What Do Students Have to Do With Educational Leadership? Making a Case for Centering Student Voice

Lac, Van T.; Cumings Mansfield, Katherine

doi:10.1177/1942775117743748

Cited by 105Children's Rights and ParticipationHigher Education Practises and EngagementEducational Leadership and Practices

What Do Students Have to Do With Educational Leadership? Making a Case for Centering Student Voice

Lac, Van T., Cumings Mansfield, Katherine·2018·Journal of Research on Leadership Education

DOI 10.1177/1942775117743748

Open this paper in CoChat — free account

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to illustrate the value of educational leaders intentionally including students in shaping the policies and practices that affect young people’s schooling experiences. First, we share the literature on student voice and introduce Principal Orientations for Critical Youth Educational Leadership as a conceptual model, advocating ways leaders can engage young people in school governance. Second, we share an empirical example from our research that holds promise to build caring, equitable, and responsive classrooms and schools by centering students’ voices. Finally, we consider what our findings mean for educational leadership preparation programs.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1177/1942775117743748

Cites

72 of 72 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

This paper’s full text isn’t openly available, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Student voice has been championed as a vehicle for educational equity, with its promise to help marginalized youth learn to critique systems, policies, and practices that disadvantage them and advocate for change.
“Student voice has been championed as a vehicle for educational equity, with its promise to help marginalized youth learn to critique the systems, policies, and practices that disadvantage them and advocate for change (Lac & Mansfield, 2018; Salisbury et al., 2020).”
From How teachers’ student voice practices affect student engagement and achievement: exploring choice, receptivity, and responsiveness to student voice as moderators (2025) · cites this paper as Lac & Mansfield, 2018

