With a generous grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Youth on Board is working on a national campaign to support policies that increase student input and improve relationships between students and teachers, and ultimately improve the educational process for ALL students. Our efforts support groups that are working to implement student involvement in teacher evaluation and constructive feedback policies.
With input from youth organizers from across the country that are engaged in this work, we will compile promising practices, share experiences, and offer technical assistance to other groups wanting to take on this project. We will also utilize what we have learned during Boston Student Advisory Council's work in the Boston Public Schools and the state of Massachusetts.
Research has shown what many students, educators, and other stakeholders already understand; that including students in the decision making process at the class level is an important way of improving our education system.
Promoting student voice in the classroom is an issue of social and educational justice as well as youth rights.
What we will be doing:
- Creating a document that brings together experiences and successes from organizations across the country to tell their stories share with other districts interested in this campaign
- Compile and host an online toolbox with surveys, press releases, letters, policy language, etc. for organizations to use to help their campaign
- Develop a national promotional campaign on the importance of student voice in the classroom and improving student and teacher relationships
- Provide assistance to targeted communities from across the country that wish to take on this campaign.
We are excited to be starting this project!! We will be sending updates as we move along in the project. Stay tuned!
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Dan Chu, BSAC member and student representative to the Boston School Committee, recently wrote an article, Another Revolution Starts in Boston, that was published in
Kappan Magazine. The article describes the seven year story of how students got a voice in teacher evaluation in Boston and Massachusetts. This article can help you better understand the basis for our work with the Kellogg Foundation grant.
Kappan Magazine is published by Phi Delta Kappa, a professional association for educators.
