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Involve Students in Community Engagement Activities

Modernization is a top priority across school districts in the United States. The technology, curriculum, teaching, and learning environments in many schools are inadequate for comprehensive preparation of students for twenty-first-century career and college readiness. Currently, districts implement multifaceted initiatives that facilitate collaboration among educators, school leaders, parents, community members, local government, and business leaders to develop and execute school modernization. These stakeholders serve to define the root cause of modernization issues, identify new sources of funding, and develop transparent implementation systems.

Meaningful student engagement is necessary to optimize modernization results. Research shows that when educators partner with students to improve learning and leadership in schools, school change is positive and effective. Indeed, as the School Modernization Initiative stated, “It is not enough to simply drop technology into schools and expect change. There is a tremendous amount of infrastructure that must be put in place before technology can be effectively integrated into the daily curriculum. Leadership must be cultivated, teachers need training, and support networks must be formulated.” There has been a growing trend toward student participation in school decisionmaking, and a 2002 Zachariah Webb report estimated that more than 25 percent of district boards nationwide engage students in some way. Likewise, more than thirty state boards have student participation.