Located within the Office of Teaching and Learning, the Department of Student Voice & Engagement (DSVE) leads the district's inclusive and responsive education strategy that aims to ensure all aspects of schooling in CPS are inclusive of and responsive to the lived experiences of students, and includes young people as key stakeholders in making decisions that impact them.
Learning Conditions & The Daily Student Experience
The Cultivate framework and survey data help schools better understand the daily student experience, build inclusive partnerships with students, and support educators in nurturing powerful and supportive learning environments where all students can thrive. Check out the Learning Conditions Guides for practical resources, strategies, and guidance to strengthen each of the 9 conditions.
Student Voice Committees
Student Voice Committees (SVCs) are school-based student leadership teams designed to forge student-adult partnerships in school improvement. Introduced in SY24, the SVC Curriculum is a powerful resource to support SVC facilitators in elevating youth perspective and expertise in understanding the problems schools face, strengthening the decisions schools and teachers make, and encourages the development of youth leadership skills.
Support Difficult Conversations with Students
Classrooms are an important place for students to feel seen, heard, and connected as they make meaning of complex events and issues. Find guidance and strategies helpful for classroom teachers across content areas using The Day After...Discourse Guide for Difficult and Controversial Topics
Our Mission
To advance student voice, engagement, inclusive & responsive practices that center students' lived experiences and strengthen youth-adult partnership among teachers, schools, networks, central office departments, and their communities.
Our Vision
To create and inspire transformational learning experiences that ignite curiosity, honor student identity and experience, promote agency, build inclusivity and partnerships that empower students to serve as critical actors in shaping the practices and policies that impact their daily school experience and future lives.
Professional Learning for Educators
- Student Voice Committees (SVC) 101 Offerings for Facilitators
- Elevating Student Voice & Leadership Through SVC's PLC
- Learning Conditions Professional Offerings for Educators, Leaders, Networks
Opportunities for Student Leadership
- Student/Board of Education Roundtables (Interest Form)
Meet the Team
Latest News & Updates
1st Student Roundtable of SY25
On Thursday 11/14, The Department of Student Voice & Engagement (DSVE) coordinated the first of three Student Voice Roundtables of the year in a continued partnership with the Board of Education. The roundtable focused on the implementation plan and strategies for three priority areas of the district’s Strategic Plan - Students with Disabilities, Multilingual Pathways, and Postsecondary Success. 16 students (8 HS and 8 MS) representing each priority group engaged in intergenerational dialogue with CPS leadership including CEO Pedro Martinez and CEdO Bogdana Chkoumbova among others. Students built community with district leaders, learned more about each priority, and provided critical insight and feedback that will inform the refinement of district implementation. Students will synthesize their learning, feedback, and recommendations and present them to the Board of Education at the December meeting.
EOY Student Voice Celebration
On 4/19/24 the Department of Student Voice & Engagement had our End of the Year SVC Gathering at the Chicago Cultural Center hosted by the District Student Voice Committee (DSVC). The DSVC is a collective of high school SVC students who work to advance student voice and leadership in CPS. This was a youth led event with the purpose of building community, engaging in learning and leadership development, and celebrating student voice. We had close to 150 students with representation from 23 middle and high schools in attendance!
Partner Directory
Looking for an exciting partnership to enrich your classroom instruction or student-led inquiry project? Look no further! Visit the Partner Directory to connect with School Partners.
Dialogue & Deliberation in CPS Classrooms
Recent Blog Posts
Discover and Exercise the Power of Voting—for Those of Us Who Can’t
Oct. 30, 2020 | By: Crystal Campos
Crystal Campos is a 12th-grade student at John Hancock College Preparatory located in the Garfield Ridge neighborhood of Chicago.
Why Society Must Address Intersectional Discrimination
June 14, 2021 | By: Tabitha Walton & Alexis Saunders-Davis
Tabitha Walton and Alexis Saunders-Davis are 11th graders at Orr Academy High School located between the West Garfield and Humboldt Park neighborhoods.
Multicultural Arts High School Cross Content Exploration of 1919-Red Summer
Feb. 1, 2022 | By: DSVE Staff
An interview with Anna Deem and Ryan Williams on their interdisciplinary unit of Red Summer.