The Troubled High School

High schools are in trouble.

Filled with hormonal youth, trying to do everything for everyone, debating between college readiness and workforce preparation, our American high schools are struggling – many failing – in front of our eyes.

When I was a high school principal in Texas, the mantra of the day was “college readiness for everyone.” We spent a lot of time and energy convincing our students and their families about the importance of qualifying for college admittance. High schools were measured and judged by the number of students who were labeled “college ready.”

And then, the college readiness drive disappeared – poof!

What replaced the push to make everyone a college freshman was workforce preparation. Our state mandated five tracks of curriculum, each designed to prepare students for the work world. No one talked about college much, except for those students who were in the college preparation track.

America goes back and forth between college readiness and workforce preparation. The debate happens in every state and every school district.

This week The 74 online reported that,

“Indiana legislators and education officials are rallying behind a move to ‘transform’ the state’s high schools by making career skills a major focus through more internships, apprenticeships and a drive to earn career credentials before graduating.”

“Repeatedly citing research from Georgetown University showing almost all new jobs required more than a high school diploma, the state legislature ordered Indianapolis education officials to rethink the mission of high schools.”

“Current graduation requirements will be thrown out next year and new ones calling for more career preparation will take their place.”

“’Are the four years of high school as valuable as possible for students?’ state education secretary Katie Jenner asked in an interview with The 74. ‘I’ve yet to meet a person who said, ‘Yes, they are.’ Most people say…if high school looked different for students, then we could better connect them to what’s next.’”

“’If that’s the case, then what barriers do we need to get out of the way?’ she continued. ‘How can we transform it in order to make it better for students.’”

Jenner said having students spend time in workplaces to see what careers fit them, or earning career credentials, will help both students and businesses.”

“’That’s really what we’re trying to think through in Indiana, to not only better support Indiana students, but to also be mindful of Indiana’s talent pipeline,’ Jenner said.”

…

“The Indiana education department is holding focus groups with parents, educators and businesses about how to shape the new vision and should have proposals for the state board to discuss early next year. New graduation requirements will be set by the end of 2024, Jenner said, to kick in for the class of 2029.”

“Among the key items being discussed:

A greater emphasis on students’ job shadowing, internships and apprenticeships that only ‘a tiny percentage’ of students experience now, according to Jenner.

Changing the course required to graduate.

Requiring more meeting time with career counselors or businesses.

Requiring students to earn credentials for careers before graduating.

Piloting ‘mastery’ approaches to measuring student progress, throwing out traditional A-F grades, replacing them with tracking student progress toward their mastery or competency of skills. Workplace skills like teamwork and critical thinking would be measured, not just core subjects like English and math.”

…

“Jenner said connecting with enough employers willing to take on the work of running internships or apprenticeships will be a challenge.”

“’One of the threats is that we transform the high school diploma and…readiness for Work Based Learning…and there aren’t there aren’t enough spots for kids,’ she said.”

“Solving that issue is a big part of her work this fall and was a key reason the state sent delegations to Switzerland, where school and business cooperation on apprenticeships is a part of the culture. She said work based learning experiences may need to be different for different industries and may have to evolve over time, but the state has to start somewhere.”

“’We’re getting after it because we have to and we must for kids,’ she said. ‘We’re going to learn some lessons along the way and we’re gonna keep getting better from there. But we can’t wait to get started. We have to go. We have to try some things.’”

Well good luck to Indiana and their high schools. And I guess good luck to all the other states and their high schools who have convinced themselves this is the new, right thing to do for kids.

I’ve seen other programs launch like this one in Indiana. I hope I’m wrong, but what will probably happen is that a lot of energy will be spent trying to attract businesses to participate in the internship and apprenticeship programs, but then coordination challenges between the schools and businesses will pop up. Then the leadership will change, both at the local and state level. Those new leaders will have different priorities – maybe making every student college ready. What goes around comes around.

What Indiana and other states should think about is committing to personalized learning plans for every young learner. That way, a plan is developed for every young person that begins with the question, “What do you want to learn?” Then, that might be the time to build in internship, apprenticeship, and college readiness expectations, based on the individual person’s interests and goals. Til tomorrow. SVB