SEL Trends: Empowering Youth Voice

From CASEL's SEL Trends series, this issue describes ways that Chicago, Cleveland and Washoe County school districts have recognized students as experts of the school experience and built structures for students to better influence school and district decisions and practices.

TAGS social studies SEL partnerships student leadership youth voice

Washoe County’s Student Voice Homepage and Student Voice Toolkit

Students practice and strengthen social and emotional skills through leadership opportunities. By elevating students as leaders, districts both benefit from student perspective and ingenuity and support their skill development. This website provides a great example of a district-level approach.

TAGS toolkit student leadership youth voice

Giving Students a Voice in their Education (video)

This video from Education Week features Washoe County School District's practices to promote student voice and agency in shaping policies and decisions that impact education. Youth voice and leadership is a central part of the social and emotional learning approach in the district.

TAGS videos student leadership youth voice

Chicago Public Schools Student Voice Committees

Student Voice Committees (SVCs) are designed to form crucial student-adult partnerships to help address the issues schools and students are facing. Through engaging students in the decision making process, SVCs seek to improve school culture and climate and develop youth leadership skills.

TAGS student leadership youth voice

Youth Participatory Evaluation

Youth Participatory Action Research is an approach that trains young people to conduct research to improve their community and the institutions designed to serve them. This hub, hosted by UC Berkeley, shares curriculum and resources to support YPAR projects.

TAGS toolkit student leadership assessment conducting local SEL research continuous improvement youth voice