Assessing Youth Participatory Action Research: The Individual and School Experience

• In Event: Roundtable Session 46
  In Roundtable Session: Action Research: Challenges and a Promising Future

Abstract

In this paper, we assess the impact of our approach to youth participatory action research (YPAR). As a university research collaborative with 10 independent schools, we employ YPAR with the goal of improving students’ schooling experiences, especially focusing on gender, race, class, sexuality, and related issues of equity. Based on data from the first year and a half of a pilot impact assessment that examines the ways that YPAR impacts students and schools, we find that YPAR fosters different kinds of relationships between students and teachers, provides students with important opportunities, and influences school practices and pedagogy. We present implications for scholars and practitioners of school-based YPAR by examining the strengths and weaknesses of our YPAR model.

Authors

• Nicole Mittenfelner Carl, University of Pennsylvania

• Sharon M. Ravitch, University of Pennsylvania