Innovative Student Research for Institutional Change

• In Event: The Youth Shall Lead Us: Student-Conducted Research as the Ultimate Educational Innovation

Abstract

This paper evaluates the use and impact of youth participatory action research (YPAR) on institutional change conducted by traditionally marginalized students of color. Through an examination of the Council of Youth Research (Council), a YPAR program located in Los Angeles, we sought to answer the following question: In what ways do the practices and efforts of the Council of Youth Research facilitate institutional change at the local level? The authors argue that student-led research in schools can enrich educational decision-making and help foster institutional change (Fine, 2008; see Bautista, Bertrand, Morrell, Scorza, & Matthews, in press).


This paper draws upon insights from Critical Race Theory (CRT) to explicate the intrinsic nature of racism in society and institutions (Ladson-Billings & Tate IV, 1995). CRT offers a unique analytical framework to evaluate the ways in which students of color challenged hegemony in the pursuit of institutional change. Further, we relied upon Solórzano and Delgado-Bernal’s (2001) theory of transformational resistance to centralize the experiential knowledge of the youth participants and evaluate the ways in which the Council bolstered their social justice efforts (Solórzano & Yosso, 2001). Finally, we sought to understand the use of counterstories (Bell, 1989; Crenshaw, 1988) as potential tools to share the research findings of students with policy makers and evaluate the potential for change.

We collected and analyzed interviews, field notes and student work products including essays, PowerPoint presentations, and videos from the 2010-2011 and 2012-2013 school years. Additionally, we conducted participant observations (Anderson-Levitt, 2006) and embedded ourselves in the four different high schools subgroups. To analyze the data, we employed a recursive coding process, allowing themes to emerge.

Council students’ research exposed systemic racism in their institutions and their findings influenced a range of educational decision makers including teachers, administrators and district leaders. In one example, complaints regarding high student-to-counselor ratios were made previously by teaching staff at one site and when site administrators and mid-level district staff observed the students’ presentation of data immediately pushed to have Council students present to the district superintendent to support their argument for more time with college counselors. While students’ research influenced school and district decision makers, not much change occurred as a direct result of their efforts. However, because their research was in direct support of local organizations working to facilitate change, their voice was instrumental in legitimizing the efforts of local organization and provided evidence of the challenges their fellow students faced.

While CRT calls for a recognition and promotion of experiential knowledge in research and policy making, YPAR provided a framework to help facilitate change in support of local community stakeholders. Council students agitated decision makers through their research and empowered others to work towards creating institutional change based on their findings. This suggests that schools should provide a structure for the inclusion of student voice in policy decisions by highlighting the value of individual and institutional critiques of the institution. Finally, the use of YPAR can support effective decision making to improve school and community outcomes.

Authors

• Melanie Bertrand, Arizona State University

• D'Artagnan Scorza, University of California - Los Angeles

• Isabel J. Morales, Los Angeles Unified School District

• Jamie Gravell, University of California - Los Angeles