There’s a lot of talk about integrating student voice into school strategy. Actually doing it is harder. How can we begin to give students a say in how their schools are run? To start, it’s important to find ways to hear from every young person. Not just the loudest students but also those on the…
Jimmy Simpson Jr. is partnerships lead and equity coach for YouthTruth, a national nonprofit that helps schools measure nonacademic indicators related to school climate and academic achievement. Recent federal, state, and local data reveals there’s still a lot of work to do when it comes to ensuring discipline policies and practices are fair and equitable…
When I was a high school junior, a series of anonymous bomb threats were made at my school. I didn’t take them very seriously—usually, they meant a welcome early dismissal. Looking back, I wish my peers and I had been more appreciative. After all, we only saw threats. Since the massacre at Columbine High School…
By Sonya Heisters, the director of partnerships for YouthTruth It was April 20,1999, and I was a high school junior. Though generally a compliant student, on this day, I convinced a cute boy from drama class to cut school with me. It felt risky and fun. It felt dangerous. That evening, my 16-year-old definition of…
By Sonya Heisters, the director of partnerships for YouthTruth As a student-teacher, and like most early-career educators, I struggled with classroom management and discipline. The beautifully articulated theories of positive behavior intervention and support that I was learning through my credentialing program seemed at odds with the realities of time and resource constraints in the…
When designed and implemented well, discipline policies and practices can help a school run smoothly, support teachers, and set up equitable conditions of learning. When managed poorly, however, school discipline policies and practices can have serious long and short term effects on students’ lives both inside and outside the classroom, including contributing to the school…
On Saturday, March 3rd, students will lead parents, teachers, and administrators through the first ever “Share Your Passion” Student-Led Conference. “Share Your Passion” was inspired by a collaboration between Evergreen School District (EESD) and the Stanford Design School as a way to engage students as leaders and to amplify their voices. To create the agenda,…
We know that a positive school climate (California State Priority 6) is an essential component of a high-performing school. But we need to transform “school climate” from being just another state-mandated performance metric to becoming a strategic lever for improvement. How do we identify student groups that have less positive experiences in school, whether it’s…
We know that engagement is the key to moving the needle on student achievement. But is “engagement” an elusive intangible or an indicator that can be strategically levered for improvement? YouthTruth Partnerships Lead, Jimmy Simpson, Jr., will facilitate a conversation with district leaders from Clear Creek ISD and Midlothian ISD at the Texas Association of…
Too often in education, important decisions are made without engaging the people most affected: the students. By bringing students into transformation efforts, schools can catalyze improvements and train youth to lead alongside adults in defining and meeting district goals. To kick off the new year, YouthTruth outlined the protocols and strategies we’ve seen work well…
