Senior High School Education in the 21st Century

Abstract

Educators in senior high schools are used to hearing, “Senior high schools today look the same as they did a hundred years ago.” Though the author has heard this and similar comments, she also has heard a great number of high school students talking with excitement about their learning experiences. She has worked with teachers and administrators who are passionately committed to ensuring that secondary-level students receive a high-quality education, and she has reveled in hearing parents sing the praises of the high school their children attend. So is senior high school education unjustly receiving a bad rap? This article describes a Change Practice Initiative implemented by a school district in Canada to ensure that structures and practices at its high schools are geared to the changing needs of students and educators, and the outcomes of this endeavor.