In a world where the customer is always right, students, essentially the customers of the education system, are often not being listened to. Administrative decisions are frequently driven by mandates of the government (federal or local). Sometimes the teachers are included, but rarely are students consulted. The student-run nonprofit Student Voice was born out of this desire to give students a voice within a system theoretically designed to help them succeed.
A study by the Quaglia Institute showed that increasing student engagement in schools has a direct correlation with higher grades and lower drop-out rates. In turn, when more students stay in school, a higher percentage of students move on to higher education, contributing to a more educated workforce that is better equipped to solve the problems of tomorrow.
Student Voice aims to help high school students find their voice and provide them with the tools and resources to enact change on the issues that matter most to them. We have found that the best way to ensure high student engagement is to meet them where they are and bring them into the conversation.
Recently, Student Voice embarked on a nationwide tour, hosting roundtables in 50 different cities. The first question we asked these students was to tell us something about their school that the teachers and administrators probably didn’t know. Suddenly, we were exposed to a whole slew of issues and concerns that, far from not being addressed, were not even on the radar of those making the decisions. This is only one example of the importance of including student voice in schools.
Giving students opportunities to have their voices heard does not have to be limited to one classroom. The Superintendent for Pittsburgh Public Schools is working to start a Student Advisory Council and Philadelphia’s mayor has long had a youth commission. Both are instances of the powers that be reaching out to give students a seat at the table in the rooms where the decisions are being made. It’s a good first step.
Allowing students to take control of some of their learning within the classroom can be the first step towards empowering them to speak up on bigger issues they’ve noticed that impact their daily lives. Listen to students. You may be surprised by how much they have to say.
Giving students a voice within the education system Headed to FETC this week in Orlando? You can see Tara take part in two panel discussions, Increasing Community Engagement with Technology: Why and How It’s Done (Thursday, 12 – 12:40 pm) and Generation-Savvy Leadership: Tapping Into Teachers’ and Learners’ Skills and Interests (Thursday, 1-1:40 pm).
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All across the globe today, school boards are facing scarce resources and tough choices about how to spend those resources. Dr. Marc Frankel and 
The conversation keeps evolving, shifting, and growing, according to Marc. “I’m hearing much more reticence on the part of governing boards, school heads, and directors to make a technology play for its own sake,” he says. “They want to know ahead of time what the anticipated impact is going to be before investing precious resources and money.” With smartphones and tablets seemingly everywhere, Marc says we should be using the available technology as a means to accelerate teaching and learning. “All these things have a much bigger impact on teaching and learning than we looked for years ago,” he says.
Character education and social-emotional learning are becoming necessities inside K-12 and higher ed. There is a basic need developing for content to be presented in a way that supports the overall psyche of students. Peter Kraft, CEO of
As Peter states, “The challenge is to take our client’s existing experience and content that has already proven effective for them and translate that into a learning environment that is gamified, that’s more interactive, so that students are more interested and engaged in the content.” While this works with standard curriculum and subjects, this approach is especially effective when dealing with sensitive content and topics like bullying, cyberbullying, depression, suicidal thoughts, anxiety, respect issues, and incidents of racial intolerance.
Peter Kraft is presently the CEO and Co-Founder of 
