# data[].attributes.body
I appreciate the idea of the modified compass points protocol in getting students to reflect and own the learning. I think it also models seeking real feedback, not just feedback to improve the grade, but to improve knowledge and skill in a task.

# data[].attributes.body
Just want to highlight this quote from the article Chelsea posted here:
"Research indicates that students who believe they have a voice in school are seven times more likely to be academically motivated than those who do not feel they have a voice. One way to engage and empower student voice is to include our students as part of an inquiry process--both in reporting on their experiences and in interpreting or providing root cause explanations and ideas for change."

# data[].attributes.headline
Mentoring, Coaching, and Cognitive Modeling

# data[].attributes.subject
Mentoring, Coaching, and Cognitive Modeling

# data[].attributes.body
"Youth-adult collaboration is, in fact, an essential factor in educational transformation. Authentic youth-adult partnerships in learning are equitable, respectful, trusting, cross-generational relationships characterized by shared power, voice, and responsibility. Shifting the traditional student-teacher relationship to this context of partnership is a powerful strategy in building a robust learner-centered practice."

"Without genuine youth-adult partnership, the change process can be reduced to perfunctory compliance or tokenism, and lacking structural integrity, it will quickly return to the status quo."

When structured well, these can be the most meaningful conversations, coaching of academic inquiry and cognitive modeling, but it does require the student to meet you half way. What structures do we need in place to help all students get here? What does this look like in a class period, research unit, or school day?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
"The future is not some place we are going to, but one we are creating. The paths are not to be found, but made, and the activity of making them...changes both the maker and the destination."

Five years ago, the state of Vermont mandated ambitious learner-centered reforms: all high schools would establish flexible pathways toward proficiency-based graduation. Every student would have an annual personal learning plan (PLP), developed by the student with guidance from teachers and parents. And, the PLP would define goals and strategies, laying out each individual learner's path to demonstrated proficiency-and a diploma. To this day, these requirements offer the promise of transformation across the public system.

In this historically decentralized state, schools have responded in varied ways. We have seen places where personalized learning plans develop as an engaging and meaningful experience, constructed together by learners and caring adult guides. These PLPs are dynamic; they're frequently reviewed and updated as new interests and goals emerge. Youth count on adult partners to help make adjustments to the PLPs as interests and passions change and to explore alternative pathways to their desired goals-say, working on a goat farm or writing a novella to meet a similar standard for graduation.

When students have the freedom to explore topics of personal interest, the adults become co-learners as students lead them into new domains. Ultimately, this partnership allows adults to gain rich insights into learners' lives resulting in a deep-seated relationship built on mutual respect and trust.

On the other hand, we have also heard a school administrator declare: "We set aside the second Tuesday in September to do PLPs" using a series of computerized questionnaires. Then, they are essentially done with this state-mandated task for the year.

"Personalization," in cases like this, appear to both students and teachers as another irrelevant adult-driven exercise, carried out through the traditional student-teacher power dynamic of command and compliance.

Partnership as an Essential Element in Learning and School Transformation

As Alison Cook Sather has remarked, "There is something fundamentally amiss about building and rebuilding an entire system without consulting at any point those it is designed to serve." (Cook- Sather, 2009)

Youth-adult collaboration is, in fact, an essential factor in educational transformation. Authentic youth-adult partnerships in learning are equitable, respectful, trusting, cross-generational relationships characterized by shared power, voice, and responsibility. Shifting the traditional student-teacher relationship to this context of partnership is a powerful strategy in building a robust learner-centered practice.

This shift is the keystone-the critical piece that ensures the fundamental stability of the structure, keeping all the supporting components in place-to a robustly transformed system. Without genuine youth-adult partnership, the change process can be reduced to perfunctory compliance or tokenism, and lacking structural integrity, it will quickly return to the status quo.

At Unleashing the Power of Partnership (UP) for Learning, a Vermont non-profit organization focused on promoting youth-adult partnership for the past ten years, we've seen how easily promising reforms can fall apart.

We've also seen evidence of transformation.

We've learned that once youth and adults enter into authentic partnership, their sense of agency and capacity as change agents alters. They develop a fresh mindset that sparks a culture shift and drives a new kind of action. The power struggles inherent in traditional student-teacher relationships drain a school's capacity for learning. Partnership replaces that dynamic with synergy and collective power.

Young people have their own expertise, an insider's perspective on the learning experience that adults cannot fully fathom-unless they ask and listen well.

One natural obstacle to this culture shift is the prevailing mental model about the proper relationship of young people and adults in learning environments. Partnership can seem an alien and unsettling concept across generations.

The traditional system, with its emphasis on a sheltered and prescribed preparation for distant adulthood, has fostered the belief high school students-not to mention middle and elementary students-are too young and immature to be agents of their own learning. Students have been schooled to expect and accept passive roles as learners, either mastering how to play the "game of school" or feeling marginalized. In fact, the idea of shared responsibility for learning can make young people very uncomfortable at first.

For their part, teachers defend their professional authority and expertise-increasingly devalued and eroded in contemporary society-along with their deep dedication to students' best interests. From this perspective, the idea that students and teachers can work in a reciprocal balance, sharing both responsibility and power, seems fanciful, counterproductive, and even threatening.

Of course, educators bring a wealth of professional expertise to their work. Young people, though, have their own expertise, an insider's perspective on the learning experience that adults cannot fully fathom-unless they ask and listen well.

For us, our work in Vermont has affirmed that young people have the wisdom, creativity, and capacity for genuine partnership and that both youth and adults benefit from that relationship. When youth work closely with adults toward shared goals, they gain skills and confidence for lifelong learning and civic engagement. When adults work closely with youth as partners, the opportunity to learn from students' insights and unique perspectives often renews a professional sense of purpose and moves teaching and school transformation efforts toward more learner-centered modes.

