State Education Standard State Education Standard

May 2023 — Volume 23, No. 2

A New Architecture for High School Learning

By Russlynn Ali and Timothy F.C. Knowles

Purdue University is home to renowned STEM programs that attract applicants from around the globe. Yet when state leaders and school officials looked at enrollment data in 2015, they noticed the stunningly low enrollment of students from Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS), just an hour from the university campus. Of roughly 1,100 IPS graduates in 2015, 26 qualified for admission to Purdue. Just 12 enrolled. As a result, hundreds of high-tech, high-paying jobs—essential to the state’s and nation’s long-term economic health—were going unfilled.

The problem was not the absence of IPS student potential. Rather, the students had not had access to the learning opportunities they needed to meet the bar. How did we get to the point where so many smart, curious, capable students are unprepared to participate in the workforce? The short answer is that the U.S. educational system operates on a model designed to prepare workers for an industrial economy that no longer exists.


A New Architecture for High School Learning





Also In this Issue

A New Architecture for High School Learning

By Russlynn Ali and Timothy F.C. Knowles

State leaders should retire the Carnegie unit and open the door for high school designs that ensure learning is engaging, relevant, experiential, and competency based.





Telltale Signs of Rigor and Career Readiness in High School

By Gene Bottoms

State boards can take a lesson from schools that already dish up rigorous assignments in college- and career-ready courses alike and ensure more schools do it.





How Rhode Island Increased the Value of a High School Diploma

By Angélica Infante-Green

New graduation requirements aim to align with college admission standards and address inequities in college and career readiness.





Access to Data Is Key to Navigating High School and Beyond

By Jennifer Bell-Ellwanger

Surveyed students report being at sea on postsecondary options and the progress they are making toward their goals.





Merging High School and College: The Early College High School Model

By Julie A. Edmunds

Six elements in statewide law and policy pave the way for effective programs that help more students thrive in college courses while they are still in high school.







Featured Items

Multiracial group of teachers walking in school hallway. Image credit: iStock i

Strengthening the Principal Pipeline through State Leadership Academies

Missouri, Delaware, and North Carolina have developed evidence-based professional learning for current and prospective school leaders to increase their effectiveness and reduce turnover.
A multi-ethnic group of seven children standing in a row in a school hallway, laughing and smiling at the camera. The little boys and girls are kindergarten or preschool age, 4 to 6 years. i

State Advances in Early Childhood Education Seed Plans for 2024

In 2023, several states made significant strides toward universal pre-K, increased funding and support for early educators, and improved literacy and math instruction.
Business people sitting on books. Image credit: iStock i

Curriculum That Counts

Authors in this issue of the Standard draw lessons from a spectrum of state policies that are being used to increase the adoption of high-quality curriculum.

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