The Importance of Engaging Student Voices in MTSS

Once upon a time, I entered the classroom as a young teacher excited to impact my students' lives. I started as a middle school teacher, so I had my class syllabus, the class rules, and the outline of what we would be doing for the year, and I presented that to my students on the first day of school. I did this because it's what my own school experience was and it's what I was told to do in my teacher education program. A few years later, I had the privilege and opportunity to attend a Tribes training, now known as Peace Learning Center. The program emphasized creating engaging learning communities. This shift from control to collaboration with students not only resonated with me but also yielded remarkable results in my classrooms over the years.

I know that a change in practice can feel overwhelming, and we don't always know where to start. We don't have to completely flip our practice on its head. There are a few key places I have found that can have the most impact on student learning, behavior, and outcomes.

Reflection

As adults and practitioners, we understand the power of being reflective. How can we teach our students reflection practices that help deepen their learning and improve outcomes? 

While the idea of writing standards/objectives on the board may seem routine, it can be a powerful and dynamic way to help our students connect to and reflect on their learning. Really! I initially dreaded this strategy, but came to understand its potential when I put these steps into practice:

• I posted our learning goals and then actively infused that academic language into our learning during the day. This shift meant my students became partners in the learning process. 
• I set aside regular time in our classroom for them to reflect on where they thought they were in their learning. What was working well for them? What areas did they feel like they still needed support? 
• I used the reflection exit tickets to get a good understanding of where my students saw themselves 
• I used those reflections to realign the practice and instruction in our classroom. 

Reflective practices as an effective tool aren't confined to academics. I recall a lively and intelligent 7th-grade class I taught. Serving on a district committee required my absence from the classroom once a month. Initially, substitute reports for the class were negative, perplexing me as these were great young people. Following a candid conversation with the students, it became apparent that they disliked the substitutes' passive approach. I took time to explain to them my role on the committee and what an honor it was to be able to serve. I sought their input for solutions to avoid future negative reports. Collaboratively, we devised a plan: if the sub left names, those students spent the next two class periods in the Silent Work Center. The students believed this would motivate them during my absence. Upon my return after the next absence, four student names were left, leading to their two-class-period confinement. The classroom atmosphere that day was subdued, and at the end of class, my students commented on it. We discussed modifying the agreement, and with unanimous agreement, the four students rejoined our learning community the next day.

The next time I was out, the sub left a glowing report. I celebrated with my students, and we talked about what we had learned in this process. By collaboratively working through the problem, my students transformed their behavior, we created a shared agreement about what behaviors should and should not be exhibited and we strengthened our learning community.

Utilizing reflection in our classrooms and schools helps students make meaning and leads us to practices and policies that truly support students.

Related Resource: Giving Students Agency With a Seat at the MTSS Table

Student Focus Groups

How can schools as a whole and school districts include student voices? I can think of two significant examples from my time as a district administrator that resulted in significant shifts in practice and policy.

Elementary Focus Group Example 

I received a call one day from an elementary school administrator. There was a group of students who kept being sent to the office for behavior infractions. The school leadership team wondered if I had some ideas for strategies they could implement to change this trajectory. My first question was, "Have you talked to the students?" When the reply was "No," I suggested this as a first step. I set up the structure for a student focus group, and we brought the students together. 

I asked the students one of my favorite questions "What do you wish the adults in the school knew or understood better to help you learn?" Their responses were amazing:

•  "I wish the adults remembered we have emotions (sic), too."
• "Sometimes my teacher calls on me and then when I don't answer she goes to someone else. I need her to understand I need like Jeopardy where they play that music. Yeah, I need like time to think like that."
• "Sometimes I raise my hand, but my teacher never calls on me. She calls on other kids. It makes me feel dumb."

Social-emotional health, wait time, equitable response opportunities…their language is different, but what these students shared can all be connected back to research and what we know to be best practices! The school leadership team listened to this conversation. And created a plan for professional learning to help build the capacity to infuse best practices daily at their school.

