Frameworks for Meaningful Student Involvement

If you believe that…

• Students should be partners in improving education
• Education should build community
• Schools should teach democracy in action

…then Meaningful Student Involvement is for you.

Meaningful Student Involvement provides context for student voice in order to foster student engagement by creating student/adult partnerships that transform learning, teaching and leadership throughout the entire education system.

The following Frameworks for Meaningful Student Involvement are different tools designed to help schools for on taking action with students as partners to transform schools. They do not tell you what to do; they do serve as guiding lights for change.

Please use and share these with students, educators and community members.

Frameworks for Meaningful Student Involvement

Intro To Meaningful Student Involvement

A short introduction to the concept of engaging students as partners throughout education, this page introduces what it is, what it isn’t, how it happens and what it looks like. There’s also a short summary of the Strategies for Meaningful Student Involvement.

Framework 1: Aims of Meaningful Student Involvement 

This page offers a summary of the Aims of Meaningful Student Involvement, clearly identifying why this concept matters and what can be expected from using it. It also links to more information and research on each aim.

Framework 2: Characteristics of Meaningful Student Involvement

These six Characteristics of Meaningful Student Involvement are basically short research-proven identifiers that can be used by students, schools leaders and others to help see if their school embraces Meaningful Student Involvement.

Framework 3: Adult Perspectives of Students 

Understanding the ways adults generally view students is essential for understanding the meaningfulness of student involvement. This page offers a simple tool for identifying perspectives in a non-judgmental, non-threatening way.

Framework 4: Cycle of Student Engagement

Based on SoundOut’s 15-plus year journey working to promote successful engagement, this tool offers a concise approach to engaging students throughout education. As a tool for planning, assessment and reflection, it can be used in many ways.

Framework 5: Ladder of Student Involvement

Adapted from other popular tools, the Ladder of Student Involvement offers a succinct way to summarize different approaches to engaging students as different points throughout their education careers, their school days and their entire lives.

Framework 6: Spheres of Meaningful Student Involvement

This page offers contextualizes all of the Frameworks, offering a clear graphic to place each tool in reference to the others involved here.

Framework 7: Learning from Meaningful Student Involvement

All student involvement should provide learning within. This tool offers a way to see exactly how Meaningful Student Involvement embraces learning by illuminating a clear process for students and educators to follow.

Framework 8: Elements of Student/Adult Partnerships

Offering a simple summary of what’s meaningful and way isn’t, this is a quick section designed for quick understanding of what’s meaningful and what isn’t. These five elements offer identifiable, practical markers for Meaningful Student Involvement.

Framework 9: Strategies for Meaningful Student Involvement

These strategies offer six general categories of action for Meaningful Student Involvement. They summarize a lot of activities throughout schools, providing a clear pathway to transform education.

Framework 10: Roles for Students throughout Education

There are dozens of specific activities students can have in classrooms, school buildings, district offices, state agencies, and beyond. This page names many of them and shares examples of where they are happening right now.

Framework 11: Barriers to Student Voice

Understanding the things that stop Meaningful Student Involvement is essential to understanding how it happens. This summary shows what, who and how student voice is challenged and offers ways to overcome the barriers, too.

Framework 12: Planning for Meaningful Student Involvement

This page offers tools and tips for planning, strategizing, and otherwise taking action to transform schools through Meaningful Student Involvement.

Framework 13: Measuring Meaningful Student Involvement

Summarizing our collection of measurement tools and sharing pathways for action, this article identifies what Meaningful Student Involvement can be measured for and against.

Framework 14: Student Voice Revolution Continuum

Completely reimagining the education system, this continuum positions student voice in several different ways in order to envision the possibilities, potential, and purpose of Meaningful Student Involvement.

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You Might Like…

• Guide to Meaningful Student Involvement
• Meaningful Student Involvement Toolbox
• Meaningful Student Involvement Handbook 
• Bibliography