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Affinity Networks Lead the Way
Major shifts are happening in how New York State will measure students’ readiness for a high school diploma. Beginning next year, the state will be phasing in its new Portrait of a Graduate framework, which will require students to demonstrate their academic preparation, cultural responsiveness, and capacities in critical thinking, innovation, communication, reflection, and global citizenship – rather than simply earning a set number of credits and passing summative Regents exams. Having engaged in innovative, project-based instructional and systems work for many years, the NYC Affinity Networks, including New Visions, are well-positioned to be leaders in this effort to transform what it means to be a NYS high school graduate.
On February 27, 2026, New Visions for Public Schools was proud to collaborate on a Portrait of a Graduate symposium with Outward Bound, Performance Standards Consortium, Internationals Network, Urban Assembly, and CUNY Early College network. The event, attended by over 180 educators, partners, NYC Public Schools staff, and leaders, showcased each Affinity Network’s expertise in a range of strategies — like performance-based assessments, project-based learning, and career connected learning — that can be leveraged to support student success citywide as we transition to a new era of graduation requirements in New York State.
To launch the day, City Councilmember Eric Dinowitz challenged the group to tackle the question of how we will measure success. NYC Public Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels reminded us of the importance of establishing a baseline of quality across the system, and that our values will show up in how we implement the Portrait of a Graduate.
NY State Board of Regents Chancellor Lester W. Young, Jr., noted that shifting to the Portrait of a Graduate entails shifting from being a system concerned with completion to a system focused on preparing young people to be successful at the next level, and preparing students to thrive in a more complex and interconnected world. Angelique Johnson-Dingle, NYSED Deputy Commissioner for P-12 Instructional Support, shared about the process of stakeholder feedback (including student engagement) that has led to the Portrait of a Graduate, described learnings from 8 schools across NYS that have piloted the approach, and outlined the upcoming phased implementation of the framework.
Attendees then selected two breakout sessions to attend from a full slate of 10 topics. During the morning, New Visions’ Pathways team presented on The Career Academy: From Industry & Instruction to Work-Based Learning Experiences for 10th Graders. A panel of 3 educators and a principal from one of our Career Academy schools shared about the impact of the Career Academy experience on their students and schools. Teacher Javone Moore noted that “the core of the program is the soft skills that are developed that are relevant to any field, like teamwork, research, and being accountable,” while another teacher, Gabrielle Kane described it as “heartwarming to watch the kids come together– they are thinking critically, researching, comparing, talking, discussing, putting it into a presentation.” The session showcased how New Visions’ approach to Career Connected Learning exposes students to a variety of roles within a specific sector while also building transferable skills aligned to the Portrait of a Graduate.
In the afternoon, the New Visions Curriculum and Instruction team showcased some of the project-based tasks in our Science Curriculum during their session, Engaging in Project and Inquiry-Based Science and Social Studies through Shared Curriculum. Participants had the opportunity to take a deep dive into one particular unit and summative task in the Biology curriculum and identified Portrait of a Graduate aligned elements, such as critical thinking, effective communication, global citizenship, and academic preparation. Then, a panel including Manhattan high school superintendent Gary Bidleman and district instructional leaders shared how New Visions’ curriculum adoption work enabled them to support educators in making their science teaching meaningful and rigorous and adapting the materials to local school contexts.
Kris Bertoglio, District Achievement and Instructional Specialist, Manhattan High Schools Superintendent’s Office, shared, “There are lots of resources teachers and administrators need to do this well. New Visions has built out these parts proactively and they are in dialogue with us, creating resources that really meet our needs.”
Other sessions presented by the Internationals Network, CUNY, the Performance Standards Consortium, Outward Bound, and Urban Assembly included: Using Project-Based Learning to Support Multilingual Learners; Connecting Social-Emotional Learning and Academics in Service of the Portrait of a Graduate; Building Competency-Driven Project Based Learning; Leading School Change Aligned to the NYS Portrait of a Graduate; and Career-Connected Learning Pathways: Future Ready NYC in Practice.
At the end of the day, Dr. Meisha Ross Porter, Visiting Senior Fellow at the Center for Educational Innovation and New Visions Board member, moderated a fireside chat with a group of Affinity Superintendents – Dr. Noah Angeles, Dr. Alan Cheng (now the Supervising Superintendent of High Schools and D79), and Fred Walsh. All of the superintendents emphasized their public commitment to learn from each other, uplift examples of great work, and grow together in the service of building an engaging, rigorous, relevant, and culturally responsive high school experience for young people.
New Visions is thrilled to have the opportunity to collaborate with leaders across the Affinity Networks and beyond to help New York State move toward a framework for our graduates that is rigorous, engaging, and authentic, and will prepare young people for a rapidly-changing world. The Affinity networks welcome educators and partners to participate in these Opportunities to Learn More as a way of diving deeper into their work.
