{"id":1039,"date":"2025-07-24T12:00:15","date_gmt":"2025-07-24T19:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/carnegie25live.wpenginepowered.com\/?p=1039"},"modified":"2025-12-16T11:00:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-16T19:00:10","slug":"carnegie-foundation-launches-research-and-development-agenda-to-transform-the-american-high-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.carnegiefoundation.org\/carnegie-foundation-launches-research-and-development-agenda-to-transform-the-american-high-school\/","title":{"rendered":"Carnegie Foundation Launches Research and Development Agenda to Transform the American High School"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The R&D Agenda outlines knowledge-building and tool-making priorities to drive a national shift from seat time to real-world, competency-based high school learning.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

STANFORD, Calif. \u2013 <\/strong>The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching today released a national research and development agenda (R&D Agenda) aimed at supporting the transformation of the American high school from time-based to competency-based models, to better prepare students for civil society and the modern economy. <\/p>\n\n\n

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The agenda, \u201cA National Call to Action: A Research and Development Agenda for High School Transformation<\/em><\/a>,\u201d identifies eight interconnected research priorities to guide efforts to modernize high school education beyond the century-old Carnegie Unit system. The research priorities are undergirded by two foundational and cross-cutting areas for investigation: Aligned Public Policy and AI\/Infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAmerican education is at a crossroads. While we hurtle toward an AI-driven economy that demands skills like creativity, critical thinking, and adaptability, our high schools are trapped in an outdated architecture preparing students for a world that no longer exists,\u201d said Dr. Timothy Knowles, President of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. \u201cThis agenda is about building knowledge and tools to accelerate the transformation of the American high school \u2013 schools marked by much more ambitious goals for students; engaging, rigorous and experiential learning experiences, and; more powerful signaling systems to inform and accelerate student learning.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The R&D Agenda is designed to address the urgent challenges high schools face today. <\/em>Since the pandemic, chronic absenteeism has soared, student disengagement has accelerated, and educator burnout has reached crisis levels. Meanwhile, employers seek skills not reflected in traditional diplomas, four-year college enrollment is dropping, and economic security remains elusive for most Americans.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The R&D Agenda is also designed to chart a path to the future. <\/em>It calls for building knowledge about public policies<\/strong> that lead to improved student outcomes.  It calls for research on the development of the digital (AI), physical and social infrastructures<\/strong> required to deepen academic knowledge and skill development. And it outlines specific, actionable priorities<\/strong> to accelerate high school transformation:<\/p>\n\n\n\n