Giving Compass' Take:
- Getting Smart spotlights the perspectives of high school students about reimagining learning for equity and a better future.
- How can donors support the development of curriculum and programs that encourage student success and well-being?
- Learn more about key issues in education and how you can help.
- Search our Guide to Good for nonprofits focused on education in your area.
What is Giving Compass?
We connect donors to learning resources and ways to support community-led solutions. Learn more about us.
America’s education system was a groundbreaking effort to help a growing nation thrive in the 19th century. Now, 200 years later, the world has changed; the horizon looks drastically different. Collectively, we need to redesign our education system to enable all of our children — and, by extension, our nation — to thrive today and tomorrow. “Horizon Three” or “H3” names the future-ready system we need, one that is grounded in equity serving learners’ individual strengths and needs as well as the common good. This series provides a glimpse of where H3 is already being designed and built. It also includes provocations about how we might fundamentally reimagine learning for the future ahead. You can learn more about the horizons framing here.
How many students graduate high school without being taught anything that could help them outside of school?
As current high school students, we want:
1. Education for the Real World
Future Focused
“6 AM alarms, stressful testing, learning things you are not going to use in the future. These are all things you will find at a regular high school; IDEA is different though. IDEA breaks the status quo by giving students the freedom to take classes related to their future careers.” – Anonymous
Relevant Skills
“Although it may be engineering and design-centered, these skills are not limited to those areas of work. Working with machinery can showcase how to follow instructions and to be precise with technology. Creating prototypes and experiments in physics can develop one’s knowledge on how to work with a team and how to gather data.” – Anonymous
Career Preparation
“Every IDEA student participates in one [internship] during their junior year. These internships not only help students explore potential career paths they may not have considered but also provide lasting industry connections.” – Evan Margel
2. Personalized and Flexible Education
Individualized Pathways
“We get to choose our own electives. In the first year, students get a choice between the engineering and design pathways, a choice that will let them decide on electives later on.” – Lucian Houghton
Read the full article about reimagining learning at Getting Smart.