Student Voice in School Reform: A Case Study of Madison High School's Youth-Adult Governance Model

Abstract

This qualitative case study examined how Madison High School's governance model generated youth-adult collaborations around school problems. This seven-month intensive study collected data through numerous site observations, semi-structured one-on-one interviews with 27 adults and students, focus group interview with 11 students, and document collection. This data collection answered the following research questions: To what extent does Madison High School include students and faculty into the policy decision-making, implementation, and review process? If so, how? Why is it done this way? How do faculty, students, administration, and staff perceive its impact on improving the school policy creation and implementation process? Student voice scholars are still investigating the ways in which student leadership around school reform can be facilitated (Dempster & Lizzio, 2007; Fielding, 2004; Mitra, 2005; Mitra & Gross, 2009; O'Donoghue, Kirshner & McLaughlin, 2002; Zeldin, McDaniel, Topitzes, & Calvert, 2000; Zeldin, 2004a). And scholars are interested in investigating how participants enact leadership when it is distributed to them (Hallinger & Heck, 1996; Spillane, 2001, 2004). This study found that not only does the school's governance model include students in the policy making, implementation, and review processes, it distributed leadership across the school and aided in organizational learning by designing its structures and processes around constitutional principles.