Engaging students in their learning is no easy feat

Engaging students in their learning is no easy feat but is critical to students’ success beyond high school. Students who are engaged in their work at school often are more likely to have plans for after high school and ideas about their future. However, national surveys have shown that as students approach graduation, they are about as likely to be detached, discouraged, and absent from school as they are to be looking forward to their next steps. Gaps in engagement, similar to achievement gaps, compound this problem, with white students more likely than students of color to be engaged.

Across the United States, schools and districts are redesigning high school toward the goal of better engaging and preparing students for success after graduation. 

This report highlights four innovation schools and districts—Noble High School in Maine; International High School at Langley Park in Maryland; the Science and Math Institute and Tacoma Public Schools in Washington; and Hampton City Schools in Virginia—all of which are taking unique approaches to prepare students for college and career within their local context. Importantly, what makes these programs successful goes beyond their focus on college and career readiness. 

Each school or district emphasizes the importance of small learning communities to connect with and support students; organizes learning based on the skills and knowledge students should have as members of the workforce and their community; emphasizes hands-on project-based learning; and/or embeds social and emotional learning or other student supports into the school day. These schools can serve as models for other communities working toward high school redesign.

This report examines each school’s or district’s approach to high school redesign, including what they are doing differently and how they are measuring success. The authors build on a previous report from the Center for American Progress, “High Schools of the Future: How States Can Accelerate High School Redesign,” which focused on the four key levers for states to encourage high school redesign:

1. Make room for innovation through policy flexibility.
2. Update policies related to high school graduation, credits, and funding.
3. Adopt high school assessment and accountability systems with redesign in mind.
4. Solicit and support local initiatives to redesign high schools through strategies such as seed grants and pilot programs