Student Voices Publications | Education|Evolving

Students Respond: Should K-12 Policy By Redirected Toward Innovation? (HTML)

E|E asserts that student motivation is critically relevant to K-12 policy. The country has radically changed the assignment to its schools. A system earlier told to expand access to learning is now told it must ensure that students learn. But, what do young people think of E|E's assertion? Here is an overview of five students' responses.

Staying In!! Youth on the path to quitting school explain why motivation is central to learning and graduating. (pdf)

"Staying In!!" examines the experiences of some youths who quit school, were attending a school with a low graduation rate, or were on the path to quitting. It describes their human, and democratic, desire to choose whether or not they will learn. Once engaged, they do learn better. It finds that different things motivate different students to choose learning; that no one factor is likely to motivate all students to learn well. It’s possible that states now doing best with motivation are those allowing for the creation of new and fundamentally different schools, advancing customization in addition to high standards for learning.

What matters to students and their performance? (pdf)

Current students and recent graduates of Minnesota chartered schools say they may have dropped out had they not left conventional schools to attend new and different schools. While all of the students appreciated improved relationships with teachers and peers, their different schools, in different ways, enhanced the students’ ability and motivation to learn. Read more in these notes from a panel of students at "The Changing Definition of ‘School’ and ‘Schooling’," a national leadership conversation hosted by Education|Evolving in 2006.

Academic competitions are a learning experience outside school. (pdf)

What do students' choices for outside-of-school learning tell us about how we could design in-school learning models and education policy? Academic competitions are a largely-unexplored and little-understood aspect of student learning. Such competitions deserve additional attention from academic researchers, professional educators, and education policy leaders to better determine how students learn, what motivates students, and what skills and experiences are most relevant to the real world.

Tech-savvy students stuck in text-dominated schools: A summary of available research on student attitudes, perceptions, and behavior. (pdf)

"Tech Savvy..." summarizes available literature reporting student attitudes, perceptions, and behaviors when it comes to using digital technology, particularly for learning. The report describes our nation's increasingly tech-savvy students and the various ways in which they use computers and the Internet. It outlines students' frustrations with our still-text-dominated schools. Students suggest how education policy and school designers could better meet their needs.

Students object to standardized testing: Sampling of articles supports using other learning measures. (pdf)

While many students take standardized tests to meet graduation requirements, or simply because they’re told by adults that they must take the test, some conscientious objectors have emerged. This document summarizes their reasons, as reported in an admittedly unscientific sampling of newspaper articles from across the nation (all of which can be downloaded in the standards & testing section of our links page).

Listening to student voices: Students at Avalon High School in St. Paul examine their peers' attitudes. (pdf)

Much might be learned about the design for schooling, if researchers and policymakers were to listen to what the students say. This has not been the tradition: How often do you see students participating in important discussions about education, about school and about policy? In this report, student-researchers at Avalon (chartered) High School in Saint Paul challenge adults to start allowing consumer input to be a driver in efforts to increase students' motivation to attend, to learn and to graduate. Since publication, the students presented their findings to the Twin Cities Citizens League and to a conference of superintendents from throughout the state of California.

Students inform legislators: What's important to understand about chartered schools and what motivates student learning? (pdf)

At the Charter School Student Summit held in St. Paul in December 2004, students discussed the growth and challenges facing the charter movement nationally and reflected on Dr. Howard Fuller’s theory that there can be greater capacity to achieve needed change in public education via chartered schools. Students also discussed their own experiences in chartered schools and exchanged their ideas for improvement of the sector. At the end of the summit, evaluations asked students to inform legislators about chartered schools and what motivates them to learn. Their feedback is summarized in this document.

Minnesota Students Describe Their Chartered School Experiences. (pdf)

At the Charter School Student Summit held in St. Paul in December 2004, students discussed, in small groups, their experiences attending Minnesota chartered schools. This document summarizes their discussions.

Positive school culture: Students help answer the question, ‘How are Minnesota chartered schools doing?’ (pdf)

'Positive school culture' describes in detail ten of the most unconventional schools appearing in Minnesota since legislators passed the state's chartering law in 1991. Opinions from students who attended the schools make clear that many families who choose fundamentally different schools are first seeking a positive school culture. To these Minnesota families, a school's success is measured by far more than its average test scores.