Harmony/VISTA Service Learning Demonstration Project

Student Led Research

Background | Purpose | Training and Activities | Resources | Home

 

Background

Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) is in the process of converting its five large high schools (1200 students or more) into 25+ autonomous small schools (400 students or fewer) through a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Though schools across the country have transformed from large to small, Indianapolis is the first city in the nation to initiate this process district-wide.

Leaders on the district and school levels of IPS have made youth engagement and input a central component to the school reform process. Nationally, no other city has been so intentional in recruiting students, parents, and community members as active contributors to a Gates-funded small school conversion model. Since the fall of 2003, students have been involved in the planning for these new small schools. See Student Involvement in School Reform for more information.

In 2004, the Harmony VISTA Project received a $9100 grant from the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) at the University of Maryland. Other partners include Indianapolis Public Schools and the Center for Excellence in Leadership of Learning at the University of Indianapolis. Many students applied and ten students from each of the five large school campuses were selected to be researchers during the 2004-2005 school year.

Once the project began, students wrote and received a $7000 grant to What Kids Can Do to fund a documentary about their findings.

This project is a collaboration between the Harmony VISTA Project, Indianapolis Public Schools, and the University of Indianapolis' Center for Excellence in Leadership of Learning.

Purpose

Most current research on student engagement explores how engagement affects academic and social outcomes. Many studies address the impact of classroom methodology, out-of-school activities, and/or school restructuring policy on student engagement. Though this research addresses important factors relating to the impact of engagement on students’ lives, few studies ask students to come up with the solutions.

Our study seeks to answer new and different questions on the engagement and attitudes of students and adults relating to youth engagement in school reform. In this study, students research how they are engaged in school reform and what they think it would take for every student to graduate. Unlike other studies of civic engagement, ours is conducted by students, which provides a deeper level of meaning not only to the fields of civic engagement and school reform.

Training

Students attended a training where they learn the basics of research and how to gather data. They began planning their research activities, created questions that all research teams would collect data on at their schools, and helped write a survey.

Periodically throughout the year, students receive further training on interviewing, survey analysis, professionally presenting data, videography, and data collection.

Data Collection Activities

In the fall of 2004, student researchers surveyed over 4200 students to get their perspectives on school climate, academic aspirations, and how they got along with teachers and other students. The survey they used was based on the survey used by the Gates Foundation to poll high school students across the country about small schools. The student researchers also designed their own data collection activities and conducted interviews with teachers and students. Much of their data focused on the following questions:

1. What would it take for every student to be successful in school?

2. What is your opinion about small schools and what do you hope they will achieve?

3. What can you do as an individual to make school a place where every student is successful?

 

Getting the word out

Student researchers have presented their survey results at faculty meetings and at district wide small school planning meetings. Researchers have engaged teachers, administrators, students, and parents from their school in discussions on the major issues from the survey.


Resources

If you want to find out more about student-led research or find out how to start a student-led research project at your school, check out these links:

Indianapolis Public Schools

Center for Excellence in Leadership of Learning

What Kids Can Do

CIRCLE

Soundout.org