“Adults should take students more seriously, as they have voices and different opinions too” — Middle school student

Middle school students in a California school district noticed that their perspectives were not included in decisions related to school policy that they cared about, like the dress code. They engaged in research to explore how administrators, teachers, and staff could incorporate their voices in decision-making processes. Students conducted surveys and focus groups with their peers and developed recommendations for their school, including more student-led events and a more active role engaged in school policy discussions. The following semester, the principal added students to several school leadership committees, where they helped inform programs and policies beyond the dress code, such as student social events and classroom curricular activities.

Many youth across the U.S. report feeling disengaged and disconnected from their schools, which is associated with declining attendance and greater Mental health challenges. Addressing these challenges is critical, especially because a sense of belonging and connectedness predicts attendance, academic success, social well-being, self-esteem, and other positive outcomes for students.

Research is one important way to seek out solutions to these problems, and Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) is an innovative and growing approach that engages youth as experts to improve their lives, communities, and youth-serving institutions. In middle and high schools across the U.S., students in YPAR classes conduct research to inform policies, practices, and peer education efforts. They have prioritized and addressed a wide range of academic and school-climate issues, such as improving teacher-student relationships, peer relationships, safety, and school lunch options; and reducing disproportionate discipline, substance use, and transit barriers.

In schools that provide opportunities for YPAR, students are trained to take up roles as researchers, knowledge producers, and changemakers who contribute to their school communities. Further, YPAR evidence can deepen adults’ understanding of what shapes students’ feelings of belonging, patterns of engagement, and well-being. YPAR findings thus can inform more relevant and responsive solutions that can benefit youth, adults, and the broader community. This article provides guidance for educators who work with K–12 students and are interested in implementing YPAR.

The impacts of YPAR in K–12 schools

Here are three examples of how YPAR impacts different levels of the school “ecosystem.”

Systems-level: High school YPAR students in an Ohio school district explored whether their school provided adequate Mental health services. They conducted a schoolwide survey, and their findings revealed that although there were Mental health services available, many students were not aware of them. In response, the student researchers took action and developed more promotional materials and held informational assemblies to raise awareness of these services. They also held meetings with teachers, counselors, administrators, and the superintendent to discuss potential districtwide solutions to improve Mental health services and access.

Relationships: Middle school YPAR students in a California school district identified that they didn’t feel supported by their teachers. To explore this issue further, they conducted surveys and focus groups with their peers on teacher-student relationships. Their findings offered concrete suggestions on how teachers could improve their mentorship relationships with students, including practicing active listening, showing respect and compassion, being more flexible with assignments, and incorporating more engaging classroom activities that lift up student voices. The students also recommended student-led teacher evaluations.

Student-level: High school YPAR students in a California school district conducted English and Spanish focus groups with their peers on attendance and belonging. Based on their findings, the YPAR students proposed buddy programs to connect new students with their peers, schoolwide workshops to raise awareness on racial stereotyping, and lunchtime soccer tournaments to increase a sense of belonging.

Read more stories on our YPAR Hub.

Setting the stage for YPAR at your school

Our YPAR Design Guide offers several considerations when deciding whether YPAR is a fit for your program or setting. YPAR has been primarily implemented with middle and high school students, and is well-suited to strengthening the developmental capacities of youth in early, middle, and late adolescence. However, elementary school students have also engaged in successful YPAR projects using mapping and arts-based methods.

First, adult facilitators (for example, teachers or program leaders) should assess capacity and consider whether there are adequate resources to pursue the YPAR project, including the timeframe of the project, staffing required, whether funding is needed, and the setting and scope.

Second, adult facilitators can introduce YPAR to students in a way that meets them “where they are at.” Not every student will be interested in YPAR from the start. Some may have had limited exposure to research, and others may not have had positive experiences (for example, through a particularly challenging or frustrating class assignment). Facilitators can engage the students in activities that lift up their experiences, then generate excitement by framing research as a tool for exploring and taking action on the issues that students care about.

Facilitators should also work with students to clarify their motivations for the project: What is the purpose of the project? What do students hope to get out of participating in YPAR? And what does their desired impact look like? In several projects, we have seen students become more interested in YPAR as they move through the process, analyze data, and develop their action plans and recommendations.