Development during adolescence: The impact of stage-environment fit on young adolescents' experiences in schools and in families.
Eccles, J. S., Midgley, C., Wigfield, A., Buchanan, C. M., Reuman, D., Flanagan, C., & Iver, D. M. (1993) · American Psychologist · doi:10.1037//0003-066x.48.2.90 · Cited by 3,487 · see citing works
Development during adolescence: The impact of stage-environment fit on young adolescents' experiences in schools and in families
Eccles, J. S., Midgley, C., Wigfield, A., Buchanan, C. M., Reuman, D., Flanagan, C., & Mac Iver, D. (1993) · American Psychologist · doi:10.1037/0003-066x.48.2.90 · Cited by 2,616 · cited 1× · see citing works
“Across several studies, youth express how participation in student-led initiatives allows them to exercise autonomy, matching their developmental needs in ways that traditional schooling experiences do not (Eccles et al., 1993; Mansfield, 2014; Mitra, 2008; Ozer & Wright, 2012).”
Background
Life in schools: an introduction to critical pedagogy in the foundations of education
(1989) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.26-6389 · Cited by 2,376 · see citing works
The Action Research Dissertation: A Guide for Students and Faculty
Herr, K., & Anderson, G. (2005) · doi:10.4135/9781452226644 · Cited by 1,419 · see citing works
Educational Leadership
Kridel, C. (2010) · Encyclopedia of Curriculum Studies · doi:10.4135/9781412958806.n174 · Cited by 1,384 · see citing works
Social Justice Educational Leaders and Resistance: Toward a Theory of Social Justice Leadership
Theoharis, G. (2007) · Educational Administration Quarterly · doi:10.1177/0013161x06293717 · Cited by 1,370 · see citing works
Social Class and School Knowledge
Anyon, J. (1981) · Curriculum Inquiry · doi:10.1080/03626784.1981.11075236 · Cited by 973 · see citing works
The School and Society and The Child and the Curriculum
Dewey, J. (1990) · University of Chicago Press eBooks · doi:10.7208/chicago/9780226112114.001.0001 · Cited by 823 · see citing works
Students as Radical Agents of Change
Fielding, M. (2001) · Journal of Educational Change · doi:10.1023/a:1017949213447 · Cited by 699 · see citing works
Social Justice Leadership as Praxis: Developing Capacities Through Preparation Programs
Furman, G. (2012) · Educational Administration Quarterly · doi:10.1177/0013161x11427394 · Cited by 591 · see citing works
Schooling in Capitalist America Revisited
Bowles, S., & Gintis, H. M. (2002) · Sociology of Education · doi:10.2307/3090251 · Cited by 589 · see citing works
The Possibilities and Pitfalls of Doing a Secondary Analysis of a Qualitative Data Set
Hinds, P. S., Vogel, R. J., & Clarke-Steffen, L. (1997) · Qualitative Health Research · doi:10.1177/104973239700700306 · Cited by 583 · see citing works
Revolutionizing Education: Youth participatory action research in motion
Cammarota, J., & Fine, M. (2008) · Cited by 563 · see citing works
Social Education in the Classroom: The Dynamics of the Hidden Curriculum
Giroux, H. A., & Penna, A. N. (1979) · Theory & Research in Social Education · doi:10.1080/00933104.1979.10506048 · Cited by 539 · see citing works
Linking Data
Fielding, N., & Fielding, J. (1986) · Sage eBooks · doi:10.4135/9781412984775 · Cited by 521 · see citing works
Secondary Analysis of Qualitative Data
Szabo, V., & Strang, V. R. (1997) · Advances in Nursing Science · doi:10.1097/00012272-199712000-00008 · Cited by 405 · see citing works
Leadership for Social Justice: Making Revolutions in Education
(2007) · Journal of Educational Administration · doi:10.1108/09578230710722502 · Cited by 394 · see citing works
Equity Audits: A Practical Leadership Tool for Developing Equitable and Excellent Schools
Skrla, L., Scheurich, J. J., Garcia, J., & Nolly, G. (2004) · Educational Administration Quarterly · doi:10.1177/0013161x03259148 · Cited by 365 · see citing works
Teacher Action Research: Building Knowledge Democracies
Pine, G. J. (2009) · Sage eBooks · doi:10.4135/9781452275079 · Cited by 339 · see citing works
Student voice and the perils of popularity
Rudduck, J., & Fielding, M. (2006) · Educational Review · doi:10.1080/00131910600584207 · Cited by 308 · see citing works
Social Justice Leadership and Inclusion
DeMatthews, D. E., & Mawhinney, H. B. (2014) · Educational Administration Quarterly · doi:10.1177/0013161x13514440 · Cited by 266 · see citing works
Handbook of Research on the Education of School Leaders
(2009) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9780203878866 · Cited by 260 · see citing works
From hip-hop to humanization: Batey Urbano as a space for Latino youth culture and community action
Ginwright, S., Cammarota, J., & Noguera, P. A. (2006) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9780203961001 · Cited by 252 · see citing works
Critical Change for the Greater Good
Santamaría, L. J. (2013) · Educational Administration Quarterly · doi:10.1177/0013161x13505287 · Cited by 232 · see citing works
Increasing Student Voice in High School Reform
