Resources

Despite holding vital knowledge about their social realities, students and youth are often excluded from decision-making processes in equity reviews and audits. Centering youth voices as critical interest holders in a Systemic Equity Review (SER) and including them in collaborative partnerships enhances the capacity of education leaders to strategically address inequities.

This brief helps state, district, and local educators and leaders learn the benefits of integrating youth partnerships in SER processes and other equity-focused initiatives. It also supports plans to integrate youth partnerships with resources and examples.

To authentically incorporate youth partnership, the brief recommends using the research-based principles of Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR). YPAR, a critical scholarly method, supports the enactment of culturally responsive approaches and the achievement of the goals of culturally responsive education by enabling educational institutions to capture a deeper, richer understanding of social contexts and more accurately design ways to address educational inequity.