Clearly, U.S. schools must prepare students with the academic insights and skills necessary for success in work and life in the 21st century. But they also must ensure that students gain responsible social relationship skills. These social competencies are equally important for success in work and life. By focusing on such social competencies,…

Mentoring programs are an effective way to offer gifted students authentic learning opportunities. Although there are many mentoring models, the fundamental relationship between mentor and mentee has remained consistent throughout the ages. One mentoring model that has recently grown in popularity is the cross-age mentoring model. In this model,…

As Villanova University embarked on a new strategic plan in 2009, the Division of Student Life placed a renewed emphasis on co-curricular leadership education (Gigliotti, 2014, in press). This Application Brief will highlight one of the new student leadership initiatives, the Student Leadership Forum in Washington, DC. Referred throughout the…

Career and technical education (CTE) programs of study are subject to rigorous state and federal accountability systems that provide information on key student outcomes. However, while these outcome measures can form a basis for identifying high- and low-performing programs, they are insufficient for answering underlying questions about how or why…

Traditionally, schools have often made decisions about instruction, discipline, and other schoolwide policies without youth involvement. And yet, research suggests that when students have choice, control, and leadership opportunities, their motivation and engagement increase, which in turn is linked with better educational outcomes. This new guide…

In this article, Bob Macioci, dean of student affairs at Cushing Academy in Massachusetts, describes the effort to elevate and align character education curriculum with the school's larger mission by the establishment of the Virtue Project, a program that challenges a select group of student leaders to promote and encourage both the intrinsic and…

Social and emotional learning (SEL) provides a foundation for healthy development. It is the process children, youth, and adults go through to develop the skills to engage with others, manage their emotions, show empathy, handle stress, resolve stress, set goals, and make responsible decisions to succeed in work and life. School climate is a…

On campuses across the country, students and professional staff are considering student interfaith leadership as one way that students act on their core values to make a positive difference in the world. This kind of student leadership can be framed through student leadership models like the social change model of leadership development. Better…

From 1983-2011, the Harvard Square Homeless Shelter (HSHS) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, was the only student-run homeless shelter in the United States. However, college students at Villanova, Temple, Drexel, the University of Pennsylvania, and Swarthmore drew upon the HSHS model to open their own student-run homeless shelter in Philadelphia,…

This chapter recounts the first 3 years of the Student Voice Collaborative (SVC) in New York City, a district supported student leadership initiative that engages high school aged youth in school reform work at school and district levels. Based on his experiences developing and running the SVC, the author identifies nine design and implementation…

Positive youth development is a strengths-based, positive psychology approach to fostering adolescents' educational engagement and achievement. It focuses not just on students' academic development but also on their vocational, social, and emotional development. The positive youth development philosophy is at the heart of Cynthia Hazel's unique…

This paper describes the engagement of a student committee in redesigning an entire floor of a university union to accommodate student cultural centers and provide space in a fair and equitable manner. The reorganization focused on the process as well as the task of allocating space, with an emphasis on the opportunity to foster the development of…

Leadership is learnable--it begins with leading oneself. Leadership is inspirational--it inspires in others the sustainable values that guide their pursuit of success and significance in life. Inspiration, transparency, trust, reputation, purpose, and commitment have become the operating currency of leadership in a morally interdependent world.…

Student "Mentor" and "Leadership" Programs impact the climate and culture of schools. Students are capable of outstanding leadership when given the opportunities and constructs to be successful. The evidence is clear that those schools that embrace student leadership and mentor programs have more positive events, activities,…

The author describes the Link Crew transition program that she implemented in 2012 as assistant principal for curriculum and guidance at Villa Park High School in California. She states that administrative and counseling teams at her school had noticed that ninth-grade students struggled in their transitions to high school, with over half of the…