Great Expectations

What Kids Want From Our Urban Public Schools

Loyce Caruthers, Jennifer Friend

• Publisher: Information Age Publishing
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN:
  9781681234403
  9781681234410
• eBook ISBN:
  9781806610242
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Evaluation & Assessment in Education

This book explores meaningful and effective use of student voice in urban school renewal efforts through strategies that include: surveys, interviews, focus groups, visual and video projects, social media, and student participation in governance. Chapters provide a definition of student voice, context for public schooling in the United States, and introduce a framework for including student voice in school renewal processes. Examples guide readers to implementation of the framework to include student voices in diverse educational settings. Authentic voices of approximately 175 students interviewed by the authors express what it is that they really want from public schools and how pre K-12 educators can provide a structure for ongoing student participation in governance and the work of the school. The existing literature explores student characteristics such as poverty, cultural diversity, and what the experts believe students need public schools to provide. Within the research, urban public schools and technical reform are often explored and examined separately from conversations about what students want from schools, excluding opportunities for their voices and diverse perspectives to be heard. Listening to students describe instances of bullying or teachers' low academic expectations provides educators with opportunities to address issues that impede student learning. The uniqueness of this framework for including student voice is that it provides multiple opportunities for students in any grade level to tell us what it is they want from public schools, and to make meaningful and lasting contributions to school renewal efforts.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Foreword
• Introduction: Framing the Need for Student Voice in Urban School Renewal
• Introduction: Framing the Need for Student Voice in Urban School Renewal
• 1 The Value in Listening to Students
• 2 Race, Gender, Identity, and Intelligence
• 3 Issues of Power and Privilege
• Conclusion
• 4 The Policy Context for Urban Public Education in the United States
• 5 America’s Love Affair With Statistics
• 6 The Framework for Including Student Voice in Urban Schools
• 7 Kids Want Caring Teachers With High Academic Expectations
• 8 Kids Want to Feel Safe at School
• 9 Kids Want Active and Engaging Learning Opportunities
• 10 Kids Want To Know More About Their Own Cultures and Cultures of All People
• 11 Student Interviews and Focus Groups
• 12 Student Surveys
• 13 Visual Methods and Technology
• 14 Students Participating in Governance and School Committees
• 15 Conclusion