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.
Adolescence and the Reimagined High School: Scientific Perspectives on Development, Learning, and Civic Reasoning
This report draws on developmental science, neuroscience, and field studies of California secondary teachers, along with organizational research, to identify how high school design influences possibilities for adolescent development, including the development of transcendent thinking. It describes how schools designed around relationships, meaningful inquiry, civic reasoning, identity development, and purpose can support more powerful learning for adolescents.
