Listening, Learning, Leading: Reimagining the High School Experience

Today’s students need a high school experience built for their future, not our past. While our world has evolved, high school has largely remained the same nationwide. That’s why we are taking steps to reimagine the secondary student experience. 

According to the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, by 2031, an estimated 72% of jobs will require postsecondary education or training, yet many high school experiences remain rooted in outdated systems that no longer serve all students effectively.

Just after school got out in June, more than 50 students, parents/caregivers, community partners, educators and school leaders gathered for a two-day Educational Outcomes Audit and Analysis (EOAA) facilitated by the XQ Institute, a nonprofit organization founded in 2015 to help communities dream big about what high school can be.

The two main goals of the EOAA analysis were to spark districtwide dialogue about what an excellent, equitable student high school experience should look like and to empower schools to consider how to redesign practices that center student voice, belonging and real-world relevance.

Participants used students’ academic transcripts, recent survey data, and student focus group responses and reflective prompts to better understand what students experience in school and learn how ready they are for post-secondary learning and beyond.

Through this process, participants asked tough questions to identify opportunities to better serve all students: Who has access to rigorous, college-prep coursework? What supports are in place to help students when they struggle? How do students and educators view the value of postsecondary education? What are students telling us they need?

“At the end of the day, we’re here because of students, so we need the students’ voices to help benefit the decision making process,” shared one participant.

Each school team captured and prioritized their findings from the rich set of qualitative and quantitative data. They documented their insights and hypotheses about what was getting in the way of student success, and they generated ideas for how they might reduce barriers to student access and success. Most of the teams mapped out some plans to share their ideas with others in their school community and expand on the work they accomplished at the workshop.

This work is about transformative thinking. The EOAA helps schools identify critical areas for improvement and develop a roadmap to ensure that every student graduates ready for what comes next. And it starts with listening to students themselves, honoring their lived experiences, and incorporating their ideas into school design.

“I liked working with other people in my school and community to figure out how to improve the high school experience,” shared a workshop participant.

Each school is taking the next steps to meet their schools where they are. This might be recreating the EOAA Student Journeys Workshop experience for their whole staff, looking at data and surveys, or elevating the voices of our students who we are not currently meeting the needs of. No matter where schools are, the EOAA is a process that can help them uncover insights and design action steps that will create new and improved opportunities for students.

This is just one step in a broader journey toward innovation in our secondary schools. By focusing on equity, student voice and real-world readiness, we are committed to preparing every student for success in college, career and life.