helping them showcase their strengths in a way that’s verifiable and valuable.

AI Can Help

Artificial intelligence isn’t going to replace teachers, but it can make their lives easier. Imagine:

AI tagging portfolio submissions with relevant competencies

Chatbots helping students reflect on their learning

Smart tools offering feedback before the teacher even opens the file

Done right, AI supports deeper learning and helps make complex systems like credentialing scalable, equitable, and personal.

What Gets in the Way?

Change is hard, and this shift can feel overwhelming. Common barriers include:

• Lack of staff training

• Fear of abandoning the familiar

• Concerns about grading and equity

• Limited tech infrastructure

But when leaders clearly articulate the purpose behind the change and involve educators in co-designing the path forward, resistance turns into shared ownership.

Students deserve to graduate with more than a GPA. They deserve evidence of who they are, what they’ve accomplished, and where they’re going next.

So, What Can You Do Tomorrow?

If you're curious about where to start, here are three practical steps:

1. Start a pilot—Try just one project per grade or course (like we did in two districts with great success) and document what students create.
2. Map what you already do—Identify existing projects or tasks that demonstrate real skills and connect them to transferable competencies.
3. Talk to students—Ask them what they wish they could show the world about their learning.

Final Thought

Students deserve to graduate with more than a GPA. They deserve evidence of who they are, what they’ve accomplished, and where they’re going next.

When we build systems that make learning visible—and connect it to real opportunities—we don’t just prepare students for the world. We help them change it.