The pandemic upended “traditional schooling” and, in many aspects, what students saw as their role in their education.

Our longstanding education system continues to depend on students “just showing up to school.” But when schools went remote, “showing up” became something different. Students were responsible for their decision to engage, to log on, to be “present.”

While there were many negative aspects to the pandemic and immense an impact on society, one positive is the rise among students of agency over their own learning. This is a trend we must build upon.

The good news is that teachers, even before the pandemic, were already doing a tremendous amount of work to give their learners opportunities to “take an active role in shaping their future” as Larry Ferlazzo noted in a 2019 opinion piece in Education Week. Consider how much has improved since we were in school. Teachers are now creating learning systems that are increasingly personalized for each student. They’re leveraging rigorous content standards, adopting research-informed practices, and considering their students’ social and emotional learning needs.

Teachers are increasingly having powerful goal-setting conversations with their students and using data to identify next steps together. Teachers are becoming more adept at giving effective feedback to their learners and helping them better understand their own needs. Their role has shifted to one that is more like a coach and the student is their most valuable player, and together, they form plans of action toward a greater outcome.

To build up and invest in student agency, there is one essential aspect: helping students (and their caregivers) understand and own their own data, from their grades, to test scores, to learning experiences, engagement, and achievements. First, we must increase efforts to demystify the data for parents and caregivers so they have a clear picture of how their child is doing that is based on a holistic view — and not just on the latest test score. We must also reiterate to students that they are more than just a test score and that they have a voice.

When students understand their own data, their education becomes something that they are better able to participate in and ceases to be something being done to them.

Read the full article about student voice and agency by Abby Javurek and Jacob Bruno at EdSource.