Creating Student Voice and Ownership in School

Robert Bhoolai • Cahn Fellow 2019

The Cahn Fellows Program aided us in exploring the relationship between student voice and school culture. T.R. Robinson High School has experienced a decline in overall attendance and an increase in class tardiness over the past four years, despite posting successful academic outcomes. This data led us to understand that our policies, procedures, and cultural norms lacked several components for success. These items were created by adults, for adults, without any regard to the impact or latent effect they would have on the student population. Through several analyses of schoolwide climate surveys, academic data, and student discussions we clearly understood our students did not take ownership over the student culture of the school and they did not feel they had opportunities to lend their voices to any school-related issues. Initially we wanted to focus our efforts on exploring the relationship between our students within our two distinct academic programs. However, we quickly discovered our students perceived they were marginalized from the schooling experience itself, not from each other. We knew immediately we had to create opportunities for change.