Close to 200 high school students and their advisors will gather in Warrensville Heights, Ohio, near Cleveland, on Nov. 4–7 for the 27th annual MSAN Student Conference to strengthen leadership skills and research-related abilities under this year’s conference theme, chosen by students, “Changing the Narrative: Today’s Students, Tomorrow’s Leaders.”

The conference is hosted every fall by staff and student leaders in the Multicultural Student Achievement Network (MSAN), a national coalition of 20 school districts in eight states working to improve educational outcomes for students of color. Headquartered in the UW–Madison School of Education’s Wisconsin Center for Education Research, MSAN aims to:

• Eliminate racial disparities in schools
• Center and elevate student voices
• Drive innovation with research and collaboration
• Dismantle oppressive systems and advance inclusion for all students

“What I value most about being part of MSAN is that it has nurtured my confidence in representing myself as a student of color,” said Cydney Burrell, a senior at Shaker Heights High School in the Shaker Heights City School District, this year’s conference host. “MSAN has given me a space where my experiences are not something I have to explain away or make smaller. It has taught me to use my voice with purpose and to speak up for others in my community, understanding that representation starts with being willing to show up as yourself.”

Burrell is part of the team that has planned this year’s conference since January with MSAN Executive Director Latoya Holiday and Project Manager Connie Showalter, other students, and Shaker Heights district/high school staff Vikki Long and Will Warren.

“The planning team and all of the advisors come together with one shared goal: creating an experience that students will remember and carry with them long after the conference has ended,” said Showalter. “Every year, we get to see students make new friends, find their voices, and discover they can make a difference in their own schools and communities. Last year, I overheard a student say, ‘I don’t want this to end.’ To me, that was the greatest compliment we could ever receive.”

Long, an administrative assistant at Shaker Heights High School, will attend this year’s conference for the first time as an advisor for district students.

“There is value in the conference as a whole, because students are able to connect with others outside of their everyday circle, and the camaraderie is unbeatable,” said Long. “I am not only going to enjoy watching the students learn and grow, but there will be learning and growth for me as well.”

Shaker Heights City School District is one of MSAN’s founding members, Holiday noted. The district’s superintendent, David Glasner, now serves as MSAN’s President. The district also includes the longest-serving student advisor in MSAN history, Hubert McIntyre, who has attended all 26 MSAN student conferences and will go this year, too.

“There’s never a shortage of excitement,” said McIntyre, who taught health science for 37 years at Shaker Heights High School and continues to lead students to MSAN conferences well into his retirement. “I enjoy it because it’s an opportunity to watch students maximize their ideas in a structured way that is going to lead to success.”

Each conference is hosted by a different MSAN member district. The event gives students an opportunity to connect with peers from across the country, learning from each other and guest speakers.

“The connections I’ve made with other students that I’ve met at MSAN are very valuable,” said Pends Gassama, a Shaker Heights High School senior. “Having been a part of MSAN these last two years, when I hear students talk about something they don’t like in their school, I can connect that with something that I experienced or heard about during MSAN.”

Students also take a half-day to tour a college/university — this year it’s Cleveland State University — and spend one full day in “action-planning,” in which district teams meet to identify a challenge in their school community and develop a plan for change. This year, action planning will be framed using the principles of Youth Participatory Action Research.

“MSAN’s values align directly with our district’s values in building our students’ capacities and developing them into leaders who use their voices to bring about change in their school community,” said Warren, the host district’s student program coordinator.

Action plans created at past conferences and implemented in participating districts include a mentoring program and a cultural studies class.

“These action plans are the most important part of the conference,” said Holiday. “Students come up with projects that will positively impact kids of color in their schools. The conference is their development lab, and a time for them to take their ideas, put pen to paper and then put the work in once they get back. The ultimate goal is that these projects are shared with their superintendents and other adult leaders in their districts and students are given support and an opportunity to see their ideas implemented.”

Students are encouraged to think of their action-planning problem before the conference as a research question, with data collection among the goals.

“Action-plan projects will start to look a bit more like actual research projects, integrating some of the basic tenets of doing research,” Holiday said.

The emphasis on research will include participation from Jennifer Renick, an assistant professor of community psychology at Michigan State University and an MSAN research partner. Renick will collect data and take field notes to capture what students are experiencing and will also support student learning and action plan development.

The conference will also include an address from keynote speaker Sandra Roach, a Duke University Associate in Research who advocates for diverse voices in shaping the future of technology, and an alumni panel featuring former MSAN students from the Ohio area.

Addison Captain, another Shaker Heights High student who helped plan the conference, said she was confident that “MSAN 2026 will expand all attendees’ imaginations, give them courage to pursue their dreams, and foster change within their schools.”

About the Multicultural Student Achievement Network (MSAN)

Founded in 1999, MSAN works to build the capacity of school leaders and students through its communities of practice, a focus on elevating youth voices, and member engagement in development, leadership, and research activities. Visit MSAN’s website for more information.

About the Wisconsin Center for Education Research (WCER)

WCER at UW–Madison’s top-ranked School of Education is one of the most productive education research centers globally. For over 60 years, it has helped scholars share education research, evaluation and development work. Visit the WCER website for more details.