Finally, adult facilitators should be attentive to the broader context surrounding the topic or issue. For example, if the research is on safety and well-being, what programs or initiatives are already focusing on these issues, both in and out of school (for example, community health organizations)? What are the relevant constraints (for example, barriers accessing decision-making processes)? And where might there be opportunities to partner and collaborate? Understanding these factors will help adult facilitators and students choose an area of focus that aligns with their goals.

What YPAR might look like

YPAR is not “one size fits all.” Adult YPAR facilitators adapt YPAR across a multitude of settings, including schools, afterschool programs, and community-based organizations such as youth centers. Even within schools, a YPAR process can vary in length. For example, some YPAR projects span a single unit within a semester; others may take up an entire semester, and in some cases extend across a full academic year (fall and spring semesters).

Further, YPAR is sometimes conducted as part of a club or extracurricular activity outside of formal class time. While the structure and duration of YPAR projects vary, many projects follow these steps: building the team, identifying and defining an issue or problem, selecting a research design and methods, collecting data, analyzing and interpreting results, developing action plans and recommendations, disseminating findings, and taking action.

Throughout the YPAR process, young people serve as leaders who decide on the topic, issue, and questions they wish to investigate. Adult facilitators serve as supportive guides and mentors, training them in research methods focused on generating numerical data or text- and image-based data. Youth then go on to collect and analyze their data and develop actions plans and recommendations to address their selected problem.

Change that starts with students

A core value in YPAR is authentic power-sharing between adult facilitators and youth researchers. Most of the time, youth navigate learning spaces where they are “receivers” of knowledge from adults. Further, in traditional adult-led research projects, youth typically serve only as “respondents” to surveys or interviews, with no say in the research questions, methods, or interpretation.

The YPAR approach challenges these dynamics by positioning youth as knowledge generators who combine lived-experience expertise with systematic data-based inquiry. Youth researchers have decision-making power and are primary drivers of the YPAR process, while adults serve as guides to help them in advancing their projects.

Power-sharing is a learnable and teachable set of skills. Our guide provides lessons and activities that help facilitators attend to power dynamics, along with strategies that support power-sharing throughout YPAR. Adults and youth can productively share power in research when supportive structures are in place.

The results from YPAR research may (or may not) result in policy or practice change. Adult facilitators play a critical role in strategically connecting YPAR evidence to key decision-making spaces and helping implement youth action plans.

One step that facilitators can take is identifying existing decision-making structures where there may be opportunities to integrate YPAR evidence. They can also determine whether new routines need to be established. High School youth in Colorado investigated practices (through student surveys) that they noticed enhanced student-teacher relationships. Students then developed and led a day-long professional development for teachers on how small adjustments to the start of the year, including taking time to build trust and rapport before reviewing the syllabi, could increase student engagement and buy-in.

In our work, students have consistently emphasized how much it matters for adults to “keep them in the loop,” reporting back on whether and how their YPAR evidence was used. Authentically integrating YPAR evidence involves being transparent with students and following up with them throughout the process. Adults should take YPAR evidence seriously and actively prevent tokenizing processes—in other words, where YPAR evidence becomes a check-the-box rather than meaningful engagement. Ultimately, adults supporting YPAR must take an active role in creating conditions where youth feel safe, heard, and valued.

There is growing interest in YPAR at the local, state, and national levels, and it aligns with many initiatives that are already happening in schools. For example, the National Institutes of Health identified YPAR as a promising approach to address conditions that affect Mental health and well-being, such as social isolation and exposure to unsafe environments. In California, SB997 mandates student voice be integrated in school and district budgeting processes. Oregon, Ohio, and New Jersey have similar mandates that require youth voice in decision making. There are strong synergies between YPAR and social-emotional learning programs, which are implemented in many school sites. YPAR also aligns with many academic competencies and standards, offering students a unique opportunity to build durable academic and career skills.

Students care about their schools and want to improve them. Adults need to learn along with them, listen to them, value their ideas, and support them in making change.