Skip To Main Content

Fostering Agency

Instructional Framework - Heart Tree Icon

Educators empower students by removing barriers to learning, encouraging critical thinking, and supporting the development of self-management skills and positive social interactions.   Educators communicate high expectations for all learners,  while leveraging multiple support strategies.  Educators recognize the need to examine their policies and practices through an antiracist and anti-oppressive lens in order to avoid disempowering and marginalizing BIPOC learners.

Dimension: Environment

Descriptor What it Could Look Like & CSTP Connections
Creating emotionally safe learning environments 
  • Including student work that celebrates the identities, experiences, perspectives, and successes of the classroom community (CSTPs: 1A, 2A, 3B, 4B, 5C)
  • Allowing students to listen individually to music while working, when appropriate (CSTPs: 1A, 2A, 3C, 4B )
  • Establishing structures and systems that foster agency and autonomy as opposed to compliance and discipline (e.g. Students do not need to ask permission to use the bathroom but have a system to know how to do so) (CSTPs: 1A, 2B, 4D, 5C)
Building a student centered classroom community
  • Co-constructing classroom norms to support all students in feeling comfortable with the teacher and with each other (e.g. checking in, asking questions, offering help, knowing the value of struggle and making mistakes, etc.) (CSTPs: 1B, 2A, 2B, 3B)
  • Providing students opportunities to assess the quality of the learning environment, paying particular attention to the needs of BIPOC and other historically oppressed groups of students. (CSTPs: 1B, 2D, 3B, 5B)
Ensuring equitable access to physical space and instructional resources
  • Providing a physical space that is accessible to all learners and they can move freely as needed (CSTPs: 1A, 1D, 2C, 4D)
  • Ensuring the availability of Instructional resources: books, computers, headphones, etc. (CSTPs: 1A, 2C, 3E, 4D, 5C)

 

Dimension: Curriculum

Descriptor What it could look like & CSTP Connections
Fostering student interest and agency
  • Students having opportunities to research topics of interest and share their learning with a larger audience (CSTPs: 1A, 2A, 3B, 4A)
  • Students having the opportunity to share their opinion on what is being learned and how it is being learned (CSTPs: 1B, 2D, 3B, 4B, 5B)
Preparing students to be facilitators of their own learning
  • Providing rigorous materials where rigor is not solely limited to “difficulty”, but can include complexity, interdisciplinary connections, and creative components (CSTPs: 1A, 3A, 3D, 4A, 5A)
  • Considering the Depth of Knowledge (DOK) level when selecting tasks, and making sure that students have ample time to engage with all DOK levels (CSTPs: 1A, 3A, 4B, 4D, 5A)
  • Balancing class time spent on conceptual understanding, procedural skills, and application (CSTPs: 1A,  3A, 4C, 5A)
  • Developing students’ problem-solving and critical thinking skills through use of rich tasks (CSTPs: 1A, 3A, 4C, 5A)
  • Developing students’ skills and self-confidence by providing sufficient time to practice and master new skills (CSTPs: 1A, 3E, 4C, 5C)
  • Helping students see how the curriculum connects to their lives, extending content knowledge to real-life applications, and/or situating content within a real-world context (CSTPs: 1A, 2D, 3B, 4B, 5A)
  • Helping students recognize, develop, and internalize study skills and other soft skills related to the content area (CSTPs: 3E, 5C)
  • Connecting content to issues of racial and social justice, surfacing critical examination of dominant narratives (CSTPs: 1D, 2D, 3B, 4A)
Ensuring that diverse groups are accurately, authentically, and respectfully represented in the content
  • Consistently centering multiple perspectives and voices in the content, specifically including BIPOC and other historically oppressed groups (CSTPs: 1D, 2D, 3B, 3C)
  • Including both “mirror” (connecting to students’ own experiences) and “window” (connecting to the experiences of others) when selecting texts (CSTPs: 1B, 2D, 3B, 3E, 4B)
  • Providing opportunities for students to learn about their communities’ histories and contributions to the topics of study (CSTPs: 1B, 2D, 3B, 4B, 5A)
  • Explicitly drawing on the funds of knowledge (the essential cultural practices and bodies of knowledge that are embedded in the daily practices and routines of families) inherent in the classroom community when selecting or developing curricular components (CSTPs: 1B, 2D, 3B, 3C, 4B)

