Our Education is always interested in learning about and hearing from students around the country who are finding a way to make their voices heard and are making a difference in their high schools.  Recently, Our Education caught up with Ariela Rothstein, senior at Lexington High School in Massachusettes and founder of the Best Practices Club.  Ariela recently wrote a piece about Best Practices which was featured in Education Week. Here is the transcript of our e-mail interview:

Our Education: Would you briefly describe for the students out there the organization you started and its goals.

Ariela Rothstein: The Best Practices Club at Lexington High School is a student-run club that works with teachers to improve teaching and learning at the high school. Our overall goal is to promote student involvement in the process of improving teaching and learning. BP was created as an outlet for positive student feedback and it is now a place that has started three different kinds of dialogue about what works in the classroom:
1) between students,
2) between students and teachers,
3) and between teachers.
We want student voice to be taken seriously, not just in administrative issues like where you can hang posters, the community service requirement, etc., but also in what is happening in the classroom. How have we set about doing that?
• Creating an observation tool that focuses on what is working, used by student observers.
• Facilitating student-teacher meetings and workshops on best teaching practices used in the classroom
• Facilitating faculty-wide workshops on best teaching practices used in the classroom.

Recently, we’ve begun to try and promote clubs like this starting at other high schools across the country.

OE: What inspired you to start the organization?

AR: I go to one of the better public schools in the state, so some people might wonder why we have the need for something like Best Practices. Yet, even at a school with the resources and advantages of Lexington, there are still enormous disparities in the quality of teaching from one classroom to the next. At the end of sophomore year, my friend and I were sitting in a Watercolor class ranting or raving about one teacher or another and I became very frustrated. I knew students were talking and teaching and learning in the hallways, at lunch, maybe at home, but there was no formal place for students to go with positive feedback. What if there was a place for students committed to improving teaching and learning to get together, discuss what was working in the classroom, and be listened to by the adults in our community? Those thoughts and talking sessions led to an action plan for just such a place, one that would focus on the positive, on what is working in the classroom.

OE: What's it like to be a student at your high school?  What has your education experience been like there?

AR: LHS is a 2000 student high school in an affluent, predominantly white and Asian town a couple of miles outside of Boston. The school has a strong culture of achievement, but not necessarily of community. I’ve had some really great classes, a few really not-so-great, and plenty in between. Overall, I have learned a lot academically, but also about the range of educational experiences students can have at my school. These past two years have been focused on getting BP off the ground, so I can’t say I’ve had “the average” LHS education. I feel as though I’ve been learning as much about the way my high school works as I have in my academic classes.

OE: What has your experience founding and doing your work with Best Practices taught you about the role that students can play in their schools?

AR: I have learned so much about the role students can play in their schools. Initially, we were just planning on observing teachers, starting conversations with them, and trying to spread the ‘best practices’ we found throughout the school whatever way we could. I was not sure how teachers or students would react to our work, and I was right to be hesitant about a few of the faculty. Yet other teachers have identified the value of our work: "It is such a pleasure and a help to be able to talk directly with students one-on one about issues that affect us all on a daily basis. It is rare to have student perspectives on classroom issues, so thank you!…"

Given the opportunity to have a voice in what is working in the classroom, to tell teachers what helps them learn better, to brainstorm ways to encourage participation, the student-members have really risen to the occasion and thrived. I have learned so much from my peers, and they have learned a lot from teachers. After a recent student-teacher forum we held on encouraging participation, one student wrote: “ My eyes were opened about how much effort teachers put into creating a positive learning atmosphere for students, and how sometimes students need to give something to teachers as well.” My experience with Best Practices has reinforced my belief that students are an untapped positive resource for improving schools, and that both students and teachers can learn a hell of a lot from each other about making learning communities better.

OE: What advice do you have for students who want to get more actively involved in their schools and the decisions that impact their education?

AR: Tough question, so here are a couple:
• Pick your battles: Is it more important to reach as many teachers as possible or to go after one particular teacher? The day-to-day frustrations of particular teachers partly inspired my taking action, but Best Practices has had the most success dealing with the faculty as a whole.
• Try to find a supportive adviser who will also let you be independent. It’s great if you can have one who lets you (students) lead the show, but at the same time teaches you a little bit about the ‘behind-the-scenes’ of your school: What professional development are teachers already getting? What would teachers like to have more of?

Those are specific points and questions for an organization similar to Best practices. In terms of students getting involved in the same, or other ways: BE CONFIDENT. Teachers, like a lot of people, can be resistant to change. By wanting to take an active role in your education you are change. It can be frightening for them, and they can try to demean your work so just remember that you have every right to want to be involved, and being a student gives you the experience to do so.

OE: What does quality education mean to you?

AR: I think there are two main pieces to quality education: the content and the atmosphere. Content is what gets tested, the raw knowledge one should have before leaving high school. I’m not sure what the standard for that should be, and that’s not what BP works on. But we do work on atmosphere: Does the teacher respect the students? Do the students respect the teacher? How? Is the learning made visible to the students? Are students made aware of their own learning style? Those questions are about the most fundamental components of a quality education because they create a context where it is natural, if not expected, for students to take charge of their education. High expectations for all students are very important to me.

OE:  Thanks for taking the time to answer our questions. 

AR: Thank you!

Return to the Archives.