Is high school too late?
What would be different if we were able to fuel our children’s passion for thinking into adulthood and career?
I once heard a school principal say that children come to our schools as learners full of curiosity and wonder and, year-by-year, our education system strips away their curiosity and replaces it with conformity. For many of our students, navigating the education system successfully means knowing how to pass a class, rather than fully engaging in what they’re learning.
The disparate outcomes reflected in Oregon student achievement data are created by the larger systems of education that are perpetuating obstacles to access and mobility for Black and brown students and students navigating poverty. While there are many teachers working courageously to expand opportunities for these youth, in too many instances the system's function is less to inspire a love of learning and more to learn how to successfully navigate or comply with institutional requirements and procedures.
Is it possible that a focus simply on high school graduation may lead us to ignore the kind of experiences that help students develop a passion for learning? For decades, conversations about student success have been narrowly focused on graduating our youth. Educational policy was informed by reports like ‘A Nation at Risk’, which focused on the economic consequences of high school students graduating without the basic skills to be workforce ready. A constant concern among business and industry leaders was then, and remains, that we are losing our global, competitive edge because of what is happening in our schools.
In these reports, educators are often implicated (or blamed outright) for this economic decline, and measures like standardized testing and mandated, scripted curriculum are implemented to fulfill the requirements of school accountability. Do we believe we will retain our competitive edge by counting the number of diplomas and assessing standardized testing results as a measure of our progress? Or should we explore the idea that what we actually need is a citizenry that values deep curiosity and a passion for learning and thinking?
While I agree that graduating our students is a critical aspect of their ability to pursue a career and life pathway that is meaningful to them, I believe that to truly engage high school students in authentic learning experiences that will lay the foundation for their future success, we need to start earlier. As I describe In4All’s student engagement model, I ask you to hold this question at the forefront of your mind: “Is high school too late?”
Our unique student engagement model
In4All programs are developed by teachers and individuals in the business community and are rooted in data. This helps us to meet our goal to make our program content meaningful to teachers who share valuable seat time with In4All so that we can engage with their students in the classroom. It also ensures that we are including the voice of the business community so that they can connect the value of our programs to their internal and external goals. Finally, our elementary, middle, and high school student engagement model was developed specifically in response to Oregon data, where benchmarks have been correlated with student disengagement and/or exclusion.
Elementary School
As early as third grade, students who are historically underserved are deciding that math and science aren't for them. Our STEM Connect program addresses that narrative, engaging 4th and 5th graders in learning experiences that take place during the school day and increase their interest and improve their mindsets around math and science.
In4All creates and nurtures relationships between a company and a local school that has a disproportionate number of students who are historically underserved. The In4All team sets up the partnership, helps define core content activities and provides/supplies the kits, trains volunteers, attends classroom sessions, and follows up to evaluate the experience. When business volunteers go to the classroom, they lead hands-on learning activities connecting core standards to the real world. They play an important role in engaging students to imagine new possibilities for themselves. An independent evaluation showed STEM Connect improves student attitudes toward math and science and increases their interests in those fields. The outcomes are especially strong among students who had a neutral or negative attitude before the program.
Middle School
As students advance into middle school, the number of those who disengage jumps significantly. This is reflected in the inadequate number of students passing Oregon's eighth-grade math standard. Our middle school program is designed to increase engagement and relevance before students enter high school. The program connects core subjects to student identified problems in the community to make it highly relevant to the students in each school.
In4All strategically pairs a company with a local middle school that our elementary schools feed into with the goal of making multiple connection points to industry and careers for our students. In4All facilitates volunteer training in the design thinking process and engages the community in gallery walks that showcase the students' solutions to the problems they defined. Project-based learning is proven to increase student interest in school, an important step to completing high school and taking that next step toward college or career.
High School
This year we are piloting programs in alternative high schools, centering career exploration and problems that students define in their community in our program efforts. As we engage high school students in learning we plan to expand our work in this area using our unique approach to program development and iteration to build options that are responsive to our students, teachers, and volunteers.
The pathway to limitless possibilities starts early
Our goal is that students will engage with industry volunteers multiple times throughout their K-12 experience through In4All programs. We want their experience in elementary school to increase their interest in math and science, and inspire their desire to be STEM-educated citizens who think critically about their community, while understanding their own talents and potential, as well as how they are part of a thriving and equitable Oregon. As they enter middle school, our intention is to increase the relevance of core classroom content to careers and pathways that are meaningful to them while they explore problems in their communities and use design thinking concepts to develop solutions for them.
It is through these early and multiple connections that we are preparing our students, teachers, and volunteers to make real connections for high school students in an effort to partner with them in deepening their knowledge of a future potential pathway that both represents their agency and sets them up for limitless possibilities. We believe it is this continuum of programming and multiple connection points that begin in 4th grade that can make a difference for our students and our community as a whole.
Today, I invite you to ask yourself, your colleagues, and people inside and outside of your circle, “What would be different if we were to invest in our youth earlier to inspire curiosity and thinking over conformity and obedience? What would our communities look like if all Oregon businesses began investing in their future workforce in elementary school? What if we prioritize students who have been excluded from experiences that expose and deepen their belief in a future that is limitless?” If your response to these prompts inspires you – reach out to us. Let’s grab a cup of coffee and talk about how we can work together with our students to create and actualize a future of limitless possibilities.