The Student Leadership Initiative Sponsored by the MetLife Foundation, the goal of this project is to increase the number of students serving on state boards of education. Another goal of the project is to enhance the communication tools available to students who currently serve on state boards.

This initiative stems from the 2005 NASBE study (sponsored by the MetLife Foundation), Student Leadership in Education: An Analysis of the Student Voice on State Boards of Education, which examined the roles of student board members, the means by which they came to board service, and the impact of their service on the state board.

The research concluded several significant factors:

• Students strongly feel that their service makes a difference;

• Students are frustrated by difficulties in establishing communication links to their peers;

• Adult state board members with student membership are highly positive in their assessment of the student’s value to the board; and

• Adult state board members without student membership are somewhat negative in their assessment of student membership.

There are three parts to the Student Leadership Initiative. The project will focus on state enhancement of student leadership, peer communication for student leaders, and information sharing. They are described in the following:

I. State Enhancement of Student Leadership

Recommendations made in the NASBE report Student Leadership in Education make a strong call for enhancing the role of student governance. Among the recommendations made were:

1. A comprehensive system of student leadership in education is valuable at all levels of governance. A state system that encourages student participation on all local school boards and the state board could provide the backbone of such a comprehensive system.

2. It is apparent that state boards of education with student membership find that membership to be important for both student and board growth and information. Therefore, it is recommended that all state boards of education consider the benefits of student membership.

3. Students consistently advocated the benefits of a two-year term for their participation. Based on this finding, it is suggested that a representative from the junior and senior years be appointed, allowing for a growth process along with a mentoring system for the junior representative.

To address these issues, NASBE will award two states with grants of $15,000 each to undertake the necessary steps to incorporate student representation on the state board of education, taking into account the unique governance and political environment with each individual state.

II. Peer Communication for Student Leaders

From the 2005 NASBE study on student leadership, one finding clearly stood out:

"For students, the greatest frustration was in transferring information back to their constituency. No state, and no student, found the means to engage their peers, much less other high school students, in the policy process. Thus, their decisions were often made in isolation, without significant, external input."

To address this issue, NASBE will partner with four current student state board members to address communication with peers around their state. Working with the student and their state board, NASBE will award $2,000 to each state to institute a system of two-way communication that:

1. Meets the unique needs of the state;

2. Is institutionally viable; and

3. Will be continued regardless of the particular student involved.

III. Information Sharing

Finally, this initiative will include several written and web-based tools for sharing information about student leadership with state board of education members.

1. NASBE will host a web-based forum for students currently serving on state and local boards of education to discuss relevant issues.
2. Two publications will highlight the strategies undertaken by states to increase student membership on state boards, ways to improve communication among student members and their peers, and lessons learned throughout the process.
3. NASBE will host a pre-conference seminar prior to the 2007 National Convention on Creating Student Leadership Opportunities. The seminar will have the purpose of:

• Convening students who currently serve on state boards from across the nation to share their experiences and help NASBE understand ways in which we can better serve our student membership;

• Convening recipient states to discuss the progress of the grant and address unanticipated issues and concerns;

• Providing a forum for members from other state boards of education to observe the proceedings and understanding the process of change that was involved.