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What would your perfect high school look like?

Humboldt High School senior Kyaw Kyaw Lwin works o
Humboldt High School senior Kyaw Kyaw Lwin worked on a problem for a college-level engineering class at St. Paul College in 2012.
Photo by Anthony Kwan

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A 2012 Gallup Poll found that while three-quarters of students in the elementary grades are highly engaged with their school, fewer than half of high school students are highly engaged with theirs. Those numbers give urgency to President Obama's challenge to high schools to reinvent themselves.

From Obama's State of the Union address in 2013:

Tonight, I'm announcing a new challenge to redesign America's high schools so they better equip graduates for the demands of a high-tech economy. And we'll reward schools that develop new partnerships with colleges and employers, and create classes that focus on science, technology, engineering and math — the skills today's employers are looking for to fill the jobs that are there right now and will be there in the future.

Should high schools do more to show students the connection between coursework and their prospects for success in the real world of work? Is there a better way to keep students engaged in high school?

Nancy Hoffman Vice president at Jobs for the Future and author of "Schooling in the Workplace"