Exploring the Implementation of a District-Initiated Student Voice Program in Urban High Schools

• In Event: 42.083 - Roundtable Session 17
  In Roundtable Session: 42.083-19 - Student and Teacher Voices in Urban Settings

Abstract

The study uses a qualitative case study design to explore how urban high schools interpret and implement a district-initiated student voice program intended to improve schools’ conditions for learning. Through interviews with 22 district high school principals and several focus groups of students, the study uses an implementation science framework (Durlak & DuPree, 2008) to examine between-school variation. Research questions: How do urban high schools interpret and implement a district initiated student-voice mandate? And what contextual factors help to explain variance in implementation? Preliminary results suggest wide program implementation variation across the 22 sample schools, pointing to school contextual factors such as principal and school characteristics, organizational norms regarding change, and school performance and politics to explain the variation.

Authors

• Regina J Giraldo-Garcia, Cleveland State University

• Adam Voight, Cleveland State University

• Elizabeth Klancher, Cleveland State University