Mitra, D. L., & Gross, S. (2009) · Educational Management Administration & Leadership · doi:10.1177/1741143209334577 · Cited by 221 · see citing works
Life in Schools
McLaren, P. L. (2015) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9781315633640 · Cited by 206 · see citing works
Youth Organizing as a Developmental Context for African American and Latino Adolescents
Kirshner, B., & Ginwright, S. A. (2012) · Child Development Perspectives · doi:10.1111/j.1750-8606.2012.00243.x · Cited by 176 · see citing works
Beyond School Spirit: The Effects of Youth‐Led Participatory Action Research in Two Urban High Schools
Ozer, E. J., & Wright, D. E. (2012) · Journal of Research on Adolescence · doi:10.1111/j.1532-7795.2012.00780.x · Cited by 174 · see citing works
‘When students have power’: student engagement, student voice, and the possibilities for school reform around ‘dropping out’ of school
Smyth, J. (2006) · International Journal of Leadership in Education · doi:10.1080/13603120600894232 · Cited by 172 · see citing works
Toxic Inequality: How America's Wealth Gap Destroys Mobility, Deepens the Racial Divide, and Threatens Our Future
Shapiro, T. M. (2017) · Cited by 164 · see citing works
“Bounded” Empowerment: Analyzing Tensions in the Practice of Youth‐Led Participatory Research in Urban Public Schools
Ozer, E. J., Newlan, S., Douglas, L., & Hubbard, E. (2013) · American Journal of Community Psychology · doi:10.1007/s10464-013-9573-7 · Cited by 160 · see citing works
Community-Based Equity Audits
Green, T. L. (2016) · Educational Administration Quarterly · doi:10.1177/0013161x16672513 · Cited by 153 · see citing works
The Role of Special Education Training in the Development of Socially Just Leaders
Pazey, B. L., & Cole, H. (2012) · Educational Administration Quarterly · doi:10.1177/0013161x12463934 · Cited by 150 · see citing works
Actions Following Words: Critical race theory connects to critical pedagogy
Parker, L., & Stovall, D. O. (2004) · Educational Philosophy and Theory · doi:10.1111/j.1469-5812.2004.00059.x · Cited by 144 · see citing works
Linking data: the articulation of qualitative and quantitative methods in social research
Fielding, N., & Fielding, J. (1986) · Open Research (University of Surrey) · Cited by 140 · see citing works
¡Vamos! How School Leaders Promote Equity and Excellence for Bilingual Students
Scanlan, M. K., & López, F. (2012) · Educational Administration Quarterly · doi:10.1177/0013161x11436270 · Cited by 138 · see citing works
Principals' Influence on Academic Achievement: The Student Perspective
Gentilucci, J. L., & Muto, C. C. (2007) · NASSP Bulletin · doi:10.1177/0192636507303738 · Cited by 129 · see citing works
The False Paths, the Endless Labors, the Turns Now This Way and Now That: Participatory Action Research, Mutual Vulnerability, and the Politics of Inquiry
Guishard, M. (2008) · The Urban Review · doi:10.1007/s11256-008-0096-8 · Cited by 123 · see citing works
How Listening to Student Voices Informs and Strengthens Social Justice Research and Practice
Mansfield, K. C. (2013) · Educational Administration Quarterly · doi:10.1177/0013161x13505288 · Cited by 117 · see citing works
A Measure of the Quality of Educational Leadership Programs for Social Justice
O’Malley, M., & Capper, C. A. (2014) · Educational Administration Quarterly · doi:10.1177/0013161x14532468 · Cited by 114 · see citing works
Strengthening Student Voice Initiatives in High Schools
Mitra, D. L. (2008) · Youth & Society · doi:10.1177/0044118x08316211 · Cited by 94 · see citing works
What Would Happen If We Treated Students as Those With Opinions That Matter? The Benefits to Principals and Teachers of Supporting Youth Engagement in School
Cook-Sather, A. (2007) · NASSP Bulletin · doi:10.1177/0192636507309872 · Cited by 90 · see citing works
Songs “come back most to them”: Students’ experiences as researchers
Oldfather, P. (1995) · Theory Into Practice · doi:10.1080/00405849509543670 · Cited by 88 · see citing works
Issues Encountered in a Qualitative Secondary Analysis of Help-Seeking in the Prodrome to Psychosis
Gladstone, B., Volpe, T., & Boydell, K. (2007) · The Journal of Behavioral Health Services & Research · doi:10.1007/s11414-007-9079-x · Cited by 87 · see citing works
Critical Civic Engagement among Urban Youth.
Kirshner, B., Strobel, K. R., & Fernández, M. B. (2003) · Cited by 85 · see citing works
'Squeaky Wheels and Flat Tires': a case study of students as reform participants
Silva, E. (2001) · FORUM · doi:10.2304/forum.2001.43.2.15 · Cited by 77 · see citing works
Social Justice Leadership and Family Engagement
DeMatthews, D. E., Edwards, D. B., & Rincones, R. (2016) · Educational Administration Quarterly · doi:10.1177/0013161x16664006 · Cited by 77 · see citing works
Re/Constructing 'the Adolescent' : Sign, Symbol, and Body
Vadeboncoeur, J. A., & Stevens, L. P. (2005) · Cited by 74 · see citing works
COURAGEOUS CONVERSATIONS ABOUT RACE: A Field Guide for Achieving Equity in Schools