Secondary Focus Group Example

In my role as the Director for Student Engagement, I established student focus groups of middle and high school students, and they often reached out to me with concerns. One day I received an invitation to a student-led protest planning meeting. Intrigued, I attended the meeting. The students expressed dissatisfaction with our district's approach to supporting student mental health. Their concern was in direct contrast to the ongoing adult stakeholder meetings I had been attending for months. 

Recognizing a teachable moment and an opportunity for collaboration, I asked the students if, as a first step, they would be willing to meet with the adult stakeholders. They agreed, and we set up a meeting. During the meeting, students voiced their concerns and the adults shared the current initiatives. A significant disconnect emerged: though information about mental health initiatives existed, it wasn't reaching the students. This realization served as a wake-up call for the adult stakeholders, prompting a shift in strategy:

	The students highlighted a communication gap — the adults were using platforms like Twitter, but students were active on Instagram and Snapchat. The addition of the students’ favorite social media platform kept students informed and engaged.
	Several students were invited to become standing members of a collaborative steering committee composed of school district personnel and community health organization personnel. Student voices would now help shape the district's approach to supporting student mental health.

Practical Tips for Engaging Student Voices

Ready to implement similar approaches in your classroom, school, or district? Here are some actionable steps you can take.

Reflection: 

Teach Reflective Practices: 

• Instill reflective practices in students by integrating reflection into daily activities. For example, transform the routine task of writing standards on the board into a dynamic tool for connecting and reflecting on learning.
• Utilize Reflection Exit Tickets: Allocate dedicated time for students to reflect on their learning. Create reflection exit tickets prompting students to assess what's working well and identify areas where they need support. This provides valuable insights for realigning classroom practices and instruction.
• Translate Reflection into Action: Turn student reflections into actionable practices. For instance, allow students to choose a goal that becomes a personalized element in their writing rubric. Alternatively, provide a menu of learning practices and activities for students to select based on their identified needs.

Student focus groups: 

At the school level, examine your school improvement plan and look for areas where student voice could be incorporated. 

• Start with student survey data if available. Does your data show a trend that would benefit from additional student input? 
• If your school or district doesn’t currently utilize a student survey, check out the suggestions from Learning Sciences International on creating effective surveys. 
• What goals have you established that directly impact students? This is another great place to start with a student focus group. 
• At the district level, where are the spaces and places where decisions are being made that impact students? Again, if you have student survey data, you could start with a trend from that. Determine at least one space you can use as a starting point to begin to bring in student voice. This could be a focus group to start.

Steps to establish student focus groups:

1. • Set a group size: the ideal number of students is 6-10. Determine whether you want multiple groups of this size to allow for a wider array of input. 

   • Determine group membership: Groups should represent students in a two-grade level band. You don't want fourth graders in the same group as eighth graders. Also, the makeup of the group should mirror your student population and allow for a wide array of voices.

   • Gain family permission: Be sure to let families know their students have been selected and request permission.

   • Develop focus questions: Ideally, you want no more than about 6 questions. These questions should be designed to focus on the topic or area you have selected. Example: Our student survey data shows that students do not feel connected to their teachers. What questions can we ask that help us understand the root cause?

   • Determine how you will capture the student feedback in the session(s). If you want to take written notes, have someone as a notetaker who is not the facilitator. If you are going to record, make sure you let the students know and ONLY use those recordings to gather data. These should not be shared anywhere else.

   • Follow up with actions: Make sure that there are some clear actions taken as a result of the input you receive. Our students are watching and know when their voices have been heard and valued.

Conclusion 

Find ways to incorporate student voices in a way that impacts policy and practice. 

Students are our most critical and crucial stakeholder group; they are the reason we show up in our roles every day. Our students are the true experts on their education journey. Let's make a collective effort to create opportunities for their voices to impact and inform our practices and policies. 

Key Takeaways:

• Students are our most important stakeholders so it makes sense to have their voices impact our practice.
• Student reflection is a powerful tool to bring student voice into our practice.
• Student focus groups can help ensure our practices and policies are aligned with student needs.

Our Branching Minds Professional Services Team is ready to support you. Reach out today to find out how we can help you build an MTSS Infrastructure that engages student voices and centers the work on our most important stakeholders.

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