Adolescence is a developmental period of profound opportunity and vulnerability. It is marked by dramatic changes in brain network organization, emotional intensity, and social sensitivity, all of which shape how young people learn, relate, build a sense of self and envision their futures. Accumulating evidence from developmental psychology, affective neuroscience, and educational research shows that adolescents are uniquely disposed toward transcendent thinking: a disposition to grapple emotionally with abstract, systems-level, ethical, and personal implications of the concrete things they learn and experience. This emotionally powerful form of thinking undergirds civic development, resilience, and identity formation, while simultaneously supporting brain development, deep learning and psychosocial flourishing.
Drawing on longitudinal neuroimaging studies, qualitative fieldwork, cross-disciplinary theory, and the Sciences of Learning and Development (SoLD), this report reviews scientific findings about adolescent development and teaching and highlights their implications for the reimagined high school. It argues that aligning high school education with adolescents’ developmental needs—particularly by centering opportunities for civic reasoning and transcendent reflection, in the context of safe, strong relationships and meaningful learning opportunities—can promote not only deep scholarly learning but also civic purpose and individual and community wellbeing. Aligned with the science, the report lays out policy recommendations for systemic and structural redesign in the California context and highlights illustrative examples of promising work in the state.
This report is part of Getting Down to Facts III: A Comprehensive Review of California's PreK-12 System—an independent body of research conducted through the SCALE Initiative at Stanford University. The full collection is available at gettingdowntofacts.com.
Core operating support for the Learning Policy Institute is provided by the Heising-Simons Foundation, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Raikes Foundation, Sandler Foundation, Skyline Foundation, and MacKenzie Scott. The ideas voiced here are those of the authors and not those of our funders.
