More U.S. students are graduating high school than ever before, with the nationwide completion rate close to 90%. But that seemingly good news hides a worrisome fact: far too many students are unprepared for life after graduation.
Findings based on state data paint a bleak picture. For instance, in California last year, only 44% of graduating seniors met criteria showing they were ready for college or a career.
It doesn't matter how many kids obtain a high school diploma if they're not ready for the world that awaits. Yet many of our schools are stuck in the past, still focused on narrow definitions of reading, writing, and arithmetic when students need much more.
To help students succeed beyond their secondary education, schools need to emulate the modern workplace.
I've helped launch schools and K-12 programs in South Korea, Los Angeles, DC and Vermont. Over the course of my career, I've observed that successful companies change nimbly with the times, honing methods to attract the most talented staff and nurture skills. School systems, by contrast, tend to adapt at a creaky pace. They could learn from the businesses and institutions where their students may eventually work.
Consider one of the most basic assumptions of K-12 education: birthday-based learning. As teachers know, kids of the same age do not all learn material at the same rate. Yet we lump seven-year-olds together in second grade even when their cognitive and social skills vary drastically. That neglects kids who need extra attention and holds back those who are ready to progress. Grade-based learning in siloed classrooms also makes it impossible for students to collaborate across different age groups and subjects.
Imagine what would happen if workplaces functioned this way. Employees sorted into teams based on age -- rather than ability and experience -- would quickly become hamstrung. The best companies have it right in many respects: they recruit, train, and assign people based on skills and strengths. They provide flexible spaces that encourage discussion and cooperation across different groups.
Schools should try to mimic that model -- and advance students based on when they master concepts. Years of research show that in learning environments based on this model, students get better grades, retain information for longer, and have a more positive attitude about what they're learning.
Concept-mastery learning is especially effective for students with learning differences, as educators at Sphinx Academy have seen firsthand. The small Kentucky school specializes in "twice exceptional" high-schoolers -- students who are gifted in a subject and also have a special need.
At the same time, while K-12 schools have embraced more technology over the years, many remain excessively cautious about incorporating cutting-edge tools into lesson plans.
No, we don't want kids scrolling TikTok all day. But studies show that online games can improve science, math, and reading scores, and even make students like learning more. And computer programs can be great instructors when it comes to rule-based subjects like math, spelling, and grammar, which require repetitive practice. Delegating rote teaching to screens frees teachers to spend more time nurturing and mentoring students.
We also need to move away from rote learning in general. The information age has transformed the nature of knowledge acquisition. Memorizing facts is far less important when such information is just a Google search away. Instead, we should focus on teaching kids how to analyze and think creatively about those facts.
For instance, students currently being quizzed on the exact date of the Battle of Gettysburg and the Emancipation Proclamation would be better served by contemplating deeper issues -- such as Lincoln's evolving views on the Civil War and slavery.
Here too, companies are already ahead of our schools. No workplace prohibits employees from opening Google. It's how people use the information they have on hand that matters.
Technology integration will look different at every school. At One Stone, a design-centered micro school (serving under 120 students) in Boise, Idaho, students can design a house using digital software, then construct it in real life. In a One Stone math-and-art class, students use an online graphing calculator to recreate the mathematical patterns in works of art.
New technology benefits educators too. At Mysa, the micro school I lead in Washington D.C., we're piloting software to track student progress and artificial intelligence to help teachers find lessons specifically targeted to a students need. The goal is to identify learning challenges quickly and easily, so that we can intervene early to address them.
Our most innovative workplaces use organizational structures based on skill and collaboration. They move quickly to deploy new technologies to their best advantage. There's no reason why our schools can't embrace those same principles.
As a lifelong educator, I'm heartened to see some schools already moving in that direction -- and hope more follow suit.
Siri Fiske is the founder of Mysa Schools and the Micro School Network.