With this evidence in front of us, our mission at UP for Learning is to shift the youth-adult relationship from one of command and compliance to one of partnership. When done well, this will increase youth agency-ensuring all young people have opportunities, support, knowledge, and skills to pursue active roles in their learning, their lives, and their community. Five of these effects stand out for us, supported by our own action research and experience in 88% of high schools and 37% of middle schools in Vermont over the past decade. We are sharing these persuasive reasons for anyone to use in creating a compelling case for youth-adult partnership being key and core to transforming or reforming education.

1. Youth-adult partnership improves academic success

In a proposal for increased democracy in schooling, a group of students suggested: "If students feel some ownership in the school where they learn, we might have better attendance, fewer suspensions, and more respect for keeping our building clean. Also, having a choice in how we are taught might make most students more enthusiastic about learning." (Forum for Youth Investment, Tolman & Pittman, 2001)

Research has borne out these predictions. A comprehensive review of findings on achievement motivation, school engagement, and student voice concluded that "fostering student voice-empowering youth to express their opinions and influence their educational experiences so that they feel they have a stake in the outcomes-is one of the most powerful tools schools have to increase learning." (Toshalis & Nakkula, 2012) As a result, "capitaliz[ing] on the power of self-determination can substantially increase achievement," even among struggling students and those in marginalized populations. It is also linked to expanded classroom participation, better reflection skills, and decreased behavior problems.

2. Youth-adult partnership renews hope

Like self-determination, hopefulness is a significant factor in school performance. Hope drives high school attendance, credits earned, GPA, and retention in college. In fact, it is a more robust predictor of college success than high school GPA, SAT and ACT scores. (Gallup Student Poll Overview 2012-13, Snyder, Shorey et. al. 2002)

Research shows that a lack of hope leads to alienation and disengagement, reducing attendance, self-concept, academic achievement, and high school completion. (Mitra & Gross, 2009) Youth-adult partnership provides a context and support structure to promote hope and its positive effects. As Paolo Freire (1998) put it: "Hope is something shared between teachers and students...[when] we can learn together, teach together, be curiously impatient together, produce something together, and resist together the obstacles that prevent the flowering of our joy."

3. Youth-adult partnership promotes ownership, which sparks motivation

Learners who feel a sense of control and ownership, with the ability to set goals and make choices, tend to be more engaged and enthusiastic. A survey of 56,877 students found that "students who believe they have a voice in school are seven times more likely to be academically motivated" than students who do not have that belief. (Quaglia & Corso, 2014)

This is a strong argument for the kind of partnership that puts learners at the center with skilled and supportive adult guidance. As Alison Cook-Sather asserts, both youth and adults have roles to play: "Students must have an active role in their learning if that learning is going to be meaningful and lasting, and such an active role should include having input into how their learning is facilitated. It is the right of the students, and it is the responsibility of adults to ensure that right is guaranteed." (Cook-Sather, 2008)

"It has been my experience that if most members of a school community perceive that they have limited input into what transpires in that community, the motivation to teach and to learn will be compromised." (Robert Brooks)

4. Youth-adult partnership is a right and part of being a citizen in a democracy

The right to an active role in learning has implications beyond the learner's personal explorations and achievements. It also speaks to a foundational premise of our nation's public school system-the goal of developing an informed citizenry equipped to participate in civic life.

As Carl Glickman (1993) noted, "If the central goal of schools were to prepare students to engage productively in a democracy, then students would be working on the concerns of their immediate and future life and on the concerns of their immediate and extended communities."

In 2015, however, 50% of Vermont students reported not feeling valued by their community (Youth Risk Behavior Survey). A 2013 national survey showed that fewer students reported having voice as high school seniors (37%) than when entering middle school (61%). "In other words, the more our students mature, the less opportunity they have to offer their opinions and participate as leaders in meaningful ways."(Quaglia & Corso, 2014)

Our own work at UP for Learning has shown that youth-adult partnership can counter this trend, affirming young people's rightful role as valued and responsible citizens while positioning them as active contributors.

One Vermont student who participated in our Communicating School Redesign initiative described her experience: "I can make a difference. That was my biggest 'takeaway.' This was huge for me. I've always grown up with, 'little girls are supposed to be seen, not heard.' Because of this, I have always felt silenced. I was scared to make a stand and make a change. However, after this course, I learned I can make a difference. My voice is heard and it matters. Not only does my voice matter now, but it will matter later, too. Knowing how powerful my voice can be, I will no longer be afraid to use it. I will stand up for what I believe in. I will make a change. I will be an advocate for everyone else who feels their voice isn't heard."

5. Youth-adult partnership meets the basic human need for agency

We all have a desire to be known, be valued, and have a sense of purpose. We crave to be heard, and we want to belong. All people-youth and adults-aspire to make intentional choices about the course of their own lives and find purpose through their efforts on behalf of others.

"Young people want to feel that they are part of a community...when they feel they belong, they feel more competent, more motivated, have more positive attitudes about school, and are more invested in learning." (How Students Thrive: Positive Youth Development in Practice, Springpoint, 2016)

From our work in schools and communities, informed by key findings in neuroscience and human development, we have come to believe that change-agent capacity is shaped by four factors:

1. mindset about personal power to influence change and the power of community;

2. skills to reflect, plan, implement, and communicate goals in the context of systems;

3. experience to make decisions, collaborate, find purpose, and make change; and

4. an environment of youth-adult collaboration, including access to resources and community partnership.

