Youth Advocating for Club Choice
Name: Nadia K. Selby
Organization: Citizen Schools (Urban Assembly Unison School)
Date: September 6, 2018
SEL Competency: Self-Advocacy
Driver of Focus: Elevating Youth Voice, Explicit SEL Instruction
Cohort Demographics: 6th-8th Grade
OVERVIEW
Citizen Schools students apply to participate in various extracurricular activities throughout the year, and the rigorous selection process requires students to justify and advocate for their top choices. Applications improved over the year, as did students’ Self-Advocacy responses on the SSN SEL survey.
KEY DETAILS
LENGTH
Year-Long Process
1-2 hours of disseminating selection forms
Designated time for of decision making (staff)
Designated time for discussion with students
SETTING
Classroom/office
120+ students (15 per club)
ACTIVITY
1-2 staff per club. 1-2 staff for selection process. 1 staff for sorting process.
Staff poll students to identify club preferences
Display all options to all students
Ask students to identify top 4 club choices
Give a lesson explicitly based on advocacy
Hand out selection forms, listing top 4 choices and filling out back of form with reasons for top 2 choices, based on Self-advocacy lesson
Collect forms, and place students in number 1 or 2 clubs, according to rubric.
Have conversations with students, making sure they know why they are in club
Give opportunity for students to discuss with staff if displeased with placement, referring to form.
REASONING
Club selection process can be hectic, and middle school students may make decisions depending on what their peers do. These forms and lessons promote self-advocacy, and encourage decision making based on their own interest. Lessons detail specific sentence starters that students can use as tools, and the forms (and conversations that accompany them) provide a structure that students can understand and see as fair.
HOW DO YOU KNOW YOUR PRACTICE WORKED?
Based on Network-Wide SEL Survey Analysis, Citizen Schools at Urban Assembly Unison was identified by Research Alliance for NYC Schools as one of 18 Bright Spots; meaning they had a greater positive effect on youth SEL compared to sites that serve similar students across the Network. The chart shows the change in the percentage of youth responding positively to Survey questions related to Self-Advocacy.
NECESSARY TOOLS
Explicit Self-Advocacy Lesson Plan, with definitions for High, Medium and Low specifications
Club Selection Forms
Club descriptions for students
TIPS FOR IMPLEMENTATION
Design time sorting process
If students don’t get first choice, make sure they know to come in and talk about it with staff; if they meet, ensure that they get their first choice next application process.
Provide feedback on student selection forms if possible
Keep Selection forms for students to refer back to
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