As New York state rethinks what it means for students to graduate ready for life after high school, district leaders are facing a practical question: How can schools help students demonstrate readiness in ways that go beyond traditional academic measures, such as seat time and test scores?
Taking on this challenge is Brockport Central School District, which serves 3,000 students in western New York and has been a Panorama partner since 2022. Rather than treating graduation as a finish line, they are building a more student-centered approach that helps graduates understand their strengths, demonstrate their skills, and prepare for meaningful post-secondary pathways.
Challenges
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Brockport needed to revitalize its MTSS framework to identify whether students were facing a “will” issue or a “skill” issue.
- District staff relied on time-intensive spreadsheets and manual data pulls for intervention meetings, leaving less time for root cause analysis and student discussions.
- As the state of New York shifted graduation requirements toward demonstrated proficiency, Brockport wanted to stay ahead of the curve.
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Brockport needed a consistent way to quantify student skills and connect their strengths to post-secondary pathways.
Solution
Results
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Brockport is seeing quicker turnaround and better gains as MTSS becomes a streamlined approach.
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Staff are spending less time pulling data together for meetings and more time on intervention plans.
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Brockport is about two to three years ahead of state peers in implementing New York’s evolving readiness framework.
- County counselors are leveraging AI to manage New York state’s shifting graduation pathways.
- Families are seeing the full picture of their child’s strengths, needs, and next steps.
Challenges
Brockport Central School District’s MTSS work needed to become more systematic. Though the district had committed educators and a robust support network, staff needed a more consistent way to understand what was affecting student performance. Dr. Ryan Lanigan, Assistant Superintendent for Instruction, shared how they wanted to know: “Whether the student had a ‘will’ issue, a ‘skill’ issue, or a little of both.”
The problem wasn’t just what staff needed to know; it was how much time it took to know it. The district was relying on Excel spreadsheets and an in-house data analyst to assemble grades, attendance, behavior, and benchmark data before intervention meetings. This left less time for root cause analysis, and less time for actual conversations about what students needed.
At the same time, New York state was shifting on what graduation readiness looked like. Brockport saw this change as an opportunity, and wanted to connect student performance, broader strengths, and post-secondary planning in a way that would hold up as requirements evolved.
“Education is changing. You see it in our state right now. The workforce is changing. It’s all continuing to evolve, and students need more than a compliance-based system to be successful nowadays,” Dr. Lanigan shared.
In this new landscape, Brockport needed a more systematic way to help students turn their strengths into clear future pathways.
Solution
Brockport began by rebuilding its MTSS framework from the ground up through Panorama Student Success, with a strong focus on Tier 1 instruction. Dr. Lanigan believes that “The best intervention is prevention,” and this mindset helped the district shift from a reactive support model to a more systematic one; one where educators could identify patterns earlier, document interventions more consistently, and spend more time on actual student planning.
From there, the district asked families, community members, business leaders, teachers, and even students one central question: “What does a Brockport Central School District graduate need for post-secondary success?”
The data showed that families wanted their children to be adaptable, empathetic, and even financially literate. Examples like these, and more, have given the district a clearer picture of the durable skills, values, and priorities it needed to build into its ‘Portrait of a Graduate’ work, while also aligning closely with New York state’s evolving direction.
Brockport then turned to Panorama Pathways to help students connect their strengths and experiences to a clearer picture of readiness. The district layered in micro-credentialing and digital badging so students could demonstrate proficiency across academic, extracurricular, and real-world experiences—not just in traditional classroom settings.
Dr. Lanigan felt it was important to think about things students do where they're showing those skills and attributes throughout their entire life. “Yes, it happens in their Algebra class and their English class,” he said. “But it also happens on our stages in band and drama, and on our athletic fields, and even outside of school…so we wanted to build a system that not only acknowledges students earning credentials and attributes tied to assignments in school, and we also wanted look for ways to bring in the other pieces of their life's journey that they can lean into to build a comprehensive picture of who they are as a person and as a learner.”
Finally, Panorama Solara is helping Brockport counselors turn New York state’s shifting graduation pathways into clear, student-specific plans. By bringing strengths, course, internship, and post-secondary information into one place, Solara gives counselors a practical starting point for conversations with students and families. For example, if a graduating student wants to pursue nursing but is not yet strong enough in math, a Solara tool can help generate a support plan and map out a year-over-year path toward that goal.
Brockport values that the district can stay in control of Solara’s recommendations: “What’s so great about it is that it’s closed AI,” Dr. Lanigan said. “This ensures that whatever is being pulled is only being pulled from the prompts and the things that we, ourselves, have put in on the back end.” He continued: “The tool gets us 20%, but the human capital (the 80%) is still the number one resource.”
Results
Today, Brockport is about two to three years ahead of state peers in implementing the ‘New York Inspires’ strategic framework. As New York’s graduation expectations continue to evolve, the district is not starting from square one. Its progress is rooted in Brockport’s built-out MTSS framework, Portrait of a Graduate work, and pathway planning, giving the district a head start in a state where many districts are still defining what readiness should look like.
Brockport is also seeing quicker turnaround and better gains as its Panorama-supported MTSS process becomes more consistent. After witnessing staff use the tool in different ways during implementation, the district aligned expectations and expanded training. “Now in year three, we’re seeing a much more streamlined approach,” Dr. Lanigan shared.
That consistency is helping Brockport make readiness more meaningful, giving students a more comprehensive idea of who they are and how their strengths connect to what comes next. Even families are understanding more about their children in this process, seeing a fuller picture of what their child can do and where they can go.
County counselors, too, are finding it easier to manage the complexity of New York state’s shifting graduation pathways. “It’s [Solara] really a game-changer for us,” Dr. Lanigan said. With a practical way to organize information, consider options, and help students navigate a changing system more confidently, Brockport counselors can guide students more effectively.
Next Steps
Much of the initial heavy lifting has happened at the high school level, and now the district is working backward through the middle grades and eventually across the full K-12 experience. The next phase is about deepening consistency, strengthening training, and keeping the system clear for students, families, and counselors.
The overarching goal for Brockport is to transform readiness from a senior-year focus to a districtwide journey.
