Boosting Student Agency in Middle and High School: Practical Strategies and the Role of AI Co-Creation Tools -

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Boosting Student Agency in Middle and High School

Practical Strategies and the Role of AI Co-Creation Tools

Introduction

Student agency — the ability for learners to have control over their learning, motivation, and actions — is foundational to deeper engagement, self-regulation, and lifelong learning. Research consistently links student agency with higher resilience, adaptability, and motivation. Classrooms that center student voice and choice empower learners to become active participants in their education.
In today’s evolving landscape, artificial intelligence (AI) offers powerful new ways to deepen student agency. In particular, AI co-creation tools like Curriculum Genie and its AI Curriculum Agent can transform the student-teacher partnership, supporting ideation, co-construction, and continuous adaptation of learning experiences. This paper outlines practical, research-backed strategies to foster student agency and explores how AI can enhance these efforts.

Student and Teacher Co-Creation

Co-creating learning experiences with students is a core strategy to boost agency. Instead of receiving a top-down curriculum, students collaborate with teachers to design norms, learning pathways, assessments, and projects.

Strategies:

  • Co-create classroom norms and learning goals.
  • Develop rubrics and project criteria together.
  • Allow students to co-design inquiry questions, project topics, and learning experiences.

Example:


In one English class, students brainstormed big questions they wanted to explore around identity and culture. Together, they mapped out a thematic unit that included novel choices, multimedia projects, and peer-reviewed presentations.

Enhancing Co-Creation with AI: Tools like Curriculum Genie’s AI Curriculum Agent take co-creation even further. At the beginning of a unit, students and teachers collaboratively brainstorm ideas and questions, feeding them into the AI system. The AI then follows these co-created ideas, helping organize them into tailored units that reflect students’ interests, curiosity, and authentic inquiry. This preserves student voice while supporting teachers in designing responsive and standards-aligned curriculum.

Voice and Choice: Flexible Learning Options

Student agency grows when learners have meaningful choices in how they engage with material and demonstrate mastery.

Strategies:

  • Offer choice boards and menus for assignments.
  • Provide options in content, process, and product.
  • Encourage creative demonstrations of learning (videos, podcasts, artistic pieces, etc.).

Example:


In a science unit on ecosystems, students chose whether to create an informational podcast, build a diorama, or write an editorial article advocating for environmental protection.

Project-Based Learning (PBL) and Authentic Problem Solving

Project-Based Learning offers a natural framework for student agency by making students the drivers of inquiry, research, problem-solving, and presentation.

Strategies:

  • Center projects around real-world challenges.
  • Give students voice in defining sub-topics, team roles, and final products.
  • Facilitate regular reflection and revision.

Example:


High schoolers developed public service campaigns to address mental health stigma among youth, choosing formats (videos, social media ads, murals) and presentation venues (school assemblies, community centers).

AI-Supported Continuous Adaptation

Using Curriculum Genie, students and teachers can review the evolving progress of a project. The AI agent supports reflection, pivots, and adaptations based on ongoing learning. If students encounter new questions or shifts in interest, the AI tool helps reorganize units and suggest new directions. This continuous cycle of co-creation, adaptation, and personalization fosters a truly agentic learning environment.

Personalized Goal-Setting and Reflection

When students set their own goals and track their growth, they internalize responsibility for learning.

Strategies:

  • Teach SMART goal setting.
  • Build in weekly reflection and goal review time.
  • Use goal notebooks, portfolios, or digital trackers.

Example:


Students maintained digital growth charts, updating them after assessments and setting micro-goals for improvement. Teachers used these as part of conferences and self-assessments.

Student-Led Conferences and Student Voice in Assessment

Student-led conferences give learners the opportunity to take ownership of their achievements and learning needs.

Strategies:

  • Coach students to present evidence of growth.
  • Use structured templates for reflection and goal-sharing.

Example:


During spring conferences, eighth graders led discussions with parents and teachers, highlighting academic work they were proud of and outlining goals for high school transition.

Leadership Roles and Peer Mentoring

Assigning leadership roles within the classroom and creating peer mentoring systems extends agency beyond academic tasks.

Strategies:

  • Rotate academic and operational leadership jobs.
  • Create peer tutoring and cross-age mentoring programs.
  • Encourage student-run clubs and initiatives.

Example:


11th graders mentored 9th graders in study skills, reducing transition anxiety and reinforcing leadership among upperclassmen.

Building New AI Literacy Through Co-Creation and Adaptation

Working with AI tools like Curriculum Genie to support curriculum co-creation, adaptation, and reflection builds an important new AI literacy for both students and teachers:
  • Understanding AI as a collaborative tool: Students experience AI not as a “replacement” for thinking, but as a partner that follows and amplifies human ideas.
  • Practicing continuous learning and iteration: The AI’s ability to reorganize and pivot models a growth mindset and teaches that learning is dynamic, not static.
  • Developing critical thinking about technology: Students engage critically with AI-generated outputs, evaluating how well the AI interprets their ideas and suggesting improvements.
This emerging AI literacy — centered on collaboration, iteration, and reflection — equips students with future-ready skills for a world increasingly shaped by intelligent technologies.
Conclusion: Toward a Dynamic, Agentic Classroom Culture
Empowering student agency requires strategic shifts — in mindset, classroom structures, and tools. By combining research-backed practices like co-creation, choice, project-based learning, goal-setting, and leadership opportunities with the intelligent support of AI co-creation tools like Curriculum Genie, educators can foster classrooms where students are active agents of their own learning journeys.
The future of education lies not only in delivering content, but in empowering students to shape, adapt, and lead their own learning with curiosity, creativity, and confidence — alongside both human and AI collaborators.
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