Instilling equity within the New York City Department of Education District 31 school landscape is cultivated through an innovative approach to developing, modeling, and empowering the use of student voice, choice and agency in giving students the tools to effectively communicate in all aspects of life. Listening, learning and engaging with Superintendent, Dr. Marion Wilson, Deputy Superintendent, Christine Chavez, elementary school principal of PS 60, Ms. Donna Bonanno, and principal of Staten Island Technical High School, Mark Erlenwein, attendees will walk away with strategies on incorporating the actionable steps to developing, elevating and activating the skills necessary for cultivating student voice and choice in school-based decision making 

Attendees will learn innovative methodologies around collective efficacy on including students in inquiry teams and the generative collaborative process of leading a school, to guide shifts in school culture, climate and instruction (with an emphasis on project based learning and restorative practices around assessment). Presenters will share innovative qualitative and quantitative data from student voice research that impacted how teachers are evaluated, conversations about social justice, and youth well-being. The methodologies and conceptual tools help school leaders make meaning on how to strengthen their school’s instructional core, evaluate impact of school level processes, while providing contextual evidence to effectuate positive change.”