When leaders of the 63,000-student Washoe County school district in Reno, Nev., sought to bring down a high dropout rate, they found limits in relying solely on research and strategies used in other school systems.
What was missing, they determined, were real, unvarnished insights of their own students who鈥檇 faced challenges with finishing high school. So they went straight to the source for answers, and what they got was an honest, student-produced video that featured a series of interviews with students who had dropped out and later returned to school.
鈥淚 think you should try to understand your students more than trying to control them,鈥� a sophomore girl advised Washoe County teachers in the video. 鈥淩eally sit down, talk to your students, get to know them one-on-one. Even if there鈥檚 a lot of students, you could at least try.鈥�
Done well, efforts to tap into students鈥� experiences and opinions鈥攖he Washoe video is one example鈥攜ield numerous benefits for all participants, researchers say.
For students, participation leads to increased engagement and a chance to build social and emotional skills like self-advocacy.
Well-executed, focused efforts to listen to students and use their insights can have benefits for all parties, researchers say.
For Teachers, Administrators
- Ideas for improvement
- Details about why some programs aren鈥檛 working
- Insights into the lives and needs of overlooked students
For Students
- A feeling of being heard, which leads to increased engagement
- A boost in skills like self-advocacy, self-awareness, and relationship building
- Chances to contribute to stronger, more effective school programs and policies
Shared Benefits
- Heightened trust
- Improved school climate
For school leaders, student voice projects contribute to a healthy school climate and build mutual trust among students and teachers, and they provide constructive input to help school improvement efforts be more effective.
It鈥檚 clear that students want to be heard, researchers and advocacy groups say, pointing to student-led advocacy efforts like lobbying for a new school discipline law in Illinois and a recent walk-out held to protest administrators鈥� decisions on how to improve public schools in Newark, N.J.
Involving students in school decisions 鈥渄oesn鈥檛 only empower them in that one situation. It makes them lifelong advocates,鈥� said Dawnya Johnson, 18, a graduating Baltimore senior who has worked with Student Voice, a youth-led organization that empowers students to speak up at school.
But to be effective, measures taken by school district leaders to listen to students鈥� viewpoints must extend beyond giving the student council president a non-voting, largely ornamental seat on the school board, researchers say.
鈥淚 think a lot of times students are kind of used as token measures to verify what adults already want to do,鈥� said Dana Mitra, an associate professor of education at Penn State University who studies the impact of student voice on schools.
Effective student voice efforts also seek input from often overlooked and at-risk student populations, Ms. Mitra said. 鈥淚f you ask kids for whom the system has failed ... they have a very different perspective, and they are also braver about calling out issues of equity and sort of the elephant in the room,鈥� she said.
鈥業nside-Outside Fishbowl鈥�
When the Washoe County school district in Nevada decided to improve its student voice efforts, leaders worked with WestEd to design three strategies. All three require training of both participating adults and students.
禄ASK (Analyzing Surveys with Kids): Students interpret surveys and produce suggestions for school improvement.
禄Inside-Outside Fishbowl: Students and teachers trade roles as speakers and listeners during a facilitated discussion of a school-related topic or problem, and work together to create a plan to address it.
禄S4 (Students Studying Students鈥� Stories): Students produce and analyze videotaped interviews of other students about a school-related topic or problem and then host forums with educators to suggest improvements.
SOURCE: WestEd
Participants in Washoe County鈥檚 video project weren鈥檛 afraid to draw a clear picture of that elephant, detailing how mental health issues, pregnancy, and family stress made it hard for them to focus on school.
The 15-minute video was produced by students at an alternative high school who conducted the interviews and analyzed the results. The student producers help present the video and lead discussions at district meetings, and it has helped color teachers鈥� perceptions of how and why their students are struggling, said Jennifer Harris, a program evaluator for Washoe County schools.
The video was one of three student voice strategies the district鈥檚 leaders developed with WestEd, the regional educational laboratory, as part of an intentional effort to engage more directly with students in schoolwide plans.
The district has also tapped students to analyze data, including annual school climate surveys and data about the need for college remediation among the district鈥檚 graduates, to help generate suggestions for school improvement efforts.
And educators there are also using a method called 鈥渋nside-outside fishbowl,鈥� in which students and adults sit in concentric circles of chairs facing each other, and trade off speaking and listening roles to answer questions about issues.
The fishbowl method has gotten so popular that teachers now use it in class discussions, and it鈥檚 a go-to strategy for some principals to hash out schoolwide issues, like bullying, Ms. Harris said.
In all three methods, district leaders actively seek out students鈥� viewpoints on specific issues, with a clear plan on the front end for how they will use the results. They train both students and staff about how to participate.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not just eliciting student voice for the sake of it ... We鈥檙e being intentional around showing that this is leading to something,鈥� Ms. Harris said.
That inquiry-based approach to student voice yields the most benefits for all parties, Ms. Mitra said. And it ensures that the end goal is actually hearing students and using their ideas, rather than just giving them the impression that they鈥檝e been heard, she said.
Student voice isn鈥檛 a new idea, but it鈥檚 experiencing a resurgence in policy discussions as students continue to express interest in organizing and being involved in the decisions that affect their education. And school leaders and policymakers see it as a valuable tool as they increasingly recognize the connections between interpersonal skills, student engagement, and academic achievement.
Making a Difference
In some Tennessee school districts, leaders have used student input as a factor in teacher evaluations. Elsewhere, leaders use student observations about school climate, teaching styles, and cafeteria food to drive decisions.
When students are involved in schoolwide discussions, they 鈥渂egin to feel agency, they begin to feel effective in their ability to make a difference at school,鈥� said Antwan Wilson, the superintendent of the 47,000-student Oakland Unified district in California, where teachers鈥� professional development includes discussions about seeking input from students.
Mr. Wilson says students are a key driver behind the district鈥檚 work to overhaul its discipline policies to drive down disproportionately high suspension rates for African-American students.
In a 2014 report, Gallup Education estimated that about half of U.S. students are 鈥渆ngaged鈥� in school. Gallup used results from an online survey of 600,000 students, measuring engagement by tabulating their responses to questions like 鈥淚 have a best friend in school,鈥� and 鈥淢y teacher makes me feel like my schoolwork is important.鈥�
What better way to improve those factors than to turn to the students for insight, Mr. Wilson said. 鈥淚n order for them to learn, our students are saying, 鈥榃e need to know you care about us,鈥� 鈥� he said.
In Washoe County, student voice efforts have seeped into the districtwide culture, Ms. Harris said.
The district held a 鈥渟tudent voice summit鈥� this month, inviting students, staff, and families to learn about what it is doing to meaningfully involve students in decisionmaking.
The district has also involved students in new ways, inviting them to a summit each year where they can learn about all the factors that drive district decisions, including data about discipline, graduation rates, and students who are on-track to graduate in 9th grade.
鈥淚f our students are really going to engage in student voice experiences, and if we want them to be leaders, they also have to be exposed to that level of information,鈥� Ms. Harris said. 鈥淲e think that鈥檚 foundational to them being able to participate and to have a voice.鈥�
