Amid growing calls for redefining the high school experience, there’s a critical missing link that is often overlooked: principals and assistant principals. Despite their influence over how time is used, which courses are offered, how teachers and counselors collaborate, and which business and college partners can engage with students, most school administrators simply aren’t trained, supported or held accountable for transforming their high schools.
Their preparation and evaluation focuses disproportionately on compliance and core academics, not on whether students graduate ready for what comes next. The result is a system that sidelines the very leaders who could drive change. School-level leaders should be the chief architects of high school redesign and high-quality pathways, connecting what students learn in classrooms with the real skills, experiences and credentials they’ll need after graduation...