DiBello, L. C., Schroeder, D. J., & Harlin, R. (2006) · Dialnet (Universidad de la Rioja) · Cited by 66 · see citing works
The role of leaders in enabling student voice
Mitra, D., Serriere, S., & Stoicovy, D. (2012) · Management in Education · doi:10.1177/0892020612445678 · Cited by 61 · see citing works
LGBTQQ Youth Using Participatory Action Research and Theater to Effect Change: Moving Adult Decision-Makers to Create Youth-Centered Change
Wernick, L. J., Woodford, M. R., & Kulick, A. (2014) · Journal of Community Practice · doi:10.1080/10705422.2014.901996 · Cited by 57 · see citing works
Reciprocal Dialogue Between Educational Decision Makers and Students of Color
Bertrand, M. (2014) · Educational Administration Quarterly · doi:10.1177/0013161x14542582 · Cited by 55 · see citing works
Social Justice Education in a Diverse Classroom: Examining High School Discussions about Race, Power, and Privilege
Welton, A. D., Harris, T. O., Londe, P. G. L., et al. (2015) · Equity & Excellence in Education · doi:10.1080/10665684.2015.1083839 · Cited by 50 · see citing works
Student Voice, Cultural Change: Using Inquiry in School Reform
Jones, M., & Yonezawa, S. (2002) · Equity & Excellence in Education · doi:10.1080/713845322 · Cited by 49 · see citing works
Action Civics in the Classroom
Dunn, R. E. (2015) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9781315726885-29 · Cited by 47 · see citing works
Beyond Policy: Ideology, Race and the Reimagining of Youth
HoSang, D. M. (2006) · Cited by 44 · see citing works
Youth as a Bridge Between Home and School
Mitra, D. L. (2006) · Education and Urban Society · doi:10.1177/0013124506287911 · Cited by 43 · see citing works
How Positioning Shapes Opportunities for Student Agency in Schools
York, A., & Kirshner, B. (2015) · Teachers College Record The Voice of Scholarship in Education · doi:10.1177/016146811511701307 · Cited by 40 · see citing works
Students matter in school reform: leaving fingerprints and becoming leaders
Osberg, J., Pope, D., & Galloway, M. K. (2006) · International Journal of Leadership in Education · doi:10.1080/13603120600895338 · Cited by 35 · see citing works
“I Love These Girls—I Was These Girls”: Women Leading for Social Justice in a Single-Sex Public School
Mansfield, K. C. (2013) · Journal of School Leadership · doi:10.1177/105268461302300404 · Cited by 35 · see citing works
An Historical Review of Research and Development Activities Pertaining to the Preparation of School Leaders
Young, M. D., Crow, G. M., Murphy, J. F., et al. (2009) · doi:10.4324/9780203878866-10 · Cited by 34 · see citing works
The implicated advocate: the discursive construction of the democratic practices of school principals in the USA
Carpenter, B. W., & Brewer, C. A. (2012) · Discourse Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education · doi:10.1080/01596306.2012.745737 · Cited by 33 · see citing works
Activist Educators
(2008) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9780203892589 · Cited by 32 · see citing works
The importance of safe space and student voice in schools that serve minoritized learners
Cumings, M. K. (2015) · Journal of Educational Leadership Policy and Practice · doi:10.21307/jelpp-2015-004 · Cited by 26 · see citing works
The Student Voice Collaborative: An Effort to Systematize Student Participation in School and District Improvement
Sussman, A. (2015) · Teachers College Record The Voice of Scholarship in Education · doi:10.1177/016146811511701312 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
Calming Rough Waters: Teacher Strategies for Smoothing the Transition to Middle School
Parker, A. K., & Neuharth-Pritchett, S. M. (2009) · Childhood Education · doi:10.1080/00094056.2009.10523103 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Youth Participatory Action Research And The Future Of Education Reform
Poon, O., & Cohen, J. (2012) · Journal of Critical Thought and Praxis · doi:10.31274/jctp-180810-16 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
A more critical pedagogy: could it reduce non-completer rates of male Latino high school students? The student perspective
Halx, M. D. (2013) · Pedagogy Culture and Society · doi:10.1080/14681366.2013.825876 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Student-Driven Research.
Jones, M., & Yonezawa, S. (2009) · Educational leadership · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Unlocking Elementary Students’ Perspectives of Leadership
Damiani, J. (2014) · lnternational Electronic Journal of Elementary Education · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Gaining on the Gap: Changing Hearts, Minds, and Practice
Smith, R. G., Crawley, A., Robinson, C., et al. (2011) · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Chapter 2 Listening to Student Voice: Toward a More Inclusive Theory for Research and Practice
Mansfield, K. C., Welton, A. D., & Halx, M. D. (2012) · Advances in educational administration · doi:10.1108/s1479-3660(2012)0000014006 · Cited by 9 · see citing works

