There is a growing consensus that students’ educational environments affect how they learn and develop. Ongoing correlational research shows how a range of factors, including pedagogical approaches and access to quality academic resources, contribute to different educational outcomes for students. Meanwhile, more recent neuroscientific discoveries examine how these factors influence the brain, learning, and behavior.

“Today, education is where medicine was in 1910,” stated Dan Leeds, Chairman of the Alliance for Excellent Education’s (All4Ed) Board of Directors. Leeds was referring to the pivotal moment in history, after the publication of the Flexner report, when American medical schools began to adhere strictly to the protocols of science in their teaching and research. With modern technological advances and a wider range of research methodologies for studying how humans learn and develop, the field of education likewise now has greater access to research that can guide practitioners and policymakers in how best to design schools to improve student outcomes and close achievement gaps.

Students who entered school this fall were not able simply to enjoy their summer or the start of a new academic year. They, like the rest of us, had to witness a series of violent acts that gained national attention—the deadliest terrorist attack since 9/11 on a club in Orlando and high-profile shootings in St. Paul, Dallas, Baton Rouge, Tulsa, and Charlotte—as well as an untold number of additional shootings that affected communities, family members, and friends. Moreover, historically underserved students are more likely to witness and experience violent acts firsthand in their communities and face a greater risk of exposure to violence.

While children in the early years of education increasingly experience curricula and learning tools based in the science of adolescent learning (SAL), children in middle and high school—particularly those from historically underserved populations—endure traditional “common sense” approaches that go against what researchers know about the developing brain. The growing research on adolescence in the SAL reveals that investment in secondary schools is essential to ensure students graduate prepared for college and a career. Here are three reasons why: