Every school leader wants their students to be more engaged, empowered, and successful. But here’s the hard truth—many of us are missing a critical strategy sitting right in front of us: student voice.
In my research on how principals use student voice as a culturally responsive leadership practice, I found that while most principals believe in the idea of student voice, very few actually move beyond simply asking students for feedback. Too often, students serve as “data sources” but are rarely invited to become true partners or leaders in shaping their school community. This missed opportunity limits not just student engagement, but also academic success.
The Spectrum of Student Voice, developed by Eric Toshalis and Michael Nakkula, is a helpful way to visualize the range of roles students can have in schools, from passive participants to active leaders. The spectrum can be broken into three practical levels that help school leaders assess and strengthen their use of student voice.
Level 1: Students as Data Sources
At this level, students are primarily asked for input or feedback. Adults retain decision-making power.
Examples:
- Student surveys or polls about school climate.
- Suggestion boxes.
- Focus groups or principal “open-door” chats.
- Teacher-led discussions where students share their thoughts.
Why It Matters: It is important to get feedback from students because they are best positioned to explain their own experiences with their education. Unfortunately, schools often stop here, treating student voice as a form of data collection without acting on student suggestions in meaningful ways.
Level 2: Students as Partners
Students move beyond giving input at this stage—they work alongside adults to shape school decisions and improvements.
Examples:
- Students serve on school improvement or equity committees.
- Student-adult teams co-plan events or initiatives.
- Students analyze survey results and identify solutions.
- Students participate in professional learning communities to share insights.
Why It Matters: Involving students as partners fosters shared responsibility and deeper engagement. Students begin to see themselves as contributors to the school’s culture and success. However, in these cases, the final authority and decision making still remains in the hands of the adults, robbing students of true leadership.
Level 3: Students as Leaders
At this highest level, students are empowered to lead change efforts and advocate for themselves and others.
Examples:
- Students lead professional development for staff.
- Student-led peer mediation or conflict resolution.
- Students critique curriculum to ensure cultural relevance.
- Students conduct school-based research and present findings.
- Students communicate with policymakers about their school experiences.
Why It Matters: When students act as leaders, they experience authentic agency, and schools benefit from their unique perspectives. This level challenges adultism, the belief that adults inherently know best because students lack the maturity and expertise to hold real power. Students as leaders also requires shifts in traditional power structures. Promoting student leadership requires skills to navigate conflict, share power, and coach students through leadership tasks. Authentic student leadership requires time for relationship-building, deliberation, and intentional follow-up. But sharing power with students, especially historically marginalized students, is worth it.
By elevating student voice, school leaders can foster deeper engagement, increase achievement, and create a school culture where every student feels valued.
Leveling Up with Student Voice
My research found that most principals kept student voice at Level 1. But the greatest impact on engagement, belonging, and achievement comes when schools push into Levels 2 and 3. How can we change that? Here are four leadership strategies that every principal can implement right now to increase student engagement and achievement by amplifying student voice.
1. Shift from Gathering Feedback to Sharing Power
Many schools survey students or hold occasional listening sessions. That’s a start—but leadership means more than listening. It means sharing decision making.
- Create formal student advisory groups that meet regularly with leadership teams—not just for feedback, but for co-planning.
- Invite students onto school improvement committees and let them help set the agenda, not just react to it.
Why? Research shows that when students see their ideas turned into action, their engagement skyrockets. They move from passive observers to invested contributors.
2. Train Teachers to See Students as Partners
One barrier I found in my study was adultism. This mindset limits student leadership opportunities.
- Facilitate professional development that challenges deficit thinking about students.
- Provide concrete models of what it looks like to share classroom leadership roles with students—like co-creating norms, co-assessing projects, or letting students facilitate parts of a lesson.
Why? When teachers shift from seeing students as recipients of knowledge to collaborators in learning, engagement deepens and achievement rises.
3. Start Small: Identify Quick Wins
Not every school is ready to jump straight to student-led professional development or curriculum critique (though those are powerful). Start with manageable steps:
- Host student-led discussions on school climate.
- Ask students to help plan non-academic events.
- Let them analyze school survey results alongside staff and propose solutions.
Why? Early successes build momentum, trust, and buy-in from both students and staff.
4. Model Critical Self-Reflection
As a leader, your mindset sets the tone. My research showed that principals who embraced culturally responsive leadership reflected critically on their own biases and actively sought student perspectives that challenged their assumptions.
- Regularly ask yourself: Whose voices are missing from decision making? Whose needs am I unintentionally overlooking?
- Be transparent about what you’re learning from students and how it’s shaping your leadership.
Why? Modeling vulnerability and openness creates psychological safety for students and staff to share honestly—and that’s where real growth begins.
Student Voice Isn’t Extra. It’s Essential.
Culturally responsive leadership isn’t just about celebrating diversity; it’s about redistributing power. By elevating student voice from passive feedback to authentic partnership and leadership, school leaders can foster deeper engagement, increase achievement, and create a school culture where every student feels seen, heard, and valued. And the best part? This doesn’t require a complete overhaul of a school overnight. Leaders: Start where you are. Listen deeply. Act bravely.