Quaglia & Corso (2014) summarize the value of youth agency this way: "Schools that instill in students the confidence to act in support of their dreams are fulfilling the deepest purpose of schools: to help each and every student become the best possible version of him- or herself."

The same is true for adult agency. In a transformed education system, both adults and youth should be able to fulfill their highest potential.

Youth-adult partnership: Setting the keystone to transformation

Even with the five outcomes above as strong incentives for a transformative culture shift, creating and sustaining authentic youth-adult partnership is no easy task. Few members of either generation have experienced this shift in context.

We know the change can feel risky and foreign, triggering fears, hidden assumptions, and confusion for both generations. In our work, we have developed learning experiences and materials to help youth-adult teams build the complex skills of partnership. They benefit from working together on authentic tasks; developing a common vocabulary; building trust and shared reliance; and frequent practice with high-quality dialogue, planning, and reflection.

Our reflective tool, Taking the Pulse of Partnership, provides a rubric to describe and assess the evolving process of youth-adult collaboration, helping teams set that keystone firmly as the educational culture takes on new forms.

We have seen repeatedly that when young people have clear purpose and agency, adults too, rise to the occasion. Intergenerational partnership calls us all to be our best selves, and we all change and grow in this process.

At UP for Learning, we envision a time when all youth will take responsibility for their own learning, collaborating with adults who support shared exploration. We also envision young people as full partners in school redesign.

Along the way, we hope to hear more adults say: "We need the students in on this; we can't decide this without them." And we need more young people saying: "Of course we're taking charge of our education. Why wouldn't we?"

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Youth-Adult Partnership: The Keystone to Transformation - Education Reimagined

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
"The future is not some place we are going to, but one we are creating. The paths are not to be found, but made, and the activity of making them...changes both the maker and the destination." Five years ago, the state of Vermont mandated ambitious learner-centered reforms: all high schools would establish flexible pathways toward proficiency-based graduation.

# data[].attributes.body
A key part of our Social Justice curriculum is giving students the tools to be agents of change when they see injustice. This must come from a strong sense of agency and practice with agency. In building authentic assessments and activities, we give students a safe space to call out problems, study those issues, and develop a voice and tools for addressing them.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
I've learned that the term-and related terms, such as "self-regulated learning"-has a rich lineage of researchers and practitioners who have carefully defined it.
This article is the first part of a two-part series exploring student agency as it has been defined through decades of research and how we can apply the lessons learned in a culturally-competent frame.
What the heck is "student agency"?

Those like me who frequently invoke the phrase don't always identify it as edu-jargon. If you know what it means, kudos. But, if you try rattling it off around your everyday friends, you may discover blank stares, empty head-nods, or worse, misunderstandings. Even frequent users like me tend to kick up dust around it when we are less intentional with our words.

When trying to explain the concept in layman's terms, I have used a hodge-podge of half-right descriptions. I might say, "It's when students take ownership and responsibility for what they learn." Or sometimes, I have described it as, "When students take an active role in their education rather than having school 'done to them.'" Whenever someone else defines it as "voice and choice" or "autonomy," I have nodded my head in agreement without really pausing to wonder if that definition is right.

But, are all these things really the same? My mom-of-a-toddler brain hears "taking responsibility" as if it's a behavior issue that a solid timeout will solve. "Voice and choice" conjures the meme of the shotgun guy, American flag in hand, fighting for his free will. And, what do we really know about what "active" versus "passive" looks like when it comes to the inner contours of the mind? My off-the-cuff definitions are adding to the noise.

It's only recently that I've become much more disciplined in my use of the term "student agency" and how I apply it. Thanks to a research assignment on behalf of the Center for Innovation in Education's Assessment for Learning Project, I've learned that the term-and related terms, such as "self-regulated learning" -has a rich lineage of researchers and practitioners who have carefully defined it.

There is no broad consensus on the definition of student agency...That said, by looking across researchers, practitioners, and other thought leaders, common elements arise that begin to suggest a consensus.

Some definitional efforts are relatively new but many are much older. And, meditating on this question-what is "student agency"?-has given me a more sophisticated understanding of what "student agency" really means and how to develop it in students.

First, I should say, there is no broad consensus on the definition of student agency. Many different words are used to describe the concept, and sometimes the same words are used to describe different concepts. That said, by looking across researchers ¹, practitioners, and other thought leaders ², common elements arise that begin to suggest a consensus.

From these sources, the dust seems to settle on a concept of "student agency" that involves four distinct components. The first three are temporally linked covering future, present, and past:

Setting advantageous goals;

Initiating action toward those goals; and

Reflecting on and regulating progress toward those goals.

Several sources also agree on a fourth dimension, that undergirds the others-a belief in self-efficacy. That is, whether one believes they can act with agency actually enhances or diminishes that agency.

For me, this multi-part definition clears the air by allowing me to situate related terms-like voice, choice, and ownership-as valid pieces that fit within a larger whole.

More importantly, this definition demystifies what it means to seek agency as an outcome for students. It's not a binary "you have it or you don't" quality. In Education Reimagined's lexicon, Learner Agency is the " methodological development of both the capacity and the freedom of learners to exercise choice regarding what is to be learned and to co-create how that learning is to take place" (italics mine). Meaning: educators can work with young people to intentionally and progressively develop each of the four components.

Setting Goals

For example, one can help students become more adept at setting goals. Educators can design pathways of learning that promote students' awareness of their current strengths and weaknesses relative to a developing sense of where they want to go. They can provide opportunities to practice, self-assess, and receive feedback on specific skills such as forethought, intentionality, and "planful competence."

Of course, the point isn't to set goals willy-nilly but to drive toward goals that are advantageous to the student. This is a value statement that calls into question what gets counted as a worthwhile goal and who gets to make that determination. The way we answer these questions has important ramifications on equity-a point I'll dwell on in the second post in this conversation.

Initiating Action

Once a direction is set, students don't just gaze out the window of the bus. They drive. This second part of the definition-initiating action-invokes existential concepts such as voice, choice, free will, freedom, individual volition, self-influence, and self-initiation.

Educators can help students develop these capacities by providing choices or open-ended opportunities to select strategies and tactics for meeting a goal, allowing students to diverge from their peers as they explore something relevant to them. Educators can encourage independent learning by teaching effective learning strategies, such as organization, note-taking, rehearsing, and so on. Educators can also encourage initiative by creating learning environments that optimize motivation and engagement.

By providing students autonomy over "time, task, technique, and team" as they tackle learning objectives; or by making learning social through group work or community-based projects, educators can help students develop a sense of voice, ownership, and self-determination.

Reflecting and Redirecting

Even the best-laid plans and most meticulous follow-through can't guarantee results. So, students with agency not only plan and act but also reflect and redirect. This involves perseverance and grit. It requires skills such as reflection and self-discipline. It is something that educators can encourage by structuring opportunities for students to externalize their thinking, self-reflect, and offer and receive feedback with adults and peers.

From an equity standpoint, it is also an opportunity for educators to complement the development of self-reflection and perseverance with practices focused on building critical consciousness as a way to understand and situate one's agency within a "broader collective struggle for social justice."

Internalizing Self-Efficacy

The fourth and final component of the definition-beliefs about self-efficacy-is less outwardly apparent but no less important to instill in students. Research on "growth mindsets" by Carol Dweck has shown if students understand they aren't born "smart" or "dumb" but have capacity to get smarter, they put in the extra effort necessary to achieve more.

Researchers have similarly applied the concept to agency, associating one's belief in their ability to succeed with their level of effort and their ability to persist when facing challenges. Conversely, students with low self-efficacy exhibit learned helplessness, a belief they "have no power over what goes on around them, and nothing they do contributes to their success or lack of it."

Educators can help students overcome learned helplessness and reinforce their self-efficacy through several tactics, such as providing multiple opportunities for students to develop and showcase mastery of their learning (as in a competency-based system); stretching students by targeting their zone of proximal development; sharing about peers and role models who overcome hurdles; instructing about and reinforcing growth mindsets; and explicitly attending to students' physical and emotional states.

Using the research available to us, let's be clear with one another about student agency...In doing so, we can better develop strong young adults capable of effecting positive change in their own lives and the world around them.

Keeping this four-part frame in mind has enabled me to more proactively focus on building student agency through my work, such as in ensuring all four components are expressed in self-assessment rubrics guiding educator practice.

Using the research available to us, let's be clear with one another about student agency. It is not a fleeting behavior or an innate personality trait.

It is not (just) a manifestation of free will, or an exercise of one's vocal chords, or a "buck up and be responsible" mentality. Rather, it is a multi-faceted skill-and disposition-invoking past, present, and future. It is students' abilities to set advantageous goals, initiate action toward those goals, and reflect and redirect based on feedback, all the while internalizing the belief they can have agency.

The next time someone asks you about the meaning of "student agency," will you consider all four components in your response? And, when you're working with students and schools to develop agency in students, will you intentionally build skills and mindsets in each component? In doing so, we can better develop strong young adults capable of effecting positive change in their own lives and the world around them.

1. Hitlin and Elder, Bandura, Zimmerman and Schunk, Heritage, Andrade, the National Research Council, and the University of Chicago Consortium on Chicago School Research, among others

2. Education Reimagined, Summit Public Schools, New Tech Network schools, the Next Generation Learning Challenges, Students at the Center, the Hewlett Foundation, Transforming Education, Transcend, and the Assessment for Learning Project grantees

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Part 1: What Do You Mean When You Say "Student Agency"? - Education Reimagined

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Education buzzwords are a dime a dozen, but just one of them, like student agency, can have limitless interpretations or definitions depending who you speak with. Let's clear the air on what student agency is and is not.

# data[].attributes.body
This connected to a professional development I did over the summer with the Summer Institute on Education, Equity, and Justice about how allowing voice and choice allows students to explore their own identity, see themselves in powerful people beyond the typical history textbook, and connect to a broader narrative. It increasing agency and motivation, because we all want to know about things that are important to us as individuals. That's a powerful tool of empowerment in our classrooms we can use more often.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
This post is written by Alison Lee, Senior Research Scientist, and Meg Riordan, Director of External Research, at EL Education. "What might happen if we viewed youth as part of the solution, rather than as part of the problem?" - Dana Mitra
As our previous post in this blog suggests, we have a simple idea at EL Education: students' sense of belonging matters. It matters in promoting deeper learning and equity. It matters every day, in every classroom, in every school. A key lever for increasing belonging is listening to and learning from student voice.

Research indicates that students who believe they have a voice in school are seven times more likely to be academically motivated than those who do not feel they have a voice. One way to engage and empower student voice is to include our students as part of an inquiry process--both in reporting on their experiences and in interpreting or providing root cause explanations and ideas for change.

In our Building Equitable Learning Environments (BELE) project, teachers asked students:

For whom does Crew seem to be most effective as an engine for academic, social, and emotional success?

And for whom is it least effective?

Students' answers helped us check our assumptions about Crew. Their voices informed the design and implementation of change practices. In this way students acted as a mirror to reflect a common experience, a loudspeaker to project diverse voices, and a collaborator to improve Crew.

Starting with students' voices and examining the conditions that contribute to their experiences are essential steps to continuous improvement and change. But how did teachers and students partner in this work? What steps in the improvement process engendered students' agency? In the case study below, we explore how one school leveraged student voices to build a stronger sense of belonging for all learners.
Building Equity at Capital City Public Charter School
Capital City Public Charter School in Washington, DC, serves predominantly African-American (39%) and Latino (46%) pre-K-12th graders, with 75 percent of students qualifying for free or reduced-priced lunch. In their exploration of Crew as an engine for equity, sixth- to eighth-grade teachers examined students' fall survey data and identified that students reported low trust in their peers in Crew, which led to less willingness to participate or speak authentically in Crew. One student explained, "I feel like Crew leaders should take into consideration working in everyone's comfort zone ... sometimes [I] don't feel comfortable talking about really personal stuff and maybe some people do." Teachers also identified a promising outcome they hoped to use as a lever for change: a higher proportion of students reported that they cared deeply about helping their fellow Crew members.
Playing Community Is Only a First Step
After identifying trust and respect as areas where students saw gaps, the teachers on the Capital City middle school team decided to experiment with collaboration, a key deeper learning skill, as a way to create bridges to more trusting relationships. As part of a Plan, Do, Study, Act (PDSA) cycle of testing out ideas for change to impact students' belonging, teachers engaged their Crews in trust-building activities--games, initiatives, and conversations--with the intent of building community and trust through structures that support respectful dialogue. For instance, a student explained, "We practice accountable talk. When we're discussing something, it'll be like, 'I respectfully disagree with you because...'"

Teachers, however, noted that these activities led only to a modest gain in students' perceived trust (measured through weekly exit tickets). They concluded that while "playing community" (using structured activities) can support establishing a baseline expectation for Crew interactions, students needed more authentic and compelling opportunities to build relational trust. In response, teachers decided to use students' caring deeply for their fellow Crew members as a spark to ignite increased trust.
Authentic Projects Build Deep Trust
In the second PDSA cycle, teachers tried a new intervention: authentic projects that organically motivated students to work together more effectively and build relational trust. One teacher highlighted a project in which students decorated the door to their Crew room:

We've had to take a pretty big step back from the... structure... of starting out with a greeting, and then doing a share, and then doing an activity. That just isn't working. ... The biggest breakthrough that we had was this Crew door-decorating competition in the middle school, and so each Crew was responsible for decorating the door to their Crew space with their college or university, stuff about it. Every member of my Crew [had] a different job that they're working towards. Then they come together to make one collective door and one collective group. And as they worked, they just started asking each other questions.

The teachers recognized that creating opportunities for students to work toward a genuine product together was key to cultivating trust. One teacher reflected, "I think these projects where they become a group without really realizing it have been more successful. . . [now we ask ourselves], 'What are these bigger projects that we can do that can discreetly get them to work together without being, like, today, we are going to focus on working together.'"

In the Spring, when middle school students responded again to the 22-item Crew survey, data indicators for belonging, trust, and respect showed gains. For example, in response to the questions "How many of the students in your Crew share their ideas out loud?" the percentage of students who responded "almost everybody" or "all of the students" increased from 43 percent in the fall to 64 percent in the spring. The percentage of students who perceived that they were expected to treat each other respectfully increased (68 percent in the fall to 75 percent in the spring). Students' perception of how well they were able to resolve conflict and that other Crew members cared about them also increased--54 percent to 68 percent and 59 percent to 73 percent, respectively.

What did teachers and students at Capital City learn this year while engaging in continuous improvement and listening to students' voices? Three conclusions emerge from our data:

1. Authentic tasks drive students' motivation to collaborate and increase relational trust.

2. Crew leaders should strike a balance between "playing community" through structured team-building games and "building community" through projects that lend themselves to collaboration.

3. Teachers and students can successfully experiment with new practices and measure impact. They are eager to try out strategies and investigate whether a change is making a difference or not?

For deeper learning to be successful, leaders and teachers must listen to, learn from, and lead with students. To promote an increased sense of belonging, we must invite and listen to students' voices; they can lead the way to experiences for learning and growth. As one Capital City student expressed, "I feel like I'm now able to work better in groups. It made me want to work in groups more...we do a really good job and we're like, 'Wow, we're all so different, but we're still able to work together.'"

Stay tuned for our next post in which we ask: Given our findings on teachers' and students' experiences, what can we learn in the coming year from our successes and missteps as we work to build more equitable learning environments?
Photo Credit: Katie Schneider

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Equity and Voice: How a Sense of Belonging Promotes Students' Agency (Opinion)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This post is written by Alison Lee, Senior Research Scientist, and Meg Riordan, Director of External Research, at EL Education. "What might happen if we viewed youth as part of the solution, rather than as part of the problem?"

# data[].attributes.headline
Following up on Deborah's post, Kleinrock is a great model for this work! Her IG has daily updates on lessons, units, and practices!

# data[].attributes.subject
Following up on Deborah's post, Kleinrock is a great model for this work! Her IG has daily updates on lessons, units, and practices!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Antibias, Antiracist Strategies for the Classroom, Workplace, and Community

Lets do the work together!

Welcome!

I am a transracially adopted Korean, Jewish, queer, antibias and antiracist nationally recognized educator, author, and consultant. My identity as an Asian American is complex-it has taken me a long time to grapple and reconcile the intersections of that identity.....

Read More >

To play, press and hold the enter key. To stop, release the enter key.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Antibias, Antiracist Strategies for the Classroom, Workplace, and Community Lets do the work together! Welcome! I am a transracially adopted Korean, Jewish, queer, antibias and antiracist nationally recognized educator, author, and consultant. My identity as an Asian American is complex-it has taken me a long time to grapple and reconcile the intersections of that identity.....

