Supporting Youth Participation in School Reform: Preliminary Notes from a University-Community Partnership

Ben Kirshner
School of Education
University of Colorado at Boulder

Citation: Kirshner, Ben (2007). "Supporting Youth Participation in School Reform: Preliminary Notes from a University-Community Partnership." Children, Youth and Environments 17 (2): 354-363. Retrieved [date] from http://www.colorado.edu/journals/cye/

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Abstract

Youth voice and participation have become popular slogans in the United States.  However, too often presentations by youth groups result in pleasant, but ultimately toothless, responses from policymakers.  This paper describes the early stages of a partnership between a university researcher and a community organization that helps high school students learn tools that will enable them to participate, as legitimate political actors, in decisions about school reform.  The report identifies the goals of the partnership, discusses steps taken so far, and shares some of the assumptions and strategies guiding the work.

Keywords: action research, youth participation, youth organizing