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— Having Their Say:Students' Input Vital to School Improvement — Institutes on Reading — Teachers' Journal Conference News — ENF Conference features Thomas Armstrong — Conference Call Resource Reviews — Posters Feature the Best Methods for Improving Schools — Giving New Teachers A Hand What's New on the Web www.nwrel.org Order Document Order Form Flashback Pictures from past events Credits The newsletter of the Executive Director/CEO: Dr. Ethel Simon-McWilliams 101 SW Main Street, Suite 500 NWREL's Web Site address is www.nwrel.org This publication had been funded at least in part with federal funds from the U.S. Department of Education under contract number ED-01-CO-0013. The content of this publication does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the U.S. Department of Education nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. government. |
May/August 2001 | NW REPORT Having Their SayStudents' Input Vital to School Improvement  By Denise Jarrett-Weeks If you want to know, you have to ask. Asking students what they think about their school, about learning, and how adults can help, can transform a school's improvement efforts. Posing questions like, What helps you learn? When do you feel most safe? Most valued?, can prompt answers that reveal the clearest picture of a school — its strengths and shortcomings — and what students really need to succeed. Today, educators are seeing the value of including student voices in the adult realm of decisionmaking. "Teachers often feel that because they spend their entire day with students, they are already in touch with student concerns," says Joan Shaughnessy, Senior Associate for NWREL's School Improvement Program. "But when their school uses these tools, students step forward to talk about their day-to-day experiences in very compelling ways. With a heightened awareness of underlying issues, the students and teachers begin to tackle the deep issues interfering with their school's productivity." Shaugnessy is one of the toolkit developers from the School Change Collaborative, a group of Regional Educational Laboratories working with K-12 school partners across the country as part of a national Laboratory Network Program. The toolkit is designed to help K-12 educational leaders and school-based teams invite students' input into school reform, bringing school communities together to improve student learning. Schools can easily add these tools and techniques to their ongoing comprehensive school reform efforts. An Introductory Package includes a brochure, guidebook, school stories, and a 10-minute videotape that provides an overview of the kit and testimonies from teachers and students. The complete Self-Study Toolkit includes a set of guidebooks, videotapes, school stories, and handouts for all four self-study techniques: Data in a Day, Structured Reflection Protocol, Student-Led Focus Groups, and Analyzing Surveys With Kids. Oregon's North Salem High School is one of the schools to contribute to the development of the kit. Former Principal Mike Kolb says, "Our kids constantly amaze us. They are as capable as we are. They lack some of our experiences, but, intellectually, they have tremendous capacity if they're given enough time and opportunity." Data in a Day allows a school to involve students and teachers in gathering data on an issue that is important to both groups. Students and teachers pair up to observe classrooms during one day, recording their observations, and presenting their findings to the school. The findings are then incorporated into school reform plans. One student reports, "When we all sat down at the end of the day and talked — as teachers and students, adults and kids — it was a very mutual, very high-respect environment… We want teachers to know that we can contribute good ideas to improve our school." Structured Reflection Protocol is a method for examining and talking about student work. It can be used by students or staff to explore what helps students to learn. Participants analyze student work, forming analysis teams and feedback teams that work together to promote self-study, reflection, and strategies for improvement. The Student-Led Focus Groups tool enables adults to hear from students and to apply what they hear. The school generates questions for students to respond to, such as, What do good teachers do? What makes a good student? What would make this school a better place? These discussions put students' perspectives at the center of a meeting, making them active contributors to school planning. In this approach, students sit in a circle in a room and discuss the questions with a peer facilitator. Adults sit in an outer circle, observing and listening to the students but allowing them to manage the flow of their own discussion. When the discussion is over, students and adults switch places, and the adults talk about what they heard. Analyzing Surveys With Kids is a step-by-step process for engaging students in the survey process. Students contribute their knowledge about the school to help design surveys, interpret survey results, and formulate recommendations for improvement. Dennis Sizemore, principal of Fairview Elementary near Portland, Oregon, notes: "To include students, we have to listen to them. If we don't listen to them, there's a void in the process of change." The Listening to Student Voices Self-Study Toolkit can help educators make meaningful changes by inviting and making use of the critical insights students can share about what it takes to enhance schools for everyone. For more information about the Listening to Student Voices Self-Study Toolkit, visit the School Change Collaborative Web site www.nwrel.org/scpd/natspec/codev.html or contact Joan Shaughnessy, School Improvement Program, Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, 101 S.W. Main Street, Suite 500, Portland, Oregon 97204-3297; e-mail shaughnj@nwrel.org. To order the Introductory Package or the Self-Study Toolkit, see the Document Order Form.
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