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  • Research Report

    If I Spoke Up: The Conditions That Shape Student Civic Voice

    What do young people want to speak up about and what does it take to help them  feel heard and participate in civic life? Drawing on responses from more than 35,000 middle and high school students, this data brief explores what students would speak up about if included in important decisions and what their responses reveal about developing their civic voice. The findings highlight the critical role schools play in fostering the belonging, trust, and confidence students need to believe their voices matter. Read below for the full data brief.

  • Research Report

    School Safety, Security, & Emergency Preparedness: Understanding and Acting on How Students Experience Safety

    A sense of safety and security is foundational to students’ learning, belonging, and healthy development. Yet creating and maintaining schools where students feel truly safe is a complex and ever-shifting challenge, spanning protection from violence and bullying to emotional wellbeing, and disaster preparedness. At a time when investments in school safety are growing and security products are expanding, this report offers a reminder that safety cannot simply be purchased—it requires a deep understanding of, and investment in, the daily work of tending to a healthy school culture.

  • Research Report

    The Anti-Bullying Report: Lessons from Students and Principals on Belonging, Respect, and Safer Schools.

    Bullying is a persistent problem in U.S. schools, fueling distrust and debates over punishment, transfers, and prevention. Some states are trying extreme measures—ticketing parents or suspending bullies’ licenses—while Congress considers the STOP Bullying Act to fund state prevention efforts. Most districts review policies, but few have comprehensive plans, leaving gaps that students feel firsthand. Real change requires educators, policymakers, and parents to listen to students, focus on the most vulnerable, and build school cultures where safety and belonging aren’t optional.

  • Plan for Improvement

    Explore samples of research-based resources as you plan for improvement. Resources are grounded in specific questions and key themes of the YouthTruth Survey to help educators target improvements to a school’s unique findings revealed by YouthTruth reports.

  • Set Goals

    Explore diagrams and worksheets that will help you set data-informed goals, track your progress, and stay focused on impactful outcomes.

  • Close the Feedback Loop

    Close the feedback loop by sharing reflections about your school or district’s survey results.

  • Understand Your Reports

    Whether you use these videos to get a colleague up-to-speed or to refresh your memory for a workshop, these video tutorials will familiarize you with navigating reports and identifying features that can help you take action on your student perception data. 

Learning During the Pandemic

In response to a stark lack of firsthand data about how students were faring during the COVID-19 pandemic, YouthTruth launched the Students Weigh In project in spring 2020. This series of reports draws upon data from over 500,000 secondary students across more than 600 schools and tracks how secondary students’ perceptions of learning and well-evolved across four time periods (spring 2020, fall 2020, spring 2021, and the 2022-23 school year) relative to the student experience prior to COVID-19.

Students Weigh In Series