Using Student Voice & Choice for Reform

First Presenter's Institution

Lead Where You Stand Corp

First Presenter's Brief Biography

Dr. Ronald Gonzalez serves as the Superintendent of Schools for the Elmsford Union Free School District. The Elmsford UFSD is a student-focused district working towards an Informed Smart Goal titled, “Comm-unity”. Under his leadership the district works to embrace inquisitive minds, develop critical thinkers, build open communication, acceptance & willingness to share within and among all stakeholders. Other roles held include Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum, Instruction & Equity for the Public Schools of the Tarrytowns. The Tarrytowns services over 2,900 students from two villages; Sleepy Hollow and Tarrytown, NY. Prior to this post he led transformation efforts at Mount Vernon High School for 11 years. His visionary leadership led to improvements in student performance, stability for staff, and several family & community awards. Understanding the need for schools to leverage change he launched and now serves as President & CEO for Lead Where You Stand Corporation, a mentoring and leadership development consulting group.

Document Type

Event

Primary Strand

School Safety

Relevance to Primary Strand

Managing and leading include two completely different approaches. Ensuring that school leadership begins and ends with students is the key to navigating both successfully.

Alignment with School Improvement Plan Topics

Leadership/ Continuous Improvement

Brief Program Description

Student leadership is widely researched as a way to empower children to take ownership of their learning. A major benefactor of student leadership is teacher leadership - learn how.

Summary

School reform journeys are complex. Learning and understanding how to empower your greatest group of stakeholders (STUDENTS) will take you further than any plan or approach. As is the case with most situations, if we simply engage students, and then get out of their way, they will guide us towards what they want. Balancing that voice with strategic actions can lead to significant, long-term change.

Evidence

The strategies being offered have consistently led to increased achievement and empowering all school stakeholders. Applying successful, research-based offerings that schools have implemented are common practice in successful institutions.

Learning Objective 1

Participants will understand the significance of student voice & choice.

Learning Objective 2

Participants will understand the non-traditional approach to student leadership and celebrating successes.

Learning Objective 3

Participants will learn how the impact of a suspension alternative plan to impact attendance, suspensions, and school engagement.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

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Using Student Voice & Choice for Reform

School reform journeys are complex. Learning and understanding how to empower your greatest group of stakeholders (STUDENTS) will take you further than any plan or approach. As is the case with most situations, if we simply engage students, and then get out of their way, they will guide us towards what they want. Balancing that voice with strategic actions can lead to significant, long-term change.