ERIC Number: EJ1446539
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2024-Nov
Pages: 29
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0743-5584
EISSN: EISSN-1552-6895
Elevating Student Voices and Addressing Their Needs: Using Youth Participatory Action Research to Improve School Climate during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Journal of Adolescent Research, v39 n6 p1664-1692 2024
The COVID-19 pandemic and shifts to virtual learning drastically altered school environments, often leaving students without a say in the many changes happening in their lives. To understand how diverse adolescents experienced their school's climate during the COVID-19 pandemic and elevate youth voice in school decisions, we conducted a youth-participatory action research project in collaboration with a Title 1 middle school in California. Fourteen students participated in this YPAR study--mostly students of color. This mixed-methods study utilized both qualitative and quantitative data. Qualitative sources included meeting transcripts and chat logs, field notes, and responses to open-ended survey questions, all of which were coded inductively. Quantitative data sources included pre- and post-surveys on students' feelings of belonging, mattering, empowerment, and perceptions of school climate, which were compared via paired sample t-tests. Students sought to improve one of the few shared experiences of school during the pandemic, the school lunch, and showed increased feelings of empowerment and mattering over the course of the project. These findings provide insight into students' experiences of school climate during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as offer implications for both practitioners and researchers on the importance of including youth voice in the issues that impact their lives.
Descriptors: COVID-19, Pandemics, School Culture, Student Needs, Student Attitudes, Action Research, Participatory Research, Youth, Middle School Students, Federal Programs, Low Income, Sense of Community
SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: https://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2993
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Junior High Schools; Middle Schools; Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: California
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A