Student agency means empowering students to take ownership of their learning journey.
Instead of simply receiving knowledge, students with agency are encouraged to set goals, make learning decisions, reflect on their progress and adapt as they grow. This approach transforms learners into active participants rather than passive recipients in their education.
Student agency is more than offering occasional choices; it’s about cultivating a growth mindset, ownership and accountability. Student agency includes:
- Setting personal learning goals
- Making informed decisions about how to learn
- Reflecting on outcomes and adjusting strategies
Educators play a vital role in creating the conditions for agency. They support student voice, offer flexible learning paths and help students develop the self-awareness and resilience needed for lifelong learning. For example, this might mean encouraging a student to reflect on feedback from a recent project, set goals for improvement and then select a learning strategy that works best for them.
Why student agency matters
Perhaps most importantly, agency helps students become confident learners who see themselves as capable of growth and change.
For instance, at Calabasas School in Santa Cruz, Arizona, standards-based grading has helped students understand the concept behind their grades and have the agency to engage with how to engage more deeply with the content.
“Before when a student got a 60% or a 50%, a D or an F, they felt like, ‘I am failing.’ But now, when they get a 1, they just know they need a little bit more practice,” said Yuki Carrillo, a teacher in the Santa Cruz Valley Unified School District. “They’re still working on it, and because there are multiple opportunities to show what they’ve learned, they can do the assignment again.”
Standards-based grading can help motivate and move students through progressions of mastery instead of feeling defeated, incapable and pre-determined. It promotes mental model shifts from passive learning to active learning.
What’s the difference between standards-based grading and personalized, competency-based learning?
While the two phrases are sometimes used interchangeably, standards-based grading and personalized, competency-based learning are two different things.
Standards-based grading focuses on student proficiency on specific, measurable learning objectives, while personalized, competency-based learning emphasizes personalized learning experiences where students demonstrate mastery of broader skills and concepts. While standards-based grading evaluates mastery of individual standards, personalized, competency-based learning assesses mastery of broader competencies and allows for more individualized learning paths.
How to support student agency in the classroom
Educators can foster student agency by adopting practical, human-centered strategies:
- Design authentic learning experiences: Create projects and tasks that connect learning to students’ lives and interests
- Use learning pathways: Meet learners where they are by using pre-assessments and creating multiple paths to work toward mastery
- Use student-friendly rubrics: Put the progression of learning in the hands of learners so they can track their progress toward mastery
- Create a safe, supportive environment: Students are more willing to take risks and explore ideas when they feel respected and heard
Future-ready learners
Fostering student agency is about preparing learners not just for tests, but for life. In a rapidly changing world, we need students who can think independently, adapt to challenges and continue learning beyond the classroom. By prioritizing agency, we’re not just improving academic outcomes. We’re developing confident, capable and future-ready young people.