 

Dimension: Instruction

Descriptor What it could look like & CSTP Connections
Ensuring equitable access to classroom activities
  • Providing access through multiple modes of instruction (e.g. verbal, physical, visual) (CSTPs: 1D, 2D, 3C, 4D, 5C)
  • Students having options around the ways they engage in content and demonstrate their learning for a task (CSTPs: 1A, 2D, 3C, 4D, 5A)
  • Providing an explicit purpose for the content and setting clear expectations (CSTPs: 1A, 2C, 3A, 4A, 5C)
  • Supporting positive student-to-student conversation through the use of structured talk routines that scaffold academic language (CSTPs: 1B, 2A, 3D, 4C)
  • Supporting productive group work through the use of scaffolds that help students collaborate and access the task (e.g. group roles, group work norms, participation quizzes, thinly-sliced problems, etc.) (CSTPs: 1B, 2B, 3B, 4A, 4B, 5A)
  • Teaching relevant research skills for the content area (CSTPs: 1A, 3A, 3B, 4C, 5A)
  • Selecting tasks that provide multiple entry points, and that can be accomplished through multiple approaches (CSTPs: 1D, 2D, 3B, 4D, 5A)
  • Utilizing backward design principles for lesson and unit planning that intentionally scaffold learning, differentiate instruction, and provide multiple entry points for students to engage with complex ideas (CSTPs: 1B, 2C, 2D, 3A, 4A, 4D)
Preparing students to be facilitators of their own learning
  • Delegating academic authority to students (CSTPs: 1B, 2A, 3B, 4A, 5C)

    • Examples: task cards, well-defined group roles, self-and peer-feedback structures, classroom leadership roles, etc.

  • Removing scaffolds over time through a gradual release of responsibility (CSTPs: 1A, 2A, 3C, 4D)

  • Using checks for understanding that provide academic safety (CSTPs: 1D, 2A, 3A, 4B, 5B, 5D)

    • Examples: warm-calling instead of cold-calling, fist-to-five, holding up responses on mini-whiteboards, leveraging appropriate technology, etc.

  • Selecting instructional routines that explicitly seek to develop student curiosities and interest (e.g. Notice  and Wonder, Which One Doesn’t Belong, Would You Rather, etc.) (CSTPs: 1A, 2A, 3B, 4A, 5A)
  • Working to disrupt status issues that lead to patterns of non-participation and marginalization (e.g. “assigning  competence” through providing public, specific, meaningful praise to students) (CSTPs: 1D, 2B, 2D, 3C, 4A, 5B)
  • Positioning students as sense-makers who can understand complex conceptual ideas (CSTPs: 1A, 2A, 3B, 4B, 5A)

    • Example: give students time in groups to discuss a question, listen for the ideas of a student whose status you want to elevate, and then call on that student to share with the class, providing public praise, and encouraging the class to take up that idea for further discussion

  • Providing students choices for how to engage with the content (CSTPs: 1A, 2D, 3B, 4D, 5A)
  • Creating opportunities for students to engage in productive struggle, to recognize the difference between productive and non-productive struggle, and to have the tools to get themselves unstuck (CSTPs: 1A, 2A, 3A, 4A, 5C)
Developing collaborative learning structures
  • Using student-to-student academic conversation frequently as a mode of learning (CSTPs: 1B, 2A, 3D, 4C, 5A)
  • Being clear about purpose when using group work (i.e. whether the goal is to promote a limited-exchange or equal-exchange model of collaboration) and aligning the selected task to that purpose (CSTPs: 1A, 2A, 3B, 4A, 5A)
  • Selecting groupworthy tasks when the goal is an equal-exchange model of collaboration (CSTPs: 1A, 2B, 3B, 4A, 5A)
  • Understanding the principles of “groupworthiness” (tasks that no one person could easily and with limited time complete alone, that are generally open-ended, require multiple abilities, have multiple pathways to success, and support the learning of important concepts or skills central to a big idea) (CSTPs: 1D, 2C, 3C, 4A, 5A)
  • Providing both individual and group accountability structures (e.g. a task that can only be completed if all group members participate, followed by an individual task where students use the group product as a  model) (CSTPs: 1A, 2B, 3C, 4A, 5B)