# data[].attributes.body
Liz Kleinrock on student motivation (3)

# data[].attributes.body
Liz Kleinrock on student motivation (2)

# data[].attributes.body
Liz Kleinrock on student motivation (1)

# data[].attributes.body
My favorite assignment was definitely our first choice book regarding intersectionality. I read These Shallow Graves and it was such a good book I couldn't put it down. I also really liked how perfect that book was for intersectionality regarding gender and social class.

# data[].attributes.body
I really enjoyed the choice read unit because you were able to explore your book on your own, share with classmates, and hear about other stories and ideas. Although we haven't completed it, I think writing my own short story will be one of my favorites too! 

# data[].attributes.body
I really enjoyed the choice read unit because you were able to explore your book on your own, share with classmates, and hear about other stories and ideas. Although we haven't completed it, I think writing my own short story will be one of my favorites too! "

# data[].attributes.body
In "Elevating Student Experience to Build Equitable Learning Environments, Engagement, and Agency," Levine explains how the

Mood Meter helps students think about and express how they’re feeling. The last several years I've used a similar tool - the Feeling Wheel. I was introduced to it as part of my DEISJ work at a previous institution and have found it very helpful with groups of all ages, adults included!

# data[].attributes.body
"Authentic youth-adult partnerships in learning are equitable, respectful, trusting, cross-generational relationships characterized by shared power, voice, and responsibility. Shifting the traditional student-teacher relationship to this context of partnership is a powerful strategy in building a robust learner-centered practice."

# data[].attributes.body
"I love writing my own short story! I'm excited about my idea and getting to create my own world and characters."

# data[].attributes.body
"I really love the choice reading unit. Because I'm getting to choose my own book to read, I'm excited and motivated to engage with the text. I hope we get to do this more this year!"

# data[].attributes.body
How and why to humanize your online class.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Humanizing Infographic 2.0 - MICHELLE PACANSKY-BROCK

# data[].attributes.body
What do we think the purpose of school should be?
When asked this question to my advisory the answers caught me off guard. So much of school for these students is trying to get to the next step (college/university). What happened to enjoying the moment and finding the value of what they are learning vs. finding the value of something for the sake of college applications?

# data[].attributes.headline
Comment from one of my student interviews

# data[].attributes.subject
Comment from one of my student interviews

# data[].attributes.body
"I think projects often put us in the driver's seat and really give us the chance to apply our skills."

# data[].attributes.body
"Agency is a key part of being a learner. It is the internal capability and drive to pursue learning." (Sturgis)

# data[].attributes.headline
This would be an inspirational quote for a classroom!

# data[].attributes.subject
This would be an inspirational quote for a classroom!

# data[].attributes.body
I thought that to be a genius required insane intelligence. But, there are twelve qualities of Genius: curiosity, playfulness, imagination, creativity, wonder, wisdom, inventiveness, vitality, sensitivity, flexibility, humor, and joy.

CALI RAGLAND

LEARNER, PERKIOMEN VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL

# data[].attributes.headline
It's not just about student choice - it's more. Agency includes:

# data[].attributes.subject
It's not just about student choice - it's more. Agency includes:

# data[].attributes.body
Reflection, goal-setting, and the chance to continue to build the skills and habits to successfully manage their learning.

# data[].attributes.headline
Creating Student Choice is Also About Acknowledging Our Own Lenses

# data[].attributes.subject
Creating Student Choice is Also About Acknowledging Our Own Lenses

# data[].attributes.body
"Student agency is about much more than students knowing what to do next; it's about students knowing themselves and teachers designing with equity lenses. In her article, Toward a Culturally Responsive Understanding of Student Agency, Jennifer Davis Poon asks, "...in what ways might a student’s identity—including gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and other factors—shape their expression of agency? In what ways might adults’ sociocultural identities influence how we perceive student agency? As educators, we must consider these questions with urgency because otherwise, we risk viewing student agency through a dominant cultural frame of reference."

# data[].attributes.body
As educators, we need appropriate assessment tools to determine what students know and what they have learned in order to revise and refine our (educators') practices. Assessments and measurement tools provide important evidence of what we have actually taught—and how well we have taught it. Assessments should be seen as opportunities for educators to adjust their practices and respond to students, not as opportunities to punitively grade or sort students through explicit or implicit tracking systems.
H.Richard Milner IV

# data[].attributes.body
Young people have their own expertise, an insider’s perspective on the learning experience that adults cannot fully fathom—unless they ask and listen well.

HELEN BEATTIE AND MARTHA RICH

# data[].attributes.body
If schools can transition from teachers as “holders of knowledge” to “facilitators of learning” and can provide spaces for students to chase their curiosity and passion instead of extinguishing it, students can become geniuses: life-long learners and innovators.

CALI RAGLAND

LEARNER, PERKIOMEN VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL

# data[].attributes.headline
Quote about "unlearning" during remote learning: I love this idea

# data[].attributes.subject
Quote about "unlearning" during remote learning: I love this idea

# data[].attributes.body
"Teachers can use school closures as opportunities for what Bragg calls “unlearning” of conventional roles and protocols. Building this kind of learning culture won’t happen overnight, but there are ways for teachers and parents to nurture it. Teachers can:

introduce more student control over activities, schedules, and assessments during remote learning.

invite students to develop homegrown projects related to their own curiosities and interests, or host a “skill share” to teach something new to their peers." (Waite)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
With summer and fall planning top of mind for educators across the country, one stubborn challenge is students' online attendance and engagement-or, precisely, the lack of it. In many schools and districts, half or less of their students participate in remote learning.

