What should count as meaningful learning in high school?

As technology, work, and civic life continue to evolve, schools are being asked to prepare students for a world that looks very different from the one for which most high school systems were originally designed. Educators increasingly agree that students need opportunities to apply their learning through authentic experiences that build creativity, problem-solving, collaboration, and adaptability. Yet one important question remains: What does high-quality real-world learning actually look like, and how can schools ensure all students have access to it?

That question is at the center of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching’s Research & Development Agenda for High School Transformation, a national effort to rethink the future of American high schools. The agenda includes seven research and development projects and is informed by Carnegie’s Future of High School Network, a coalition of 24 school systems serving approximately 90,000 students across urban, suburban, and rural communities.

ConnectED is honored to partner with MDRC, Big Picture Learning, and five innovative school systems on the Partnership Standards for Real World Learning project, one of the seven initiatives within Carnegie’s transformation agenda. Led by MDRC, the project brings together educators, employers, and community organizations to better understand what distinguishes rigorous, meaningful partnerships from isolated or episodic experiences and how those partnerships can be expanded so that more students benefit from high-quality real-world learning opportunities.

As the implementation partner, ConnectED will help convene school systems, employers, and community organizations to co-design and test a set of High-Quality Partnership Standards. Drawing on our experience supporting career-connected learning and work-based learning systems across the country, ConnectED will help bridge research and practice, ensuring that the standards are grounded in the realities of implementation and informed by the perspectives of practitioners, employers, and community partners. 

The project includes collaboration with Akron Public Schools, Building21, Cañon City Schools, The Portage School of Leaders, and Springfield Empowerment Zone Partnership. Together, partners will develop standards and processes that communities can use to strengthen real-world learning opportunities and create more consistent, equitable access to experiences that connect learning to life, work, and civic engagement.

For ConnectED, this work reflects a longstanding belief that powerful learning happens when schools, employers, and community organizations share responsibility for student success. We are grateful to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching for its leadership and investment in high school transformation and proud to collaborate with MDRC, Big Picture Learning, and our district partners on this important national effort. [RD-Agenda | PDF]