High School

Education news, analysis, and opinion about schools typically serving 9th to 12th grades and the students who attend them

Series

The High School Handoff
A new series examines how high school is evolving to reflect changing pathways to degrees, credentials, and the workforce.
Photo collage of boy working with laptop computer.
F. Sheehan for Education Week / Getty
Artificial Intelligence Building AI Literacy: What One District Has Learned
Georgia's Gwinnett County public schools opened what may be the nation's first AI high school last fall. AI is embedded in every class.
Alyson Klein, May 10, 2023
4 min read
Illustration of path.
F. Sheehan for Education Week / Getty
School & District Management Opinion Five Pathways for Improving Student Opportunities
Education advocates and policymakers show how an opportunity approach is changing the face of education in their states.
April 26, 2023
8 min read
A mastery-based learning program was implemented at Haddam-Killingworth High School in Higganum, Conn., by Principal Donna Hayward. Ms. Hayward was named the 2023 National Principal of the Year by the National Association of Secondary Principals. The vision of the program, created for graduating seniors, is to ensure all students are prepared for college, career, and civic life through multiple and flexible pathways for learning, including mastery-based systems of accountability for student growth. Principal Hayward, center, stands in the school library with four seniors who completed the program (from left), Abby Jones, 17, of Killingworth, Jack Fergusson, 17, of Haddam, Callen Powers, 17, of Haddam, and Anadalay Garcia, 18, of Higganum.
Principal Donna Hayward, center, and graduating seniors (from left), Abby Jones, Jack Ferguson, Callen Powers, and Anadalay Garcia, said they all learned something from the their state's graduation assessment project. They gathered at Haddam-Killingworth High School in Higganum, Conn., on April 20, 2023.
Christopher Capozziello for Education Week
Assessment Fighting Senioritis? This New Requirement Kept a Graduating Class Engaged
These seniors were the first to test a new state requirement to reflect on what they had learned over four years of high school.
Elizabeth Heubeck, April 21, 2023
6 min read
Imran Jackson, Rayonna Ross, Stevie Mras, from left to right, made up the prom court last year at Florida’s Atlantic Coast High School prom, held on April 23, 2022.
Imran Jackson, Rayonna Ross, Stevie Mras, from left to right, made up the prom court last year at Florida’s Atlantic Coast High School prom, held on April 23, 2022.
Courtesy of Atlantic Coast High School
School Climate & Safety King, Queen, and Sovereign? Prom Courts Grow More Diverse
In some school districts, the traditional prom court is becoming more inclusive, with students driving the changes.
Elizabeth Heubeck, April 14, 2023
3 min read
A woman thinks about a choice between 2 options.
Denis Novikov/iStock
College & Workforce Readiness What the Research Says How to Get Students to Take Advanced Courses Sooner: Strategies for Schools
An ongoing research study highlights ways schools can help students take more college-ready courses.
Sarah D. Sparks, April 13, 2023
5 min read
Riley O’Keefe found her freshman yearbook at Bartram Trail High School in St. Johns, Florida altered with a digital black bar to hide her chest. The school later printed yearbooks without alterations.
Riley O’Keefe found her freshman yearbook at Bartram Trail High School in St. Johns, Florida altered with a digital black bar to hide her chest. The school later printed yearbooks without alterations.
Courtesy of Riley O’Keefe
School Climate & Safety High School Students Challenge Dress Code After Girls' Photos Were Censored
After 80 girls' yearbook photos were censored in one high school in Florida, then-freshman Riley O'Keefe fought to change the dress code.
Eesha Pendharkar, March 31, 2023
7 min read
Jared Ebersole teaches students how to build a skateboard at Synergy at Mineola High School in Mineola, N.Y., March 13, 2023.
Local entrepreneur Jared Ebersole teaches students how to build skateboards in the Synergy program at Mineola High School in Mineola, N.Y., on March 13, 2023. The skateboard lessons teach students physics concepts.
Mostafa Bassim for Education Week
School & District Management What Happened When a District Decided to 'Mess With High School'
Synergy at Mineola High School feels more like a tech startup than a high school. And in many ways, it is.
Alyson Klein, March 27, 2023
12 min read
Teaching Reports Student Motivation: Student and Educator Perceptions
Based on survey results from students and educators, this report examines strategies that might bolster student engagement and motivation.
March 21, 2023
Illustration of math numbers and symbols that create a head shape.
iStock/Getty
Mathematics San Francisco Insisted on Algebra in 9th Grade. Did It Improve Equity?
The policy change improved access to some courses. But racial inequities at the most advanced levels of math remain largely unchanged.
Sarah Schwartz, March 20, 2023
8 min read
A young Black girl with her head down on a stack of books at her desk in a classroom
E+/Getty
Student Well-Being & Movement What the Research Says One Way to Set Students Up for Success: Let Them Sleep
New federal research suggests students' poor sleep hurts their academic and mental well-being.
Sarah D. Sparks, March 20, 2023
2 min read
Diverse group of teenagers studying together in library
SDI Productions/E+
Curriculum Adolescents Need SEL That's Designed for Them. Here's What That Looks Like
Social-emotional learning is too often neglected at the middle and high school levels.
Arianna Prothero, February 23, 2023
5 min read
A nurse supervises a young student standing at the foot of a hospital bed chatting about the medical chart that she is holding.
E+/Getty + Education Week
College & Workforce Readiness Want to Motivate Students? Give Them a Meaningful Taste of the Working World
Work-based learning experiences can help students understand why the classes they are taking are relevant to their future success.
Alyson Klein, February 21, 2023
7 min read
Phil Yordy, left, works with freshman Derek Shallow, 15, right, during the Hawks Take Flight mentorship program after school at Oregon High School in Oregon, Ill., on Feb. 15, 2023. Yordy teaches world history, civics, and freshman seminar and volunteers as a program mentor.
Teacher Phil Yordy, left, works with freshman Derek Shallow, 15, right, during an after school mentoring program at Oregon High School in Oregon, Ill., in February. Yordy teaches world history, civics, and freshman seminar and volunteers as a program mentor.
Laura McDermott for Education Week
Student Well-Being & Movement How One School's Mentorship Program Paid Off Big in Academic Gains
A high school mentoring program led to a huge drop in the number of failing grades among freshmen.
Madeline Will, February 21, 2023
4 min read
Jay Glassie, an English teacher at Coolidge High School, speaks to George Washington University law faculty and students ahead of some of his students' presentation.
Jay Glassie, an English teacher at Coolidge High School, speaks to George Washington University law faculty and students ahead of some of his students' presentation.
Kate Woods/The George Washington University
Teaching This High School Class Partnered With a Law School Program. Here's What Both Learned
A university-school system partnership is bolstering the alignment of a high school research course with college expectations.
Madeline Will, February 17, 2023
7 min read