Young Voices

Young Voices tranforms urban youth into powerful advocates

  • Home
  • About Us
    • History
    • Board Members
    • Staff
    • Partners
    • Contact Us
  • Donate
Slide 1
Slide 1
Slide 5
Slide 5
Slide 5
Slide 5
Slide 2
Slide 2

RI Kids Count report: Students want, need more guidance in reaching their goals

October 24, 2017 By Peter Chung Leave a Comment

Projo Logo

Monday Oct. 23, 2017 PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Rhode Island Kids Count asked students from seven public high schools what their schools were like and what would make their education more meaningful and more connected to the real world.

Kids Count, part of a national child advocacy group, partnered with Young Voices, a local youth empowerment organization, to ask students the following questions: Do they have a voice in their schools? Does anyone ask them about their academic and career goals? Do they have the opportunity to learn outside of the classroom? Do their teachers try to create an individual learning plan for each student?

Rhode Island’s school regulations state that every middle and high school student must have an adult, in addition to a school counselor, who is knowledgeable about that student’s academic, career and social goals. But many students said that only those youth who took the initiative got the help they needed to develop a plan to meet their goals.

In the Kids Count report, “Rhode Island Youth Perspectives: Engaging Students in their own Learning,” students, who were not identified, shared their experiences. More than 50 students from Providence, Pawtucket and Central Falls participated in six workshops with Kids Count.

“The focus groups provide a snap shot of what students are thinking about ways that their schools can connect them to important learning opportunities that go beyond the classroom,” said Elizabeth Burke Bryant.

Students want practical skills that will serve them well in college and the workplace, she said.

“We students are the only ones who know what it’s like to actually be in the classrooms every day,” said Jorge Soto, an 11th-grade student and member of Young Voices. “How can policymakers know if the policies they create are being implemented the way they intended if they don’t hear from the people who are impacted by those policies on a daily basis? Our perspective needs to be included if policies are to be effective at improving our lives.”

“I’ve never had a teacher actually ask me what I want to do,” said one student. “The counselor has only been concerned about what colleges I’m going to.”

Another student said a lot of the positive student-teacher relationships “happened by chance, like survival of the fittest. If you meet a teacher who can be your friend, you’re good. If you go to an organization … like Young Voices, you’re good.”

State regulations require that all students, starting in sixth grade, have an individual learning plan that outlines their goals. But a number of students said that their learning plans are largely ignored.

“There’s nothing we really do to help achieve these goals,” one student said. “It’s basically just writing them down.”

When the plans were well-implemented, however, students said they really felt encouraged to get more involved in their schools.

“It helped me push more for my goals,” one student said. “Like I wanted to be in the Honor Society this year and I’m really proud of myself because I really used [the plan] to become an Honor Society member.”

Students in schools that offered career tracks, formerly known as vocational education, talked passionately about the value of these experiences.

One student described getting an internship at the University of Rhode Island in marine biology: “Every time I went there, I learned something new about marine biology. There were also people from URI working there, so I got information from biologists working there. It was a good experience.”

— lborg@providencejournal.com

Filed Under: Press

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Donate:

  • $120 supports him/her to be in the LTA for a month
  • $1,400 supports him/her to participate in the Leadership Transformation Academy (LTA) for the year
  Donate

Youth Impact

  • Program Description
  • Proven Impact
  • Other Projects

Education Equity

  • State-level Change
  • District-Level Change
  • Change at the School Level
  • Student Driven Research

In The News:

RI Kids Count report: Students want, need more guidance in reaching their goals

Young Voices Part of Major Effort to Expand Student-Centered Learning Statewide

Providence Public School Board Passes new Code of Conduct Policy

College Access and Workforce Development

R.I. student survey: Adult educators too quick to discipline

All News Items

Student Driven Research

  • Students solutions to increase attendance and graduations rates November 2013
  • Students partnering in school redesign Juanita Sanchez Educational Complex August 2011
  • Students partnering in school redesign at Central Falls High School May 2011
  • Students documenting school experience: Executive Summary
  • Students documenting school experience in Pawtucket and Central Falls Schools: June 2009
  • Students documenting school experience in Woonsocket Schools: June 2009
  • Student driven research on school climate in Providence Schools: January 2009

Join our Mailing List:

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

About

Young Voices is a Rhode Island-based non-profit organization that transforms urban youth into powerful advocates, who partner with our State’s major leaders to create systemic reform and policy change that improve the lives of thousands of youth across the state.

Location:
P.O.Box 5853,
Providence, RI 02903
E. info@youngvoicesri.org

Copyright © 2021 Young Voices