Leaders from California's alternative schools draw on neuroscience to help young people thrive
At a recent convening hosted by Stanford's Gardner Center, educators shared insights and innovations that could point the way toward broader high school reform.
Once a year, California high school leaders, district administrators, and researchers convene with a shared mission: improving the educational experience and outcomes for some of the most overlooked and vulnerable students in California's education system — young people served by alternative schools. These schools serve students who are at risk of not graduating from high school, students who may be navigating foster care, the juvenile justice system, or learning differences.
Led by the John W. Gardner Center for Youth and Their Communities, the California Learning Collaborative on Alternative Education was launched in 2020 to facilitate professional learning among educators and strengthen outcomes for these students. With support from the Stuart Foundation and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, collaborative members participate in site visits, case studies, and annual convenings focused on sharing lessons and advancing promising practices.
Members of the collaborative conducted a site visit at San Andreas High School in San Bernardino to learn how the school actively engages students through its career pathways programs.
The San Andreas health sciences pathway program equips students with knowledge, skills, and hands-on experience to pursue a career in healthcare. (Photos courtesy of San Andreas High School.)
An antidote to professional isolation
For years, Jorge Ruiz de Velasco has been the driving force behind this effort, building a statewide community of practice focused on students who are often left out of education reform conversations. But it's not just the students who may feel left out; it's the educators themselves. Alternative high schools sit within their geographic school districts, but the student populations they serve — and the services and school formats needed to support them — are often quite distinct from their traditional high school counterparts.
In addition, these school leaders often have no role-alike counterparts in their districts with whom they can share practices and learn. That’s why school leaders may themselves feel isolated in identifying, implementing, and measuring programs that can support the needs of their students. The collaborative and its annual conference have become a powerful way for these leaders to learn about new research and innovations to engage and inspire young people who may have already given up on the school system.
The adolescent brain
Neuroscience may not seem like an obvious focus for an education conference, but it became one of the defining themes of this year's event. As research on adolescent brain development advances, educators are gaining new insights into what motivates teenagers — and alternative schools are uniquely positioned to put those findings into practice through flexible, student-centered programs.
So what causes an adolescent brain to light up?
Speakers highlighted two powerful drivers of adolescent engagement: transcendent thinking and contribution. Transcendent thinking encourages students to move beyond facts and assignments to grapple with larger questions of meaning and purpose. For example, students who read To Kill a Mockingbird in English class might not only analyze literary devices, but also write about how themes from the novel relate to current events and reflect on how they want to respond to injustice in their own community.
Equally important is giving young people meaningful opportunities to contribute — to their families, schools, peers, and communities — in ways that help them understand their value and impact, said speaker Dr. Andrew Fuligni of the UCLA Center for the Developing Adolescent. His research shows that opportunities to make meaningful contributions are linked to stronger academic motivation, wellbeing, self-esteem, and a greater sense of purpose.
These kinds of opportunities must be intentionally created and accessible to every young person, he argued, "Otherwise, if young people don't find a positive way to contribute, they'll find other, less positive ways to do so."
Contribution in action
Jose Lara, principal of Gilbert Continuation High School and a long-standing member of the collaborative, had a chance to share how transcendent thinking and contribution have been put into practice for his students in the Anaheim School District. But first, he described the mission of his school: to graduate socially aware, civic-minded students who are life-ready by cultivating soft and hard skills.
One way the school pursues this goal is through schoolwide civic engagement projects driven by student interests. In the 2023–24 school year, that project was prompted by a very practical problem: the municipal bus stopped at the school at 2:22 p.m., which didn't give students enough time to catch the bus after school and caused them to get home late.
The students launched a letter-writing campaign that got the attention of staff at the Orange County Transportation Authority and prompted a change in the bus schedule. It was a small change, but it made a big difference.
As student Emily Dema observed, the project was rewarding because "we finally got to the point where we were able to get to the government and felt like we were being heard."
Programs like those at Gilbert have led to extraordinary results for students. Gilbert's graduation rate is projected to reach 85 percent for 2025–26, approaching California's statewide average of 87.8 percent despite serving students who were previously at risk of dropping out.
"We need to learn in a generative way from schools that are doing things right," says the Gardner Center's Ruiz de Velasco. "There are important lessons that traditional high schools can learn if we create a more accurate narrative about the good work being done in alternative schools, including how they use time, organize space, and address the needs of every student."
Reimagining high school for all students
Ruiz de Velasco's views have found additional support from the Stuart and Hewlett foundations, longtime funders of the Gardner Center's research and policy analysis of the alternative school system, which began in 2008 with visits to 40 continuation schools.
Now, he is leading an effort to publish an updated edition of "Raising the Bar, Building Capacity: Driving Improvement in California's Continuation High Schools," a landmark 2012 report that helped shine a light on California's "invisible" schools.
The new report, coming in early 2027, will highlight innovative approaches helping students succeed — and offer lessons for how state policy can better support high schools in meeting the needs of today's young people.
