High School is The Future of Everything™
The world is changing. High schools should, too.
Picture a high school classroom.
Chances are, you see a room full of desks, arranged in neat rows, facing a chalkboard.
A hundred years ago, that classroom would have looked nearly identical.
We live in the age of artificial intelligence, self-driving taxis, and blockchain. But our classrooms remain bound to a time-based system designed to deliver learning in 45-minute increments, to prepare students for jobs that no longer exist.
Conventional high school is out of step with the realities of today’s workforce, one in which human success is powered as much by durable skills—like the ability to rapidly learn new skills, solve complex problems, and collaborate on diverse teams—as by technical know-how. One investigation of 82 million job postings revealed that 7 in 10 of the most requested skills were durable skills.
Too many young people are leaving high school underprepared for this future.
Gaps are growing between higher- and lower-performing students
On the most recent national report card, high school seniors logged the lowest math and reading scores in the history of the test
American students are being outpaced internationally
The stakes couldn't be higher
High schools have the power to shape:
Lives
Adolescence is a pivotal time for brain development and identity formation. Neuroplasticity is as present in the adolescent brain as it is from birth to five years old.
During the high school years, there are big changes in the parts of the brain that control reasoning, planning, self-control, and even IQ.
Economies
Improved reading, writing, and math skills can add hundreds of thousands of dollars to an individual’s salary over the course of a lifetime. The U.S. could add more than $200 billion to the national economy each year just by improving math education.
Nations
The U.S. was the first country in the world to expand free high school to every child. This helped make Americans the best-educated people in the world, paving the way for decades of innovation and global leadership.
XQ has been working with communities to reimagine what high school can be—relevant, engaging, interdisciplinary, unconstrained by the walls of a school building.
Seeing is believing
Our award-winning documentary, “The First Class,” follows the founding class of Crosstown High in Memphis, one of the innovative XQ schools redefining the future of learning.
Stay in touch!
Sign up for resources from XQ to fuel your work.
