In February, 16-year-old junior Elijah Lopez got an unusual invitation from his Washington, D.C., high school, Washington Leadership Academy. Members of its executive leadership team were planning their spring retreat in March. They contacted Elijah about inviting students to participate for the first time.

“They wanted student perspective,” he explained. “Ask questions of the students, get some feedback, and then make their decision based on our answers.”

Elijah was already a student representative, meaning he attends weekly meetings with WLA’s executive director, principal and other senior leaders to discuss future plans. At his suggestion, two more juniors active in student government were invited to the retreat virtually.

The students made concrete suggestions. They persuaded WLA leadership to train more students in peer mediation and helped everyone agree that shutting the doors for entry after a certain hour to reduce tardiness would do more harm than good. They said attendance could improve (after dropping during the pandemic) if more students feel a sense of belonging. Student Autumn Brown explained how some students don’t like being called on by teachers.

“They don’t feel comfortable being called out and speaking in front of big crowds,” the 16-year-old said. “So I feel like when a teacher can just come to the student one-on-one and not, like, put the student on the spot, then it makes the student more comfortable.”

WLA has been emphasizing youth voice and choice — one of six research-based XQ Design Principles — since opening in 2016 as an XQ Super School. The public charter school of about 390 students included students and teachers when it partnered with CommonLit to create an ELA curriculum in 2018 that’s now used in high schools around the country.

“What we want is to not just have the sense of students co-leading with us, but actually leading adults,” Principal Eric Collazo said. He added that educators are often hesitant to include students, even though there are many benefits. “What we’ve found is in instances where you do release that responsibility to the students, you actually see them start to put into practice or apply the skills that we want to see — not only in high school but beyond in their college or career pathways.”

Read the full article about involving students in school-based decisions by Beth Fertig at The 74.