How to Center Student Voice to Drive School Improvement
School leaders must include input from students to create a path forward that is equity-focused and student-centered.
By Annie Crangle & Dr. Jeffrey Hunt at Friday
As a new school year begins, schools are still figuring out how to prepare, respond, and adapt. A nimble strategic planning process that includes input from all stakeholders (especially students!) can make the difference in long-term impact. These 4 action steps help school leaders envision a path forward that is equity-focused and student-centered:
Assess your definition of a stakeholder.
Gathering input from stakeholders is critical to navigating change in unpredictable circumstances. When you think about engaging your school community, who are your stakeholders? How is the student experience assessed and incorporated? Too often schools rely on adults to identify the needs of students. There’s no better way to understand students’ perceptions than to ask them directly.
Go on a listening tour.
Student experiences should have a prominent role in charting their school’s path forward. Pause and go on a listening tour to really understand the experiences of students and families as they return to the classroom — including listening for trauma, loss and isolation experienced in the past year. Listening tour activities include distributing surveys, hosting parent and staff forums, leading community town halls, and creating affinity focus groups. If schools jump back in too quickly, we’ll find ourselves in the same situation we were in pre-pandemic: operating education systems laden with inequitable student outcomes. No matter the format, the time spent listening will inform your next steps forward to improve the conditions of learning.
Consider intent versus impact.
School leaders have been champions of school innovation well before the pandemic. But without student input, leaders are missing an opportunity to understand where the critical conditions of learning are breaking down–whether students feel they have a voice, that they belong, that their teacher believes in them, and that their future is bright. Gathering input from students to understand their daily perceptions at school helps educators to include students in creating more meaningful improvements together.
At the same time, placing students in positions to help solve problems that exist on campus builds their leadership and advocacy skills–abilities needed to navigate a post-pandemic world where problem-solving is a critical necessity. Through schools and students working together, the potential for greater impact deepens in more ways than one.
Remember that equity is in the details.
Equity isn’t an add-on — it’s a driver of school improvement. Understanding how student experiences differs across lines of inequity (race, gender, home zip code, primary language, parent education level, etc.) reveals opportunities to make our schools more equitable for all. For example, while students may feel welcomed at school in general, inequities surface in: perceptions of rigor (I feel challenged in the ways I need to be or in the ways I need to grow); confidence in educators (whether my teachers believe in me); and whether my voice is valued (literature selection, writing topics, and classroom conversations). Addressing these details reinforces an intrinsic sense of stakeholder agency, whereby all students are empowered and driven to achieve ambitious goals while co-creating the future of their learning experience.
If you’re working to create more equitable schools, we’d love to find ways to support your efforts. Reach out to annie@friday.us to begin the conversation.
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