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February 19, 2026
LANSING — Michigan is one of the states that is making the grade when it comes to transforming high school to prepare students for the changing world, according to a national study released this week.
The XQ Institute study, called “The Future Is High School: A Strategy for State Leaders to Accelerate Learning, Work, and American Renewal,” identifies Michigan as one of 10 states that met six of its 10 policy goals for modernizing high schools to prepare students with the skills they need for careers. No state met more than six goals.
“This report underscores our efforts to place Michigan Students First,” said State Superintendent Dr. Glenn Maleyko. “This is exciting news and affirms that our local school districts and the Michigan Department of Education continue to work toward realizing Michigan's Top 10 Strategic Education Plan.”
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said: “Every young person deserves a path to a good-paying job and a great life here in Michigan. That starts with a strong educational foundation of preK and proven literacy instruction for every kid and continues through high school, where we offer free meals, more hands-on career and technical education, financial literacy skills, and a tuition-free associate’s degree for every student. Today’s report recognizes that Michigan continues to lead the way on what K-12 and higher education can be at its best. We will continue to build on the historic investments we’ve already made to help every young Michiganders ‘make it’ in Michigan.”
Russlynn Ali, CEO of XQ Institute and managing director of the Education Fund at Emerson Collective, said that “states have more opportunity, responsibility and authority over public education than at any time in recent memory.”
“Michigan is showing the entire country what's possible when leaders focus on high school,” Ali said. “With 483,000 job openings to fill each year, Michigan isn't waiting around to unlock new opportunities for students—because they've realized that high school is the future of everything.”
The nonprofit and nonpartisan organization identifies 10 policy actions to make high school more rigorous, engaging and career connected. Michigan met policy actions regarding:
Michigan has partially met two other policy goals—implementing “next-generation” high school assessments that measure a broader set of knowledge (Michigan is developing a catalogue of performance-based assessments) and redesigning student transcripts to communicate the full breadth of student competency. No state has fully met those two policy goals.
“Michigan has adopted a number of policies that can serve as a launching pad for high school transformation,” Michigan’s state report says. “State leaders have created flexibility from seat time requirements, empowering local school systems to award high school students credit toward graduation based on demonstrations of proficiency. The state has also published a Profile of a Graduate and, in 2018, funded and launched a three-year competency-based education pilot for K-12 school systems.”
Further, the report finds that Michigan has made great strides in preparing students for life after graduation.
“Communities across the state have taken advantage of the state’s seat time flexibility to pursue high school transformation efforts. In Grand Rapids, students, educators, and community members partnered with XQ Institute to open the Grand Rapids Public Museum School, located in a former museum that still houses 250,000 cultural and historical artifacts. Students can leverage these artifacts to further their learning and engage in community-based projects that integrate various subjects—the humanities, STEM, and elective courses—into meaningful, thematic learning experiences.”
The Grand Rapids Public Museum School is part of Grand Rapids Public Schools.
The XQ Institute report, which will be released every two years, underscores the need for strong implementation to ensure that educators, schools, and communities have the support needed to turn innovative policy into real impact.
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