“Our school had an attendance policy called the “E” policy that would replace your grade with an “E” as a result of three unexcused absences. We thought it was really unfair, because even if you tried hard, you would be punished for things that were sometimes out of your control. Students decided to try and protest to fix the “E” policy, and some teachers came with students to fix it because they saw that it was really unfair. It was cool to see students and teachers decide to come together, because bad policies affect teachers, too. We were like a team. It was just nice to see that we can all come together.” — Heba
This website is dedicated to the valuable lessons we can learn from students’ own experiences about how to create better schools. Decisions about schooling are often made without listening deeply to students themselves. But students are in the best position to understand what they need in order to do well in school.
A collaboration of the Trauma and Learning Policy Initiative (TLPI), Harvard Law School and Massachusetts Advocates for Children (MAC). LEARN MORE