Many students are unable to participate virtually due to resource constraints. For those who can, it's become abundantly clear that grades alone are insufficient to motivate learning.

Take, for example, the distance learning plan created by Chaffey Joint Union High School District in California, which says that schoolwork completed by students through the end of the year can only preserve and improve grades, but not lower them. According to Rocky Bragg, a high school English teacher in the district, this policy has created some havoc. Many teachers watched their students brush off assignments and disappear from class.

The policy is pragmatic, responding to the fact that many students are dealing with stress, trauma and extra family responsibilities that impact their ability to focus on school. But it also illuminates just how little value schoolwork has, from some students' perspectives, except to feed a grade.

But Bragg has witnessed a different reaction in his classes. He's consistently seen high attendance in synchronous online classes since the school closed, and almost all his English students submitted the epic poems they'd been working on for the last few weeks.

What's behind this rare level of engagement during such a traumatic and trying time? One factor is learner agency. As it turns out, nurturing students' abilities to contribute and lead can have big payoffs as schools face ongoing uncertainty.

Agency as both a learning outcome-and a precious resource

Agency is generally defined as an important learning outcome, characterized by the ability for students to set and pursue their own learning goals. It is an ingredient for their success through college and careers, and it is also a frequently cited goal among educators working to reimagine teaching and learning. Our Canopy Project, which documented student-centered learning plans in schools, found that three-quarters of them are designed to foster learner agency.

But in addition to being an important outcome, learner agency may also be an undervalued resource for schools, especially when they have less control over how to structure students' time and attention. The impacts of COVID-19 are highlighting at least three ways in which schools can benefit from nurturing students' agency:

1. Benefits to student engagement and learning

Bragg shares his classroom with dozens of other teachers: his own students. In a four-week unit on Albert Camus' "The Stranger," his senior year English students helped design guiding questions and themes, decided on daily and weekly assignments, determined how assessment and evaluation would be conducted, led each day's discussion, and held each other accountable to mutually agreed-upon expectations.

With students largely running the show, what was there left to do? Bragg described his duties as "back-seat driving"-synthesizing, challenging, questioning, and giving feedback. In cases where Bragg did have a role, like generating discussion questions, they were assigned by his students. In essence, responsibilities between the teacher and the learner flipped.

Shifting to this approach wasn't easy. "It was stressful, it was difficult, and it required a ton of energy and patience," Bragg wrote. But it also wasn't just one more responsibility on top of everything else teachers must do. Instead, Bragg's focus on agency eventually rebalanced the responsibilities in his classroom so that duties became shared between students and the teacher. In turn, students retained greater motivation to continue their learning even during the shift to remote instruction.

In a similar vein, Phyllis Lockett, founder and CEO of the education nonprofit LEAP Innovations, has argued that the charter network Distinctive Schools has had a smoother transition to at-home learning, due in part to a longtime focus on student-directed learning pathways.
How to start:
Teachers can use school closures as opportunities for what Bragg calls "unlearning" of conventional roles and protocols. Building this kind of learning culture won't happen overnight, but there are ways for teachers and parents to nurture it. Teachers can:

introduce more student control over activities, schedules, and assessments during remote learning.

invite students to develop homegrown projects related to their own curiosities and interests, or host a "skill share" to teach something new to their peers.

2. Benefits to social and emotional well-being

The benefits of nurturing agency can extend beyond academics, too. As educators across the country scramble to support their students' social and emotional needs during this time, they may find that students themselves can also play a big role in helping one another.

Bragg's district has restricted the use of Zoom by teachers due to privacy concerns. But he encouraged his students to set up their own video conferences for peer support. This isn't just friends getting together to chat-the students are deliberately planning the calls for all their classmates to discuss how the pandemic is affecting their learning and well-being.
How to start:

Teachers and school administrators can incorporate students into their efforts to check in with families. Having students call each other and report back could supplement staff efforts to reach all families.

Students can contribute or take the lead on strategies to raise morale and support well-being. For instance, students at Van Ness Elementary school in Washington, D.C. are recording videos that their teachers quickly compile into a remote-learning version of the school's daily morning routines for community-building.

3. Benefits to school operations

Even before COVID-19, teachers and staff were being asked to do more than they had time and energy for. Now, in short order, most schools have to rapidly adapt their instructional models and operations. Even with the CARES Act financial stimulus, school leaders are having trouble making the math work when facing existing capacity constraints, ongoing uncertainty about how schools can reopen, and a looming recession.

But some schools have taken the opportunity to invite students-usually considered the beneficiaries of resources-to pitch in and become resources themselves.

In Miami, students at Hammocks Middle School in Miami are responsible for managing a Genius Bar to support their peers and teachers with tech help, including remote support during the pandemic.

Similarly, in Massachusetts, Burlington High School has long been lauded for its student-run technology help desk, where students provide tech support and earn credit for doing so. In the chaos caused by stay-at-home orders, the school didn't immediately have structures in place for students to respond to tech issues remotely. But the requests for help are coming in fast, and they recently created a Google Classroom tutorial video for teachers.

In addition to creating applied and relevant learning experiences for students, programs like Burlington's enable schools to rely on students to help and contribute in meaningful ways-rather than shouldering new costs for those supports.
How to start:

Teachers, staff and students can work together to identify operational needs-like tech support, attendance, peer tutoring, or class planning-that students can take the lead on.

Administrators and policymakers can pave pathways for student contributions to be valued, such as formalizing them through courses that count for school credit. Creating these pathways helps reduce the risk of student contributions remaining peripheral or haphazard if not embedded thoughtfully into the core of the school's model.

