Making school meaningful is a widely accepted goal in education, yet what is considered meaningful, meaningful to whom, and why, leaves room for interrogation. This sequential explanatory mixed methods study aims to understand: (1) The extent to which students experience meaningful education at EL Education schools compared to comparison schools, and (2) How adolescents describe meaningful schoolwork. Survey responses were gathered from 258 students at nine middle schools (five EL Education, four comparison). Participants self-identified as 49% male, 47% female, 2% gender non-binary, 41% Black, 40% Latina/o, 33% White, 16% Multiracial, 1% Asian, and 31% low-income. Controlling for demographic characteristics, EL Education students reported statistically significantly more meaningful school experiences than comparison school students. Subsample analyses showed substantially greater meaningfulness at EL Education than comparison schools for Black (n = 107; p < .01) and Latina/o students (n = 40; p < .001). Interviews from 32 students and grounded theory analysis revealed that meaningful schoolwork focuses on: (a) Learning about and addressing “real-world problems” (e.g., racism, environmentalism, sociopolitical development), (b) Engaging content that was personally relevant, hands-on, and socially interactive, and (c) Future-oriented academic or social skills. Findings point to promising practices at EL Education schools and implications are discussed.
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