Merging High School Education with Adulthood

The following article was written by Ralph Baker, Ph.D.

“Real life is the final test”
— Robert Greenleaf, 1977

The essence of the California State Board of Education’s Vision for Student Education can be distilled into a few words: to provide an education that graduates knowledgeable and responsible citizens. Furthermore, education is first and foremost preparation for success in life (Gray, 2009). A foundational part of success is for students to pursue economic well-being through gainful employment that ideally addresses their interests and talents. A free society benefits when its citizens’ economic well-being improves (Livingston, 2022).

Regrettably, 50 percent of teens either drop out or graduate from high school and enter low-paying unskilled jobs (Gray, 2009). The well-being of society profits from increased workforce readiness. We know boredom continues to be a leading cause of high school dropouts (Wagner, 2014) as schooling is not connected to a large percentage of students’ lives. Schooling tends to be loosely connected departments with no unifying purpose compelling staff and students to join together to attain.

Unfortunately, at the end of the educational journey the only visible sign of accomplishment is a diploma. The diploma attests to a student putting in seat time with scant evidence of learning or accomplishment and leaving some students to feel as the lyrics from the song state, “Is that all there is?” For too many students they see no intrinsic value in the education they receive. The missing puzzle piece for educators is how to add purpose to student education. The answer is best stated by Sir Ken Robinson (2012) when he stated to personalize education to each student. This can be achieved by moving the primary emphasis from teacher centered curriculum to focusing on how the educational program improves a student’s future as an adult (Lezotte, 2011).

Connect students to curriculum

An alternative would be for schools to require students to have a post high school direction, and a plan to achieve it as part of their diploma requirement. As Treisman, (2006) found high achieving high schools focus on life after high school and Gray (2009) found post high school success hinges on academic skills and a commitment to career direction.

All students would be required to select a general direction for post high school allowing educators to reinforce the behaviors that improve academic achievement as well as having carryover value as successful adulthood behaviors. This action would shift the attention away from some students putting in seat time to focus on preparing them for their future purpose as an adult.

Basics of the plan

The desire is to have students give serious thought to their future. Beginning in ninth grade and annually thereafter each student would complete a career or interest inventory. Each staff would be empowered to design their plan for their students.

Depending on principal leadership it could be as basic as having each student take a career assessment and select a post high school direction such as college, military or career. The student would then write a plan to achieve their career goal. It could be as intricate as an electronic portfolio coordinated by counselors defining the steps students must complete to achieve their life purpose or career objective. The staff of each school would have the freedom and authority to create the details of the plan. Lezotte (2010) states district leadership needs to move away from conformity, control and compliance and allow variation in the system.

The point being to place responsibility on the students’ shoulders for their future. For staff a unifying talking point is to concentrate on the behaviors of successful students that are also carry over skills of successful adults. Skills such as persistence or the ability to stick with a task until completion or responsibility to complete all course work on time as well as having the ability to take an interest in others by asking questions of them. These skills are very important to success in the adult world as well as in the classroom. Staff would determine the behaviors of success and the best way to instruct students of their carryover value into adulthood.
John Hattie (2012) has shown that an effective instructional strategy is teacher expectations of student achievement, and that total staff expectation of student achievement is even more powerful. By linking student future direction with staff expectation, it allows staff to reinforce the importance of their curriculum to a student’s education. As Madeline Hunter (1993) stated, the number one learning theory is teaching to transfer or the ability for a teacher to use current knowledge and transfer it to assisting students to learn new knowledge. By connecting successful school habits to successful habits in the adult world of work transfer theory becomes important.

Comprehensive or super simple plan

Suggest to have the plan created organically from within each high school as staff support what they create (Lezotte, 1997).

Role of district leadership

Clearly define direction: Goal: 100 percent of students will graduate from high school with a post high school direction and a plan to achieve it
Select career assessment with staff input
Invite interested staff to design the program
Allow schools to have the authority to create their plan
Provide school principals with a budget and authority to spend it to create the plan
Facilitate flow of information between schools and school board

Avoid top-down implementation

Never purchase a readymade program and implement top down. This may be quick and easy but will not work overtime as it will usually go out as soon as the superintendent turns over.

Conclusion

The cost of educational failure is catastrophic for the individual student (Stringfield et al, 2011). To improve student learning there is a need to refocus on the educational endgame. District leadership can facilitate the process by squarely placing post high school direction onto the shoulders of students. The process requires students to accept responsibility to select a post high school purpose and draft a plan to achieve it. Having staff instruct students on the behaviors that lead to academic success and carryover and lead to adult success is a powerful strategy for both students and academic achievement. The primary end goal is to improve the well-being of students as adults.

Ralph Baker, Ph.D., is a retired superintendent and ACSA member. His latest book, “Next Level Educational Leadership,” contains a chapter on post high school plans.