In a recent Medium post where Bragg described his student-driven classroom, he wrote that conventional education wisdom "has embedded in our curriculum and infrastructure a natural tendency to save and to do for our students." There's no question that schools must equitably provide support to struggling students. But school leaders focused on building student agency during and beyond COVID-19 may see increased engagement and attendance.

And over time, they'll find that students can contribute to running the school in increasingly valuable ways.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How Student Agency Can Ease the Pain of Remote Learning and Teaching - EdSurge News

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
With summer and fall planning top of mind for educators across the country, one stubborn challenge is students' online attendance and engagement-or, precisely, the lack of it. In many schools and districts, half or less of their students participate in remote learning. Many students are unable to participate virtually due to resource constraints.

# data[].attributes.headline
The four components of “student agency” and some related terminology and skills.

# data[].attributes.subject
The four components of “student agency” and some related terminology and skills.

# data[].attributes.body
Aside from loving a good infographic, there is a lot of terminology in this image that can be used.  However, I'm on the fence about "grit" from an equity standpoint.

# data[].attributes.headline
The four components of “student agency” and some related terminology and skills.

# data[].attributes.subject
The four components of “student agency” and some related terminology and skills.

# data[].attributes.headline
Re-designing for student agency must start with equitable design for learning. 

# data[].attributes.subject
Re-designing for student agency must start with equitable design for learning. 

# data[].attributes.body
Consider how empowering students as co-designers is a part of the work you're already doing to promote equity and inclusion. 

# data[].attributes.headline
Consider how empowering students as co-designers is a part of the work you're already doing to promote equity and inclusion. 

# data[].attributes.subject
Consider how empowering students as co-designers is a part of the work you're already doing to promote equity and inclusion. 

# data[].attributes.headline
Six “Important Learning Conditions” for building equitable learning environments that every student should experience: affirming cultural identity - I’ve learned new things about my culture and/or communitymeaningful work - I learned skills that will help me later on in lifeclassroom belonging - I had the opportunity to learn more about my classmates betterstudent voice - I felt like an idea I shared was taken seriously by my teacherfeedback for growth - I got specific suggestions about how to improve my skills teacher caring - I feel like my teacher cares that I am in their class

# data[].attributes.subject
Six “Important Learning Conditions” for building equitable learning environments that every student should experience: affirming cultural identity - I’ve learned new things about my culture and/or communitymeaningful work - I learned skills that will help me later on in lifeclassroom belonging - I had the opportunity to learn more about my classmates betterstudent voice - I felt like an idea I shared was taken seriously by my teacherfeedback for growth - I got specific suggestions about how to improve my skills teacher caring - I feel like my teacher cares that I am in their class

# data[].attributes.headline
How do students feel like they belong? Students cannot take agency unless they feel safe, welcome, seen, and accepted. This short video  prompts us to consider what our students would say about belonging in our own classrooms.

# data[].attributes.subject
How do students feel like they belong? Students cannot take agency unless they feel safe, welcome, seen, and accepted. This short video  prompts us to consider what our students would say about belonging in our own classrooms.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Youth Voices: Locating Identity, Agency, & Belonging in all Learning Spaces

# data[].attributes.headline
The questions below I thought are helpful in getting me to look at my lessons and making sure I am not preventing a student from learning or feeling like they are "part of" the class and not just sitting in "A" class. 1. In what ways might a student’s identity—including gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and other factors—shape their expression of agency? 2. In what ways might adults’ sociocultural identities influence how we perceive student agency? As educators, we must consider these questions with urgency because otherwise, we risk viewing student agency through a dominant cultural frame of reference.

# data[].attributes.subject
The questions below I thought are helpful in getting me to look at my lessons and making sure I am not preventing a student from learning or feeling like they are "part of" the class and not just sitting in "A" class. 1. In what ways might a student’s identity—including gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and other factors—shape their expression of agency? 2. In what ways might adults’ sociocultural identities influence how we perceive student agency? As educators, we must consider these questions with urgency because otherwise, we risk viewing student agency through a dominant cultural frame of reference.

# data[].attributes.headline
Solving Real-World Problems: Bringing Authentic Context to Learning

# data[].attributes.subject
Solving Real-World Problems: Bringing Authentic Context to Learning

# data[].attributes.body
"In a skills-approach, one of the major shifts you’ll make is moving from lessons to learning experiences.  A skills-based approach invites teachers to reconsider time and learning experience structures. When designing for students to develop, practice, and apply skills that support agency, equity, and transfer, we might ask ourselves,

What real-world methods can be used?

How can we leverage our communities for learning?

How will students apply these skills and this knowledge beyond classroom walls?

How might students learn along their own continuums of time and process?  (I love this question)

How will students give, receive, and apply feedback in ways that drive learning?"

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Solving Real-World Problems: Bringing Authentic Context to Learning

# data[].attributes.headline
Project-Based Learning in Action - New Tech Network

# data[].attributes.subject
Project-Based Learning in Action - New Tech Network

# data[].attributes.body
This is a nice 6-minute overview of what Project-Based Learning looks at a High School in South Carolina using the New Tech Network model. Since we're beginning that process in our Lower School, I thought people might be interested. I gleaned this video from the first course in the CBL series  (CBL: From Lessons to Experiences) offered back in November.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Project-based learning (PBL) is at the heart of our instructional approach. In PBL, learning is contextual, creative, and shared.  Students collaborate on meaningful projects that require critical thinking, creativity, and communication in order for them to answer challenging questions or solve complex problems. By making learning relevant to them in this way, students see a purpose for mastering state-required skills and content concepts.

# data[].attributes.body
Post articles, videos, ideas, and artifacts here that resonated with you this week, and that your colleagues who didn't take this course may benefit from. 