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POSSIBILITIES
for Students as School Decision-Makers
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Students choosing and designing
curriculum
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Students participating in new building
design
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Students as members of local and state
school boards
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Students writing grants
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Students creating and enforcing
discipline policies
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Students participating in personnel
hiring and firing
EXAMPLES of Students as
Decision-Makers
Old School Practice/New School Thinking
In Anne Arundel County, Maryland students here have participated as
voting members of the district board of education for more than 25
years. The student member is a high school senior who votes on
all issues, including all areas of the school budget, discipline, and
fiscal issues. In addition, every advisory, curriculum, and
study committee, along with special task forces in the district
includes students, working on everything from grading policies to
alternative learning.
Developing Democracy Federal
Hocking High School, located in rural Stuart, Ohio, gives students an
equal place at the table when faculty hiring decisions are made, when
curriculum is chosen, and when class offerings are determined.
Former principal George Wood said, “Students often find themselves
preached to about values instead of practicing them. That’s why
our efforts have been to focus on practice rather than exhortation.
Everything we do, including classroom teaching practices, school
governance, students’ experience both inside and out of school,
assessment, even the organization of the school day, is done with an
eye toward developing democratic community."
 Positive Possibilities for Practice A recent report from the Kentucky Department of Education about
student involvement was a national survey of student involvement in
state-level decision-making. The young person who conducted the
research found that only 20 states nationwide engage students in their
boards of education in some way. He also found that only five
states give students voting rights on the state Board of Education,
and just seven states include more than two student advisors. The rest
of these positions are non-voting, and most of the positions across
the nation are appointed by adults without student involvement.
Northern Exposure A Canadian researcher conducted a country-wide survey of school,
school district and departmental education systems and found that
there is a growing interest in student involvement in education
decision-making on all levels, especially among district
administrators and classroom teachers.
Students Want to be Involved A study in Tennessee found that the majority of students want to be
involved in more than 14 areas of school decision-making, including
selecting textbooks and instructional materials, selecting a new
principal when there is a vacancy, consulting with the principal when
other vacancies are filled, deciding what is to be taught, deciding
which teaching methods will be used, deciding how time will be used
during the day, and determining how available funds are to be spent.
LINKS TO LOCAL EXAMPLES
of Students as Decision-Makers
Indiana Students on School Board
California Law Mandates Student Representation
Rockville, MD: 25 Years of Students on Board
Vermont School Boards with Students
Washington State Student Representative
D.C. Student Representative Bio
RESOURCES for Students
as Decision-Makers
Guide to Students on
School Boards
Student Voice in
School Building Leadership
Who Makes
Decisions in Schools
Tracks the flow of
decision-making from individual students to the President of the
United States.
Overcoming Barriers to
Student Voice
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