Increase student agency through opportunities for student self direction and ownership of the learning process.
Respond to the following question by clicking the link and entering a response:
What is your instinct about what data tracking for students has to do with student agency? | Link to live responses
*KSS Shift #6 is a part of the Key STR Shifts & Strategies
Student agency is often presented as a nebulous or abstract concept, either too high level and broad with labels like voice and choice or something so unique and complex that it feels unattainable in our school systems.
Student agency is not an abstract concept—it is observable, teachable, and essential for literacy success.
Why this shift matters.
What is student agency? (Researcher Karen Boyes)
Student agency is about students knowing their own abilities and strengths.
It’s about being self-directed, and understanding their next steps.
It’s about the power to act—the ability for students to get themselves unstuck, move themselves forward, and take responsibility for their learning.
Agency is the opposite of helplessness.
The promise of agency.
Students knowing what they know and don't know yet.
Students understanding their next steps and the power to act on them.
Students reflecting on their progress -- how things went.
First grade teacher in Crockett County ISD describes how her students demonstrate self-direction and personal ownership of their learning. Video 0:34
Fourth grade teacher in Cisco ISD describes what it is like when students know where they are going in their learning and celebrate their progress. Video 0:51
Consider: What do teachers start to observe?