South Dakota’s state leaders have adopted a number of policies that can serve as a launching pad for communities seeking to reimagine high school learning for students. State leaders have created flexibility from seat time requirements, empowering school systems to award students credit towards graduation based on demonstrations of proficiency. To support postsecondary readiness, state leaders have adopted graduation requirements that ensure that students who receive a high school diploma are able to apply to the state’s public institutions of higher education.

While local universities provide dual credit opportunities for the state’s high school students, state leaders could explore additional opportunities to support postsecondary readiness by requiring every school system to provide advanced coursework opportunities to students. State leaders in South Dakota could also consider working with local communities to develop a Portrait of a Graduate that reflects the broad set of competencies that all South Dakota graduates should have by the end of high school. This effort could also provide a jumping-off point for a statewide initiative with dedicated resources to incentivize community-led high school redesign.