For schools and districts

Empower students, transform education

Create stronger learning environments alongside your students.

Schools and districts where students help shape change build better relationships, a more positive school culture, and a stronger learning environment. Research shows that partnering with students makes schools better at facilitating students’ academic and developmental success and addressing inequities (Kahne et al., 2022). Rather than putting extra pressure on educators, this collaborative approach boosts student engagement, builds stronger school communities, and encourages ongoing improvement.

Why has your district engaged in Student-Powered Improvement?

“I really believe that if we listen to students and are more willing to let go of tradition and embrace innovation, then that will make a big difference.”

–Dr. Kyra Caldwell Templeton, Atlanta Public Schools

What’s your “why” for increasing student voice?

“The school experience has changed so much since I was a kid. It’s really important to listen to what students think is important and what motivates them. Then we can harness their interest, harness their motivation and really design learning experiences that will maximize what they take out of our classrooms.”

–Mike Taack, School Founder, Nevada

What’s different since you increased student voice across schools?

“I see actively engaged students, I see students who are participating, who are willing, who are engaging, who are proud of what they do and proud of being heard.”

–Trina Agerbak, Educator

How has partnering with students impacted classrooms?

“The air feels different. You can see how students take ownership in their learning; the environment feels good. There’s a buzz in how students are working or engaging. There’s also a sense of focus and attention.”

–Manny Algarin, instructional coach

A PERSONALIZED APPROACH 

Get started

There’s no single way or single entry point to develop a student-powered school. You can start small, with one strategy. If you’re already immersed in Student-Powered Improvement, there are ways to expand your partnerships with students. This simple 10-question self-assessment will help identify where your school or district is on a student-powered journey and offer a customized action plan to get started.

Get personalized results

Resource highlight

Framework

The student-powered improvement framework includes four different ways to engage students in improvement efforts: Empathize with students, involve students, share decision-making with students, and student-led improvement efforts. Explore the framework to help your team position your current work, imagine more possibilities, and prevent efforts that merely tokenize students.

Resource

Framework

Explore the student-powered improvement framework of possibilities.

See examples

Explore case studies of school-level and district-level Student-Powered Improvement.

Case Study

Feedback Loops

Students and families continuously inform improving Black students’ school experience.

Case Study

Design Collaborative

Students and teachers developed lessons about racial identity through a collaborative on race and racism.

Case Study

Youth Ambassadors

A student group uses continuous improvement to solve complex problems they see in their schools.

Brought to you by Community Design Partners.

Community Design Partners offers workshops, design sprints, and comprehensive improvement supports to support Student-Powered Improvement in any context.

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Resources

Move from inspiration to action

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