 

Dimension: Feedback and Appraisal

Descriptor What it Looks Like & CSTP Connections
Inviting student choice
  • Providing multiple ways for students to demonstrate proficiency (over the course of a unit and/or on a given task), such as projects, authentic products, presentations, and conversations (CSTPs: 1D, 2D, 3A, 4C, 5A)
  • Giving students some choice on which skills they should be assessed on at a particular point in time (CSTPs: 1A, 3B, 4C, 5A)
Valuing growth over time
  • Using a grading scheme that allows demonstration of mastery over time / multiple attempts (CSTPs: 2A, 3A, 4B, 5B)
  • Creating the expectation that students revise and improve on their work, and then giving them the opportunity to reflect on their learning (CSTPs: 1A, 2A, 4A, 5B)
  • Providing public celebration of goals / standards / concepts that students are collectively mastering and accomplishing (CSTPs: 2A, 3B, 5D)
  • Providing private praise for individual student progress, whether written or verbal (CSTPs: 2A, 5C)
Facilitating effective self-management 
  • Providing students with tools and strategies so they can set their own goals for learning, and monitor/assess their own progress (CSTPs: 1A, 4B)
  • Utilizing rubrics and learning targets that are easily accessible to students (CSTPs: 2C, 4A, 5D )
Providing consistent, valuable, and growth-oriented feedback
  • Providing opportunities for students to celebrate each other’s achievements and build on each other’s ideas in class conversations (CSTPs: 1A, 2A, 3B, 5D)
  • Providing opportunities to analyze actual student work, anonymously, as a way to celebrate and model high quality work, as well as to highlight key areas for growth (CSTPs: 1B, 2D, 4B, 5B)
  • Providing students with a background in growth mindset principles as a foundation of practice (CSTPs: 1A, 2A)
Ensuring equitable access
  • Offering flexible deadlines and retakes/revision opportunities towards proficiency (CSTPs: 2D, 4B, 5B)
  • Students choosing the modality/language/way of expression to demonstrate their knowledge, for example written product or a visual or a song (CSTPs: 1D, 3A, 4D, 5A )
  • Offering students feedback in various modalities: recording a video, providing written comments, or having a face-to-face meeting (CSTPs: 4A, 5C, 5D)
  • Teachers assessing students on their progress towards meeting content standards, celebrating each student’s individual growth in meeting the standards and moving along the proficiency spectrum (rather than all students having the same end goal) (CSTPs: 4B, 5B)
  • Clearly aligning assessments with content and skills taught and supporting students in understanding what is being measured (CSTPs: 3A, 4B, 5A)
Using assessment as a tool for student agency and growth
  • Embedding formative and summative assessments within ongoing student reflection cycles (e.g., goal setting, portfolio reflections, and student-led conferences) (CSTPs: 1B, 5B, 5C)
  • Facilitating student-involved assessment practices such as peer feedback, self-assessment, and leadership in classroom learning structures (CSTPs: 1D, 2A, 5C)
  • Leveraging multiple data sources (quantitative and qualitative) to inform instruction while ensuring equity-centered decision-making for marginalized student groups (CSTPs: 1D, 3C, 5A, 5B)
  • Providing specific, actionable feedback that aligns with culturally responsive pedagogy and student agency principles (CSTPs: 1A, 2D, 5D)