4,300+ High School Students Affirm California's Pivotal Moment for Pathways

California has arrived at a critical moment for expansion and alignment of what works in secondary education. Across the state, communities are translating major investments in college and career pathways, dual enrollment, community schools, and secondary school redesign into action. Educators, employers, policymakers, and community leaders are asking fundamental questions about what young people need to thrive and how high schools can better prepare students for an increasingly complex future.

At the same time, thousands of adolescents are already experiencing many of these efforts firsthand. This year, more than 4,300 students across seven California school districts participated in the Linked Learning Student Survey, making it the largest response to date. Their reflections offer an important perspective on the experiences that help young people feel engaged, supported, challenged, and prepared for what comes next.

While no single survey can answer every question about the future of education, these students have been about several important areas of their experiences, and their reflections are consistent with the past four years of results:

• They value learning experiences that connect to their aspirations and future opportunities.
• They appreciate being challenged through rigorous learning that asks them to apply knowledge, solve problems, communicate effectively, and persist through difficulty.
• They recognize the adults who encourage them, believe in them, and help them navigate moments of uncertainty.
• And they describe educational experiences that help them build confidence in who they are and who they are becoming.

Their reflections also reaffirm many of the principles that have guided Linked Learning for the past two decades.

Young people work harder and dream bigger when learning connects to their lives and futures. Students consistently describe the value of experiences that help them discover new interests, apply what they are learning, and envision broader possibilities for themselves.

Students also offer a compelling picture of what rigor looks like in practice. They describe learning experiences that ask them to apply knowledge, solve problems, communicate effectively, collaborate with others, and persist through difficulty. They value opportunities to demonstrate what they know and can do in authentic settings that reflect the demands of college, careers, and civic life.

High-quality pathways raise expectations for success while expanding opportunities for adolescents to practice and demonstrate excellence. Students are not describing easier learning experiences. They are describing rigorous environments that challenge them while providing the relationships, supports, and real-world connections that help them succeed.

Students' also define readiness beyond grades and graduation requirements. Young people want to leave high school with knowledge and skills, but also with confidence, purpose, and a sense of belonging. They are looking for learning experiences that connect to who they are and the lives they hope to build.

One first-year student from Los Angeles Unified School District reflected: "I realized that the work I put in today is my future. That changed my mindset about school and my learning."

These findings arrive at a moment when California has an unprecedented opportunity to align efforts that have existed in parallel. High-quality pathways, dual enrollment, community schools, work-based learning, and secondary school redesign share a common aspiration: ensuring that more young people have access to meaningful educational experiences that prepare them for the future. As they come into alignment, California’s education system can reach new heights of both coherence and excellence.

This year's survey also serves as a reminder that educators and communities across California are doing extraordinary work on behalf of young people. Students describe teachers who stay after class until concepts click, pathway experiences that introduce them to careers they had never considered, and learning opportunities that expand their understanding of what is possible for their futures.

As the Linked Learning Alliance marks 20 years of advancing equity and excellence through high-quality pathways, I hope these findings encourage those who care deeply about California’s education system to continue asking an important question:

How do we ensure that more young people have access to the kinds of experiences students themselves are telling us make a difference?

California's current investments in secondary education represent a rare opportunity to answer that question and make a giant leap into the future. The future of high school is being shaped right now. Students are more than ready to help shape it, too.

Read the full 2025–26 Linked Learning Student Survey report.