Option 2: A series of semi-structured conversations with different groups of students

If you want to engage more students, or if you want to help focus student attention on a particular aspect of school improvement, create some energy and "buzz" by planning and carrying out several semi-structured conversations with students throughout the school. The factors related to identifying students, setting the appropriate expectations, and developing good questions described in Option 1 apply to Option 2 as well.

Recommendations for Option 2

• Plan to use a specific number of small groups, and, if feasible, announce your plans to students, faculty, parents, and school council members.

• Think in terms of sessions lasting 5 to 15 minutes for younger students, and 10 to 20 minutes for older students.

• Develop up to three good questions or conversation starters.

• Include five or six students in each group.

• While you don't need to recruit a random sample for these conversations, seek some diversity across the groups. Each group does not have to be diverse in itself, but your insights into the student experience will be stronger if somehow among the groups you hear from a variety of types of students. What kinds of diversity might cause students to respond differently to particular questions? Without trying to create a perfect mix, think in terms of including students who differ on some of these characteristics:

> Age
> Grade
> Academic performance levels (A,B,C,D,E)
> Race/ethnic background
> Socioeconomic status
> Popularity
> Physical and developmental ability
> Length of time in your school or community
> Extracurricular involvement
> Level of attachment to or engagement in school


Depending on your topic and questions, some of these factors may be more important than others. Factors we have not identified may also play a large role. For example, if you are interested in student perceptions of safety on the bus, you may want to make sure you talk with some students who ride the bus regularly, some who used to ride but no longer do, and some who have never ridden.

• Give the sessions structure by placing gentle emphasis on the explanation of the reason for the conversation and the ground rules at the beginning of each session.

• Take careful notes during your conversations with students, capturing as much of their own words and language as possible. You could also use a hand-held tape recorder during the conversations, if students agree. Anonymous student quotes will go a long way toward boosting the authenticity of your results.

Examples of question sets

Here are some examples of question sets that you can use as a starting point for developing your own.

On school safety

• Where do you feel safe at school?
• What makes you feel safe there?
• Where do you feel unsafe?
• What could make you feel safer there?

On teaching/learning

• Think about a class you had recently where you learned a lot. What happened in that class?
• In classes where you learn a lot, what does the teacher do?
• What do the students do?

On curriculum

• What do we need to change in order to make our science courses work better for you?
• What good things about our present science courses do we want to be sure we keep?

Remember, thank students for their time, and, if appropriate, demonstrate that you have heard them by following up the conversations with action.