Report

Developing Youth–Adult Design Partnerships

Tom Malarkey
November 2025 | National Equity Project and Building Equitable Learning Environments Network

This report by the National Equity Project and Building Equitable Learning Environments Network affirms that while educators can create equitable learning conditions and experiences in classrooms, adult-driven efforts often miss out on the perspectives and experiences their youth face. To combat this, the report calls for youth–adult design partnerships. Youth–adult design partnerships bring educators and students together to codesign approaches targeted at creating more meaningful learning and equitable experiences and outcomes in educational contexts. This report offers information on the elements of youth–adult design partnerships as well as how to design and implement partnerships across education systems. Serving as installment two out of four, this resource can help teachers and school and district administrators in approaching school redesign methods in a way that is responsive to students and the science of learning and development.

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