Flagged first, then by citations

Sorted by citations

How teachers’ student voice practices affect student engagement and achievement: exploring choice, receptivity, and responsiveness to student voice as moderators
Conner, J., Mitra, D. L., Holquist, S. E., & Boat, A. (2025) · Journal of Educational Change · doi:10.1007/s10833-024-09513-0 · Cited by 52 · see citing works
“Student voice has been championed as a vehicle for educational equity, with its promise to help marginalized youth learn to critique the systems, policies, and practices that disadvantage them and advocate for change (Lac & Mansfield, 2018; Salisbury et al., 2020 ).”
“They Didn’t Even Talk About Oppression”: School Leadership Protecting the Whiteness of Leadership through Resistance Practices to a Youth Voice Initiative
Salisbury, J. D., Sheth, M. J., & Angton (2020) · Journal of Education Human Resources · doi:10.3138/jehr.2019-0010 · Cited by 31 · see citing works
Student Voice and Adult Manipulation: Youth Navigating Adult Agendas
Hipolito-Delgado, C. P. (2024) · The Urban Review · doi:10.1007/s11256-023-00681-6 · Cited by 12 · see citing works

Providing Instructional Leadership-A Principal Challenge
Pelliceer, L. O. (1982) · NASSP Bulletin · doi:10.1177/019263658206645604 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Site-Based Leadership for Improving Instruction
Jaquith, A. (2015) · The Educational Forum · doi:10.1080/00131725.2015.972805 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
The Principal— Contract Administrator and Instructional Leader
Ford, P. (1980) · NASSP Bulletin · doi:10.1177/019263658006443308
Principal leadership for instruction: Associations between principal vision, principal involvement in instruction, and teachers' perceptions of expectations for standards-based instructional practice
Katterfeld, K. (2011) · Cited by 1 · see citing works
The Structural Relationship among Principal's Instructional Leadership, Assistant-Principal's Instructional Leadership, the Collaboration of Principal and Assistant-Principal, Teacher-Learning Community, and Teaching Competency of Elementary Teachers
Lee, Y., & Lee, Y. S. (2017) · Journal of Educational Administration

Authors: Lac, V. T., & Cumings Mansfield, K.
Affiliations: The University of Texas at San Antonio (US)
Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, USA
Corresponding author: Lac, Van T.
ORCID: Lac, Van T.
Venue: Journal of Research on Leadership Education
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Published: 2017-12-01
Volume: 13
Issue: 1
Pages: 38-58
ISSN: 1942-7751 (ISSN-L)
DOI: 10.1177/1942775117743748
OpenAlex: W2773908414
Cited by: 105
References: 72
Citations by year: 2026: 9 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 14 · 2023: 15 · 2022: 14 · 2021: 14 · 2020: 11 · 2019: 10 · 2018: 3
FWCI: 16.80
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: closed
Licence: journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license (tdm)
Locations: Journal of Research on Leadership Education (publishedVersion)
NC Digital Online Collection of Knowledge and Scholarship (The University of North Carolina at Greensboro) (submittedVersion)
Topics: Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Children's Rights and Participation
Social Sciences › Education › Higher Education Practises and Engagement
Social Sciences › Education › Educational Leadership and Practices
Keywords: student voice, educational leadership, school governance, educational equity, leadership preparation programs

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review

What Do Students Have to Do With Educational Leadership? Making a Case for Centering Student Voice

Abstract

Integrity signals

Claims the paper makes

Claims other papers make about this one

Cites

Cited by

Related

Record

About these checks