Districts seek innovative approaches to promote student engagement and agency that feel authentic and meaningful to students, connect the classroom with the real-world, and prepare students for college and careers.
However, creating student-driven learning environments, where students can exercise their agency and make more decisions about what they learn and how they learn, require additional planning time, resources, and training for educators. Incorporating opportunities for students to take ownership of their academic journey through course offerings, feedback loops, and varied learning resources require an additional infrastructure.
Student agency ranked as district leaders’ #13 priority challenge in Fall 2022 (n=86)
—Student
—Educator
—Community Member
When reflecting on how students can have more agency over their learning, educators and students described the following needs.
Explore the tiles below to learn more about projects and resources that aim to strengthen student agency.
The Ciena Solutions Challenge fosters student agency by providing resources for educators to facilitate Challenge Based Learning experiences where students explore big ideas, ask thoughtful questions, and create solutions to challenges that align with their interests and local contexts.
The Challenge Based Science Learning Toolkit guides educators in developing science units that build on student interest, lead to deeper learning, and engage students in using science to solve problems in their community.
The Bristol Township School District team identified the challenge of addressing the role trauma plays in student mental health through a deep dive with a variety of school and community members including Bristol Cares Coalition, student, staff, and family surveys, and with their Equity Leadership Council.
LOIS builds the capacity of high school students to conduct research and development to shape the future of education.
League districts tackle common challenges through learning collaboratives focused on student agency, high school redesign, and leveraging technology.
Three districts within Digital Promise’s League of Innovative Schools share a roadmap for how other districts can center student voice and engage learners in empowering ways.
Educators and community stakeholders from Socorro ISD examined context-specific challenges in secondary writing and developed and designed student-led prototype solutions.
Educators and community stakeholders from Sunnyside USD examined context-specific challenges in secondary writing and developed and designed student-led prototype solutions.
The YouthMADE Festival is a global, two-week celebration of creativity and innovation that showcases youth-led projects in STEM, advocacy, activism and community service, performing and fine arts, media, and more.
The Learning Studios Project Library offers resources to help students design solutions to local challenges while developing skills in design thinking, engineering, and digital communication.
This resource library provides students and teachers with activities to support their participation in the Ciena Solutions Challenge.
Educators share ways to engage students in Challenge Based Learning experiences where students design thoughtful solutions to local challenges.
This research-practice partnership engages students through content, problem-solving, computational thinking and heritage connections.
League districts tackle common challenges through learning collaboratives focused on student agency, high school redesign, and leveraging technology.
Three districts within Digital Promise’s League of Innovative Schools share a roadmap for how other districts can center student voice and engage learners in empowering ways.
Educators and community stakeholders from Socorro ISD examined context-specific challenges in secondary writing and developed and designed student-led prototype solutions.
Educators and community stakeholders from Sunnyside USD examined context-specific challenges in secondary writing and developed and designed student-led prototype solutions.
The YouthMADE Festival is a global, two-week celebration of creativity and innovation that showcases youth-led projects in STEM, advocacy, activism and community service, performing and fine arts, media, and more.
The Learning Studios Project Library offers resources to help students design solutions to local challenges while developing skills in design thinking, engineering, and digital communication.
This resource library provides students and teachers with activities to support their participation in the Ciena Solutions Challenge.
Educators share ways to engage students in Challenge Based Learning experiences where students design thoughtful solutions to local challenges.
This research-practice partnership engages students through content, problem-solving, computational thinking and heritage connections.
Challenge Map