If previous generations fought for access to the classroom and to be represented in the classroom, this work is about equipping the next generation of students with the agency to lead their classrooms and campuses in ways that best meet their needs. In the traditional school model, interventions are often things that are "assigned to" students, rather than "developed with" them. For students experiencing inequities, top-down approaches can inadvertently reinforce inequities and feelings of disenfranchisement. This session chronicles the shift that progressed Thurgood Marshall Secondary School (6-12) in Pasadena from compliance-based, adult-driven intervention systems to systems born from student agency. We will explore how the power of student agency can combat inequities students experience.
Student-driven equity initiatives at Marshall include:
1. Student-Driven PBIS (Positive Behavior, Interventions and Supports)
Traditional PBIS often fails when adults impose behavior expectations upon students. When students are trusted to define and place value on their own positive behaviors and then teach those behaviors to one another, engagement and buy-in increase, while challenging behaviors diminish.
2. Student-Led SEL Lessons
Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) can feel clinical when delivered solely by adults. We demonstrate a model where students are trained to facilitate and then record SEL mini-lessons for their peers. This approach ensures that the language, examples, and scenarios used are culturally appropriate and authentic, reducing the "relevance gap" that often plagues standard SEL curricula.
3. Peer Mediation and Restorative Justice
To close the equity gap as it relates to student discipline, we must move away from punitive measures that disproportionately affect students of color. When trained student leaders facilitate conflict resolution, they are reinforcing skills taught through PBIS and SEL lessons to help their classmates reflect, repair relationships and resolve conflicts, which reduces suspension rates, keeps students in the classroom and frees up time for administrators to engage in coaching teachers in culturally responsive teaching.
4. Whole-Class Data Chats
Equity thrives in transparency. When teachers relinquish the data analysis to students through classroom data-chats, classroom community is strengthened as students see one another as partners in learning and skills development. "Whole-Class Data Chats" allow students to analyze and reflect on their own data in community and then write goals to monitor their own progress and hold each-other accountable. This practice demystifies "the system" and empowers students to foster a classroom community that emphasizes shared accountability over individualized shame.
By the end of this presentation, participants will be able to:
- Identify specific points in their current intervention framework where student voice can be integrated.
- Understand how to and why student agency is vital to closing the equity gap
- Anticipate the impact of student agency on school climate and long-term equity outcomes on their campuses.
- Envision a path to student-led initiatives at their schools.
