ELC News - Abbott Students Attend Youth Research Retreat

Student teams from Snyder High School in Jersey City and Orange High School in Orange came together at Saint Peter’s College on June 2 for a “research retreat” related to the Abbott secondary reform. The teams of 10-12 students from each school have begun designing research projects to investigate student concerns related to the reform effort. These “participatory research projects” will be carried out over the 06-07 school year, with findings and recommendations presented to school communities and other educational forums.

The project is a collaboration of the Education Law Center, Saint Peter’s College, the Graduate Center at the City University of New York and the Orange and Jersey City school districts. The goal is to add critical youth analysis and concerns to the Abbott Secondary Education Initiative, launched this year, which calls for a series of reforms to improve school climate and academic performance in NJ’s urban high schools. The project is funded through a grant from the Community Foundation of New Jersey.

At the retreat, the youth research teams came together for the first time, along with the staff liaisons from each school and the project coordinators. They heard presentations on the goals and methods of participatory research and the growing network of youth research projects that attempt to capture youth experience in ways that influence institutional and public policy-making. Youth researchers from two such projects in New York City, one addressing high school completion and dropout issues and another investigating the experience of students with incarcerated parents, described the methods they used in gathering relevant data and reaching out to youth constituencies. Another presentation provided an overview of the Abbott school funding case, and the secondary initiative, which requires NJ’s Abbott districts to provide college prep curriculum, small learning communities, and improved family/student support for all students in grades 6-12 by 2008.

In the afternoon, the teams met to discuss conditions in their schools and develop a focus for their research. They shared overlapping concerns about educational opportunities, school safety and violence, discipline policies, and other school climate issues. The teams will continue to work with project coordinators to refine and focus their research projects for the Fall.