YouthTruth is a national survey project that gathers comparative feedback from high school students about what is working and not working in their schools. YouthTruth was developed by The Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP) with initial support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in 2008. Funders for YouthTruth now include The California Endowment, The Children's Trust, East Bay Community Foundation, Foundation for the MidSouth, Knowledgeworks Foundation, The W. Clement & Jessie V. Stone Foundation, and the Stuart Foundation.

Over the past 4 years, CEP has implemented YouthTruth in 220 schools across the country and has surveyed more than 100,000 students. Participating school leaders describe the process as “one of the best vehicles I’ve seen for student voice in any school.” YouthTruth “provides a means of collecting and analyzing important data about student perceptions that would be too cumbersome for schools to do on their own. Furthermore, the comparative element provides information that is nearly impossible to obtain and very useful.”

The project is continually expanding as we partner with more funders, districts, and schools to gather feedback that will drive change.

purpose

YouthTruth provides data that enables education funders, district and network leaders, and school leaders to make more informed decisions in pursuit of better long-term outcomes for youth.

what’s unique about YouthTruth

• Detailed comparative data
  YouthTruth provides rich comparative data in a user-friendly format, building on CEP’s nine years of experience providing perceptual data to foundations. Each participating school receives a report that compares its students’ average responses to the average student responses at other schools in the same district or network as well as to the average student responses across all YouthTruth schools. Networks and funders also receive customized reports including analyses of trends across pertinent sub-groups of schools.
• A focus on school leaders and students
  A core goal of YouthTruth is to “close the feedback loop” with school leaders and students. While school leaders and students may often be the subjects of in-depth surveys, they are far too infrequently the audience for surveys’ results. And even in instances where schools and students are presented with results, the data is often difficult to interpret and act upon. YouthTruth seeks to change this dynamic. Not only do we confidentially share results with each school’s leadership team, but we also provide a summary of results that is designed specifically to be shared with students.
• Actionable feedback that drives change
  YouthTruth data is designed to inform school improvement efforts and promote change. YouthTruth has already inspired tangible changes at numerous schools including improved curriculum alignment, modifications in school discipline policies, and better professional development programs for teachers and staff.