Urban Teen Summit: A Community and School Collaboration for Developing Student Leaders of Color

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to identify the strengths and challenges that emerged from the first 3 years of a high school student leadership development program located in an urban setting. This study was developed as an instrumental case study of one student leadership development program serving urban public high schools in South Central Texas. Feedback was solicited from 10 current and former participants regarding the successes and challenges they encountered within this program. Three themes emerged from these interviews: personal voice, a sense of responsibility, and building community relationships. Discussion is included regarding considerations for secondary administrators about the potential utility of this model in helping develop student leaders of color in urban settings.

Virtual professional development on conflict management for school leaders

“…Additionally, as schools closed during COVID-19, unanticipated crisis (e.g., school shootings, hurricanes, and wildfires), racial and social injustices became part of the national and international news [e.g., George Floyd, the border wall, criminal policies of (in)equity, (in)equality, and (in)justice], in addition to on-going technology issues in schools, all added emotional weight and turmoil to the public psyche, regardless of which side of the issues people espoused (Watson et al, 2019;Algar and Feis, 2020;Goldstein, 2020;Heitner, 2020;Hodges et al, 2020;Wilkerson, 2020;Reyes-Guerra et al, 2021;Virella and Cobb, 2021). Thus, conflicts will not cease to exist, however there are skills that can and should be taught via professional development that can provide opportunities to manage conflict, resulting in productive and constructive solutions (Coldwell et al, 2012;Jacques, 2012;Cohen et al, 2017;Watson et al, 2017;Hemmer and Elliff, 2019;Scott et al, 2021;Urick et al, 2021). As schools begin to shutter and close in March 2020, school leaders were tasked with transitioning quickly to online platforms.…”

Virtual professional development on conflict management for school leaders

“…Additionally, as schools closed during COVID-19, unanticipated crisis (e.g., school shootings, hurricanes, and wildfires), racial and social injustices became part of the national and international news [e.g., George Floyd, the border wall, criminal policies of (in)equity, (in)equality, and (in)justice], in addition to on-going technology issues in schools, all added emotional weight and turmoil to the public psyche, regardless of which side of the issues people espoused (Watson et al, 2019;Algar and Feis, 2020;Goldstein, 2020;Heitner, 2020;Hodges et al, 2020;Wilkerson, 2020;Reyes-Guerra et al, 2021;Virella and Cobb, 2021). Thus, conflicts will not cease to exist, however there are skills that can and should be taught via professional development that can provide opportunities to manage conflict, resulting in productive and constructive solutions (Coldwell et al, 2012;Jacques, 2012;Cohen et al, 2017;Watson et al, 2017;Hemmer and Elliff, 2019;Scott et al, 2021;Urick et al, 2021). As schools begin to shutter and close in March 2020, school leaders were tasked with transitioning quickly to online platforms.…”