REIMAGINING STUDENT ENGAGEMENT IN DISTRICT DECISIONS: WITH STUDENT VOICE
Author
Silversmith, Marla
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This item will be available on: 2025-05-01
Abstract
Student voice is often missing when decisions are made in school districts. Culturally
responsive researchers indicate that when students have voice in their daily schooling, they are
more connected (Gay, 2018; Hammond, 2014; Ladson-Billings, 1994). Using Community
Learning Exchange (CLE) methodology and Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR), a
district administrator and alumnus worked with students and staff to fortify student voice to
influence decisions in a K-8 school district. Through the power of shared stories, the students
became teachers, and the teachers became students. Three major findings resulted: (1) More I
Had To Know You, which meant that adults had a great deal to learn about what youth really
thought and experienced; (2) Leave Your Power at the Door, meaning that adults should leave
their power at the door when interacting with youth but use it after meetings to support youth;
and More Than a Checked Box, meaning that youth wanted to be fully engaged; instead of
answering surveys, they wanted more authentic input. The CLE format provided space for shared
stories and experiences that resulted in the findings and an expanded framework for supporting
student voice in district level decision-making. The new framework has implications to ensure
that students and their voices are supported as authentic educational partners. In terms of wider
application of the process for incorporating student voice, student demographics should be
considered when district decisions are made and when districts seek educational partner input for
consideration. Student voice, student stories, and the richness of their identities have the power
to inform staff professional learning on the role of student voice in decisions.
Date
2023-04-25
Citation:
APA:
Silversmith, Marla.
(April 2023).
REIMAGINING STUDENT ENGAGEMENT IN DISTRICT DECISIONS: WITH STUDENT VOICE
(Doctoral Dissertation, East Carolina University). Retrieved from the Scholarship.
(http://hdl.handle.net/10342/12871.)
MLA:
Silversmith, Marla.
REIMAGINING STUDENT ENGAGEMENT IN DISTRICT DECISIONS: WITH STUDENT VOICE.
Doctoral Dissertation. East Carolina University,
April 2023. The Scholarship.
http://hdl.handle.net/10342/12871.
April 28, 2024.
Chicago:
Silversmith, Marla,
“REIMAGINING STUDENT ENGAGEMENT IN DISTRICT DECISIONS: WITH STUDENT VOICE”
(Doctoral Dissertation., East Carolina University,
April 2023).
AMA:
Silversmith, Marla.
REIMAGINING STUDENT ENGAGEMENT IN DISTRICT DECISIONS: WITH STUDENT VOICE
[Doctoral Dissertation]. Greenville, NC: East Carolina University;
April 2023.
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Publisher
East Carolina University