“…when you've got an adult and a child on the same team …suddenly the size doesn't matter …we're both looking for whatever it is we can do to fix that picture for kids …”    Ken Hansen, Teacher    North Salem High School    Salem, Oregon

Research shows that students, for the most part, have been outside the school improvement loop. "The only group whose voice seems strangely absent in this chorus of ideas and counter ideas is that of the students themselves" (Johnson, 1991).

Student views are distinct.

Schools can learn from students' input about instruction, climate, and classroom structure. These are areas that teachers traditionally address and where students rarely have input, but they do have a distinct vantage point as learners.

Students who get involved reap benefits.

Students learn new skills from their involvement in school improvement and restructuring efforts: to communicate effectively with teachers, to confront and address difficult problems, to work effectively in teams, and to set and accomplish improvement goals (Furtwengler, 1991).

By enlisting students in a school's self-study workforce, students assist a school with self-improvement.

Self-study is already part of many school improvement approaches, including models used by accreditation associations, by Title I and by Comprehensive Reform. These models recommend that schools collect data, plan their improvement work, and examine the impact of their effort.

Schools often struggle with the self-study process because of the extra work it places on school staff. The tools suggested in this booklet are pragmatic, manageable ways schools can conduct self-study aided and enriched by student help. Getting students involved can prevent self-study from becoming a paper shuffle without substance.

Committed students help move the process along.