Research Briefs: Social and Psychological Foundations

​​​​​​Opportunities for Youth Participatory Action Research to Inform Local Educational Policy Making

Youth participatory action research (YPAR) is an equity-focused approach intended to generate local knowledge and democratize the production of research evidence. We explore the promise and challenges of YPAR to inform education policy decision-making. In particular, we focus on California's LCAP (Local Control and Accountability Plan) initiative, in which districts are mandated to engage with diverse stakeholders to make decisions. We argue that YPAR can offer additional insights and evidence that are otherwise unlikely to be considered in the policy process. We provide a case example of a district currently using YPAR to inform their LCAP work and offer recommendations for how YPAR can support educational equity and education policy change, identifying barriers to implementation and lessons learned.

COAUTHORS: ALISON COHEN, UNIVERSITY OF SAN FRANCISCO; EMILY OZER, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY; ADAM VOIGHT, CLEVELAND STATE UNIVERSITY; MICHELLE ABRACZINSKAS, ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY; BEN KIRSHNER, UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO, BOULDER; MOLLY DEVINNEY, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY