The Power of Pathways: Redefining Student Success in a Nonlinear World

The truth is, school works well for a lot of students. That’s worth acknowledging. Traditional models, from AP courses to college-prep tracks, provide structure, challenge, and opportunity. But it’s also true that those same models leave many students disengaged, overwhelmed, or boxed in.

The Brookings Institution recently identified the teen disengagement crisis as one of the most urgent challenges in education. According to their January 2025 report, students are increasingly disconnected from learning that feels personally relevant or future-facing.

This isn’t a binary. It’s not a choice between preserving tradition or pushing for radical change. Sure, we can advocate for abandoning the traditional college course requirements, but how likely is that to happen? Not very. It’s not about abandoning the system - it’s about broadening the system so that more students can thrive in more ways.

Students today aren’t looking for a single route - they’re looking for options. They want experiences that allow them to connect their learning to who they are and what they care about. Schools need to meet that need not by reinventing everything, but by expanding what counts as success.

Pathways aren’t necessarily programs. They are mindsets that evolve into learning roadmaps. They reflect the idea that students grow through exploration, reflection, and real-world connection, not just through progressing down a fixed academic track. Expanding pathways is one way schools can rebuild engagement by making learning more connected to identity, aspiration, and action.

A pathway might include:

• A student creating an independent project around a local environmental issue

• A course that bridges literature, history, and social justice

• A collaboration with peers around the world on a shared challenge

• A portfolio that tells the story of a student’s growth over time

This approach responds directly to the reality that many college graduates, despite completing the “right” steps, question whether they made the right choices. A 2023 BestColleges survey found that 61% of college grads would change their major if they could go back, citing passion and career alignment as key reasons. This isn’t a failure of students. It’s a signal that the system is too narrowly defined for too many of them.

For some students, the traditional model provides exactly what they need. For others, success depends on being able to shape their experience, apply their learning, and build a narrative that feels personal and purposeful. A strong school should be able to support both.

The fear is often that more choice will mean less structure, but that’s a false tradeoff. Structure is essential, and it should serve growth, not limit it. The goal isn’t to loosen standards, it’s to expand relevance and opportunity.

Here’s how schools can design for flexibility and coherence:

• Refresh the transcript. More schools are finding ways to document growth, curiosity, and contribution. That might mean layering in portfolios, performance tasks, and student reflection to create a more complete picture.

• Design for coherence, not control. Learning experiences should connect, build on one another, and tell a story. Schools can create frameworks that help students assemble meaningful paths without prescribing every step.

• Tap your alumni. Your graduates are an underused resource. They can offer mentorship, internship opportunities, and real talk about what actually mattered in their education. Their insights can shape how you design pathways for the next generation.

• Collaborate beyond your walls. Schools don’t need to build every pathway alone. Partner with other institutions, programs, and networks to offer more than what your own schedule or staffing can support.

We’ve long defined success in terms of academic performance and college admission, but that’s only part of the picture. Increasingly, success also means something more personal and durable: Who is this student becoming? What do they care about? How are they using what they know?

Even top-tier universities are paying attention. In a shared reflection, Stanford’s Dean of Admissions, Rick Shaw, noted that students who stand out are the ones who show authentic purpose, not just high achievement. The students who take unconventional courses, build relationships with mentors, and pursue personal passions are often the ones who thrive in college—and beyond.

Colleges are paying attention. Employers are too. But more importantly, students are asking for it. They want school to help them build not just a résumé, but a life that reflects their values, interests, and goals, and that work needs to begin when students are still broadly engaged and curious.

This is not about abandoning challenge - It’s about offering more ways for students to be challenged in meaningful, authentic ways.

It’s time to move past either/or thinking. We can hold onto what works and still innovate where it’s needed. We can offer structure without rigidity. We can make space for multiple definitions of success.

So the real question for school leaders is this:

• Are we designing for possibility?

• Are we helping more students thrive, not just the ones who already know how to play the game?

• Are we building experiences that feel personal, purposeful, and connected?

Students want to explore, contribute, and grow. Pathways help them do that. They aren’t a replacement for the system. They are the evolution of it.

For more, see:

• GOA as a Lab School: Innovation Through Practice

• Empowering School Leaders: Rubrics for Reflection and Action

• 2025 Education Trends and Predictions: Pathways, Curiosity, and Co-Creation in a Blended World

GOA is a nonprofit learning organization that reimagines learning to empower students and educators worldwide. In partnership with our global network of 150 schools, we provide interactive, relationship-driven courses, expert resources, and innovative thinking that help to expand and elevate academic programs. Together, we help students and educators become open to the extraordinary.

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