Future-Ready, Made Simple: How Colorado Schools Are Powering ICAP & Graduate Success

By: David Specht

For Colorado students, the journey from the first day of school to the day they toss their graduation cap is guided by more than letter grades and test scores. Through the state’s Individual Career and Academic Plan (ICAP), every student charts a personalized course toward their future, whether that’s college, the workforce, or another pathway entirely.

When ICAP is done thoughtfully, it blossoms from “paperwork” into a living, evolving guide that helps students connect what they’re learning today to the goals they want to achieve tomorrow.

The opportunity for educators, of course, is to turn these plans into real, measurable outcomes for each and every learner.

ICAP, PWR, and Portrait of a Graduate – different pieces, same goal

While ICAP, Postsecondary and Workforce Readiness (PWR), and the Portrait of a Graduate are all distinct initiatives, they all work in tandem to achieve the same goal: prepare every student for life after high school.

ICAP maps out each student’s academic and career plan, keeping them focused on major goals.
PWR defines the knowledge, skills, and habits they need to thrive beyond graduation, whether in college, career, or the military.
Portrait of a Graduate captures your district’s vision for the competencies every graduate should have, like collaboration, communication, and critical thinking.

Together, these efforts give students a clear sense of direction, the skills to succeed, and the confidence to take their next step.

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Where schools shine, and where the gaps show

Colorado educators have no shortage of dedication (or ideas) when it comes to preparing students for life after high school. The challenge isn’t vision. It’s execution.

ICAP, PWR, and Portrait of a Graduate each have their own set of requirements, timelines, and data points. Too often:

Counselors are tracking ICAP milestones in one platform.
Teachers are monitoring skill development in another.
Administrators are piecing together PWR evidence from multiple sources.
Families may only see progress at the very end of the year.

This fragmentation creates blind spots. A student might check the boxes for credits but be missing key PWR skills, or show strong collaboration in class projects that never got logged in their ICAP record. Without a shared, real-time view, it’s easy for critical details to slip through the cracks.

How Weld County brought ICAP to life

Weld County School District Re-3J in Hudson, CO, offers a great example of what’s possible when ICAP goals and student data come together in one place.

Before using Otus, Executive Director of Assessment and Innovation Becky Langlois, Ed.D. described their process as a “hodgepodge” of Google Drive folders, third-party websites, and manual data pulls. Tracking progress toward ICAP milestones was time-consuming, and it was hard to see the full picture of each student’s journey.

Now, Weld County uses Otus as a central hub for student data, housing everything from graduate profile rubrics to CO-READ plans in one accessible system, resulting in:

Easier collaboration between teachers, counselors, students, and families
More consistent, tailored support for students
Clear progress visibility for ICAP goals, academic growth, and future readiness skills

"I would highly recommend Otus for so many reasons. Like I said, the customer service has been unparalleled for us. The support we've gotten from Otus and everyone that we've worked with has been phenomenal. They're all former educators, so they get it. It's not like they don't understand the constraints and the guardrails that we have to work within."

Becky Langlois

Executive Director of Assessment and Innovation
,
Weld County School District Re-3J (CO)

By connecting all the dots, Weld County has created a system where every student’s plan goes far beyond a simple checklist, offering a real path to success.

Bringing ICAP to life in your district

With Otus, districts can:

Track progress in real time for ICAP milestones, PWR indicators, and graduate competencies, without juggling multiple platforms.
Celebrate growth and guide next steps with visual dashboards and evidence of student learning.
Bring competencies to life with real-world projects and experiences that can be documented as part of the student’s ICAP.

If your district is looking to refine its ICAP process or make it more impactful, having the right tools can make the difference between compliance and excellence.

Click below to see how Otus can help your district simplify ICAP tracking, build and support graduate competencies, and support every student’s next steps.

See How Otus Supports ICAP