School & District Management Report Roundup

Student Government

By Dakarai I. Aarons — February 10, 2009 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

A study examining the structure and governance of high school student councils found such government associations at private schools tend to have the most active memberships, with broad functions and high levels of faculty engagement and oversight.

Elite public schools’ councils also had high engagement, but little faculty oversight, according to the report, and schools with predominantly minority or poor populations tended to lack student councils or had ones that only performed social functions.

The study, published last month in the journal Teachers College Record, was conducted by Stanford University researchers Daniel A. McFarland and Carlos Starmanns. The authors based their findings on survey responses from 362 high schools, interviews with student council sponsors, and reviews of student government constitutions.

Related Tags:

A version of this article appeared in the February 11, 2009 edition of Education Week

Events

Jobs Virtual Career Fair for Teachers and K-12 Staff
Find teaching jobs and K-12 education jubs at the EdWeek Top School Jobs virtual career fair.
Mathematics K-12 Essentials Forum Helping Students Succeed in Math
Student Well-Being Live Online Discussion A Seat at the Table: The Power of Emotion Regulation to Drive K-12 Academic Performance and Wellbeing
Wish you could handle emotions better? Learn practical strategies with researcher Marc Brackett and host Peter DeWitt.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

School & District Management What the Research Says About School Boards: How Much Conflict Really Is There?
Plus, how competitive are board elections? How much do teachers' union endorsements matter?
7 min read
Houston ISD's appointed school board votes on the "District of Innovation" status during their monthly work session meeting at HISD Central Office on Sept. 7, 2023 in Houston.
Houston's appointed school board takes a vote during a meeting on Sept. 7, 2023 in the district's central office. A number of studies from recent years have answered questions about school boards' makeup, how competitive board elections are, whether conflict is on the rise, and more.
Karen Warren/Houston Chronicle via AP
School & District Management Opinion How a Weekly Email to My Staff Made Me a Better District Leader
Writing helps make sense out of what feels messy and focus us on what's most important.
George Philhower
5 min read
Blue hand holding red pen.
DigitalVision Vectors/Getty + Education Week
School & District Management What Superintendents Say Went Right—and Wrong—This Past School Year
Superintendents who shared their reflections with Education Week cited local successes, as well as funding uncertainty.
1 min read
Miniature people sitting on a bar graph.
iStock/Getty
School & District Management Opinion Data Can Be Intimidating to Educators. But It Doesn't Have to Be
An unexpected insight from a child offers teacher and leadership teams a way to appreciate a more nuanced use of evidence.
4 min read
Screen Shot 2025 04 29 at 6.47.20 AM
Canva