Changing Systems 2018: Education Equity

In June 2018, 53 youth from 17 school districts in the St. Louis region gathered at the Brown School of Social Work for a four-day summit to discuss educational equity. Of these 53 youth, 11 high school fellows led the summit after an intensive three weeks of Community Based System Dynamics training and summit co-design at the Social System Design Lab. Additionally, four returning Alumni Fellows—coming back from their freshman year in college—provided near-peer mentorship, support, and leadership throughout the month.

The resulting system dynamic models have feedback loops that show the importance of school culture, relationships, quality teachers, and representation on equitable school outcomes. After four days of group model building and engagement with stakeholders, students demonstrated agency to impact complex systems, empowerment to have their voice heard, desire for youth-adult power sharing, and value for learning the mental models of others.