Performing Inclusion, Withholding Power: Digital Representations of Student Board Members

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Saturday 7:45 am
  In Roundtable Session: Examining Leadership's Direct and Indirect Effects on Student Outcomes

Abstract

Some school districts include student members on their school boards, positioning youth to contribute meaningfully to district decision-making. However, previous research suggests that school districts may co-opt student board members for public relations purposes rather than representing them as fellow educational leaders alongside adult board members. We use Hall’s understanding of representation to analyze the web presence of 68 school districts in the three largest metropolitan areas in the United States. Our analysis revealed that many districts celebrated student board members on social media but excluded them from official school board web pages. This study responds to the 2026 AERA theme, Unforgetting Histories and Imagining Futures, by interrogating how school districts selectively remember and erase student contributions through digital media.

Authors

• Betul Ozel, University of Arizona

• Melanie Bertrand, University of Arizona

• Chi Nguyen, University of Arizona

• Joonkil Ahn, University of Arizona