Education
Reinventors

Can you introduce yourself and your district?
I'm Dr. Theresa Rouse, superintendent of Joliet Public Schools District 86 in Joliet, Illinois. This is my sixth year with Joliet and my 12th year overall as a superintendent.

My district, which covers pre-K through 8th grade, has about 10,000 students. Our district is 91% students of color and 100% free breakfast and lunch.

You’ve written and spoken about the importance of “student voice and choice”. What does this concept mean to you?
Student voice is the opportunity for students to share what they’re learning, how they’re learning best, and what type of things they want to pursue as an adult.

We incorporate student voice in a few ways. One is our student leadership teams from each of our junior high schools. Each team - consisting of two students from sixth, seventh, and eighth grade – works together with my chief equity officer to discuss what's happening in the buildings on the ground level. In these sessions, they learn things to take back and share with the student body, to continue the conversation back in their buildings.
It's very empowering. The student leaders leave those meetings so jazzed and they want to do more. They love the opportunity to be leaders and make a difference in their schools.

What are some other ways you integrate student voice at the junior high level?
We realized we had a number of students who identify as LGBTQ+. They needed a space to get to know each other better and understand what support they could find in their schools.

They brought this to the attention of their school principal and they found a teacher at each junior high who was excited to sponsor this community. Now they each have a robust club that really focuses on addressing their needs and helping them to feel supported and not excluded.

Putting a premium on student voice also led us to expand fine arts at the elementary level. A lot of our junior high students told us that they wish they’d had music earlier, after they realized they’d be better now if they had started at a younger age. As a result of those conversations we ended up expanding fine arts all the way down to the earliest elementary levels.

How do you foster student voice and choice at the superintendent level in a different way from how a principal or a teacher might do it?
I can empower students through empowering our principals. It’s critical to give principals the autonomy and opportunity in their buildings to create the educational setting that is best for their students.

Of course, there are parameters that need to be the same across the system, but empowering principals to come forward and say, “I heard some students talking about this idea, do you think that’s something we can do?” is critical.

The other thing is making sure they have a school budget that allows them the opportunity to do different kinds of things, and ensuring they have total authority over that budget. So, if they decide they want to spend that budget on X, Y, or Z instead of A, B, or C, that’s awesome.

We started this conversation with “What is student voice and choice?” But, what is it not?
It's not a free-for-all. There’s a certain amount of framework we have to put in place as responsible educational leaders to build these opportunities for students. There are certain things that are non-negotiable. We have to teach language arts. We have to teach math. There are things that we have to do in a school.

There also needs to be an underlying structure that maintains physical, emotional, and social safety for everyone. We have to work within the realities of what can and can’t happen within a school building.

But, even with this framework, we need to leave the door open for students to voice their opinions. There has to be hope that things can change. That’s why, when a student or a community member comes to us with a great idea that may not be able to work today, it’s important to help them lay the groundwork to figure out how to make it happen in the future. It’s never a closed door. There always has to be hope.

You’ve talked before about being focused on student needs rather than adult wants. Can you elaborate on that?
We’re here because of the students. When I go and visit schools, I ask students, “Who’s the most important person in this room?” And they say “You are, Dr. Rouse,” and I say “Nope.” Then they say, “It’s the principal,” and I say, “Nope.” Then they call out their teacher and I say, “Nope.”

And I tell them that they’re the most important people in the room because if they weren’t here, we wouldn’t be here either. That's why we have to listen to them. We have to hear what they're saying, because it's about them, not about us.

How do you respond when people push back on the idea of student voice?
Some people struggle with the change that prioritizing student voice entails. Not everyone likes change. That can be our biggest obstacle. Mindset shift is a hard, hard thing.

However, we can't just keep doing the same things over and over again. We need people who are willing to be what I call “flexy, bendy Barbie” – that notion of shifting and wiggling to better meet the needs of our students.

Do you have three takeaways around student voice and choice that you want to leave other superintendents with?
Listen with an open heart, be willing to change, and be flexible.

Education Reinventors, powered by HP, is a virtual, national community of U.S. superintendents reimagining education leadership in the new normal. We enable superintendents to connect, discuss shared challenges, and brainstorm solutions to improve outcomes for students and community members.

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