Eye on ECCS: Youth Participatory Evaluation

 

NOTE: Occasionally throughout the school year, we will visit a school across Eastern Carver County Schools. Some weeks the plan may be to stop in multiple classrooms by grade, or by subject. Other weeks it may highlight a certain specialist group. The purpose is to give families and our community a glimpse into the every-day learning environment happening in our buildings. A chance to spotlight the incredible work our teachers and staff do on a daily basis for our students, and to showcase the incredible work our students produce as well. So, keep your Eye on ECCS!

Making a lasting impact in her school and school district was reason enough for Marissa Doerfler to take part in a new Youth Participatory Evaluation (YPE) group. A team of secondary students is being trained this year to conduct systematic research to improve their lives, their communities, and the institutions intended to serve them.

“I wanted to make a change. There are things with school that I’m very passionate about and I wanted my voice to be heard. I figured this experience would give me an opportunity to express those feelings,” said Doerfler, an eighth grader at Pioneer Ridge Middle School.

Doerfler is most passionate about the health and safety of students. She also wants students to have the resources – whether that’s proper nutrition, increased WIN time (What I Need) or coursework options – to get everything out of the school day.

Sriniketh Madhavan was president of the student council at Pioneer Ridge last year. Like Doerfler, he thought this opportunity could lead to bigger picture changes beyond his school, maybe all the way to the district level.

“I am hoping that kids get what they want. Even though they make requests that we can’t fully do, maybe we can see some of what they want. Like, instead of having a themed meal every day, we can see more variety in meals instead,” Madhavan said.

For Hadyat Charif, a Chaska High School junior, one of her life goals is “to make the world a better place.” One place she could start was at school.

“I've been in Chaska High School for three years now and although I love this school and all the teachers are wonderful, there were some factors I didn't quite like about our school system and there were factors I felt we need to change,” she said.

While using student voice in decision-making is already a common practice in ECCS, YPE takes it a step further by empowering students as researchers and changemakers. They’re the ones asking their classmates the important questions. 

“Being the one asking my peers questions feels intimidating and out of my comfort zone since usually adults would be asking these types of questions instead of students” Charif said. “I know I am getting accurate results since my peers are not intimidated or feel pressured to have to say something good when it's actually not how they feel. That's what I like about YPE. It's student-based and students are the ones doing the majority of the work and the adults are just monitoring.” 

Pioneer Ridge Middle School eighth-grader NaZyra Oku said gaining experience with interviewing at a young age will be an invaluable tool for her in years to come.

“(Students) definitely knew what they wanted to see changed,” she said.

Classmate Oliver Fauzie has also enjoyed the research part, which involved talking directly with fellow students.

“It was fun to interview students and hear what they want from school,” he said. “I wanted to have a role in how things are done in a school district. This is something that interests me.”

In the first research project for the YPE team, they looked into seven different areas of the school district budget and asked students about how they view the importance of transportation, energy, facilities, health and safety, nutrition services, curriculum and professional development, and salaries and benefits.

The students conducted more than 200 interviews, transcribing 32 pages of notes. They developed a survey to have respondents rank in order the importance of each of the seven budget areas with 281 of their fellow students responding. The highest priority areas for secondary students were health and safety, curriculum and professional development, and nutrition services.

Common themes within these priority areas included physical safety (bullying prevention, feeling safe during potential threats) and emotional well-being (student/teacher relationships, stress and anxiety related to home or school). Students also emphasized the need for more lunch options and larger portions, accessible transportation, and retaining passionate and motivated staff.

The YPE group presented their initial findings at the January school board workshop. “I was really excited to go up there and share how I felt,” Doerfler said.

“I think I pointed out some things that are not only a nationwide issue but also here in our schools,” Oku said.

“(It was) nice to see the people who make the decisions,” Madhavan said.

“It is very important that students’ voices are being heard in the district since this is a student-based industry and they are making a decision regarding us,” Charif said.

The YPE program is supported by principals and staff at each secondary school, including Travis Rother (Chanhassen High School), Susanna DeLeon (Chaska High School), Jen Larson (Pioneer Ridge Middle School), Amy Scharenbrock (Chaska Middle School East), and Rachel Alrick (Chaska Middle School West), as well as the district's Research, Evaluation & Assessment department, led by Dr. Khrisslyn Goodman (who has experience with YPE in another district) and Jason Pelowski. The initiative also benefits from the expertise of a national YPE consultant.

The YPE group will share their ongoing work at a school board work session in May or June.