Student Voice is Essential to Build Community and Broaden Perspectives

Elevating student voice strengthens community, deepens empathy, and drives equitable education.

Congratulations, Vanessa Ejike!

We are excited to introduce you to Vanessa Ejike, California State Board of Education Student Board Member. Newly elected to her position in August 2025, Vanessa attends Gretchen Whitney High School in Cerritos, California. Additionally, Vanessa is the founder of her high school’s Principal’s Advisory Council, a student representative of the ABC Unified School District's Legislative/Policy Committee, and serves on the Los Angeles County Office of Education’s Student Advisory Council.  Previously, in 2024, she was a summer intern for Assembly member Sharon Quirk-Silva in the California State Assembly. Vanessa is an amazing young lady who displays confidence, passion, and tenacity to advocate for students' learning needs by sharing her student voice. Listen to Vanessa share her story on the ED&D Podcast, Season 4, via our website, Apple, or Spotify, and be inspired by her student voice!

ED&D Recognizes and Values the Importance of Student Voice

Since its inception in 2018, the Equity, Disproportionality and Design (ED&D) team has been a leader in building community relationships and advocating for parents, students, and families. As a specialized team of the San Diego South County Special Education Local Plan Area (SELPA), the ED&D project designed the Disproportionality Information Center in collaboration with parents and educators from San Diego County to provide resources to prevent disproportionality in our schools. ED&D’s goal has consistently been to create learning environments where all students can reach their full academic and social potential.

SDCOE Youth Panel Videos Featuring Student Voices

The San Diego County Office of Education (SDCOE) Youth Scholar Panel Videos were designed and facilitated by the Equity & System of Support department, and recorded from July 2020 to June 2021. During this time span, local public schools and institutions of higher learning were closed to in-person instruction for a limited time due to the COVID-19 pandemic and instead provided virtual instruction to students until in-person instruction resumed.  

The Student Voice Panels allowed educators to continue elevating students' voices and engage with their school experiences through listening. Students were encouraged to speak their truth and share stories of their personal and educational experiences. Ultimately, educators’ call to action is to invite students to the table, listen to their experiences, and create welcoming and safe school spaces for students and families that honor different cultures and experiences.

Student Voice During the Implementation of Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS)

The Center on PBIS has established itself as a leader in the field of education, working together with state and local agencies to improve social, emotional, academic, and behavioral outcomes for all students. Its work is rooted in prevention, centered in equity, based on human-centered science, and only implemented through collaborative partnerships with students, families, educators, and their extended communities. High School PBIS is highlighted in this brief, which discusses the importance of student voice, describes the unique features of high school settings that can make it challenging to include students, and offers strategies to address these barriers.

Incorporating student voice in a meaningful way in high schools requires creativity due to the large number of students and staff and the organizational culture of the school. Given what we know about adolescent development, allowing for student voice is critical for building stakeholder support. This brief identifies some of the effective strategies high schools have used to include student voice.

Developing High Quality IEPs for Students

The High Quality IEPs Project (HQ IEP) works collaboratively within the California System of Support and serves families and Local Education Agencies (LEAs) across California by providing training and resources to support meaningful engagement in the Individualized Education Program (IEP) process. The HQ IEPs Project aims to increase student knowledge, participation, and engagement in the IEP process.  Student voice is important at every grade level and within the IEP process. Students, families, and educators can access resources to support them before, during, and after the IEP journey. Listen to their story for Creating Access to Build and Sustain Collaborative Partnerships!

Closing and Reflection

You may ask, what is next? How do we continue to promote student voices in our Equity work? Here at ED&D, we collaborate with state and local agencies, build community relationships with parents and families, all with the goal of improving educational outcomes for students. As educators, we recognize that incorporating student voice in our equity work is essential to building community and broadening our perspectives. Students are our most valued asset!