{"id":25678,"date":"2025-09-23T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-09-23T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nwea.org\/blog\/?p=25678"},"modified":"2025-09-22T08:47:03","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T15:47:03","slug":"how-to-engage-students-by-providing-more-freedom-of-choice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nwea.org\/blog\/2025\/how-to-engage-students-by-providing-more-freedom-of-choice\/","title":{"rendered":"How to engage students by providing more freedom of choice"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"What choices have you made for yourself today? You probably chose what to wear, what to have for breakfast, and even to read this article. Now imagine a world where you have no choices. Someone else tells you what to do and when to do it. It probably doesn\u2019t sound like much fun, does it?<\/p>\n

For children, life may feel like this a lot of the time. While they may have some limited choices, most of their decisions are made for them by adults, both at home and school. When given the chance, however, children are capable of making good decisions about their own learning, and increased choice can lead to increased engagement, learning, and happiness. Choice can also help ensure children are doing the mental work of learning rather than simply echoing what they are told. When students are given choice in their learning, everybody wins!<\/p>\n

Choice matters<\/h2>\n

The idea of letting students choose what they want to do might seem counterintuitive. Why do we even have teachers, after all? Don\u2019t teachers have the knowledge that children need to grow into successful adults?<\/p>\n

Ceding control to students might feel a bit like opening the door to chaos. The benefits of increasing opportunities for student choice and agency outweigh the drawbacks, though. In fact, research has shown that student choice has positive effects on almost every aspect of student learning<\/a>. A study published in the Journal of Educational Psychology<\/em><\/a>, for example, found that giving students a choice of homework improved their motivation to do it, which led to increased completion and feelings of competence. There is also some evidence that student choice can diminish behavioral issues among students with ADHD. Peter Gray<\/a>, a research professor at Boston College, has described the condition as often being \u201ca school adjustment problem\u201d and has found that students diagnosed with ADHD are able to stay focused on tasks that interest them or when given the opportunity for self-direction.<\/p>\n

However, arguments for student choice go beyond the socio-emotional benefits. Multiple studies have found positive effects of choice on student achievement as well. For example, reading self-selected books<\/a> has been found to increase students\u2019 reading comprehension, vocabulary, and background knowledge. In another study<\/a>, teachers who implemented a program of self-selected, self-paced reading found not only increased reading volume but also an increase in the number of students passing the state reading test. There is similar evidence<\/a> about the positive effect of student choice on math achievement. Finally, a study of student choice in homework<\/a> found that, in addition to helping students be more motivated to complete their homework, choice leads to better performance on unit tests.<\/p>\n

Freedom, not chaos<\/h2>\n

To be clear: student choice does not mean a free-for-all. Maria Montessori<\/a>, one of the first advocates for student agency, described \u201cfreedom within limits.\u201d This means teachers can thoughtfully set up an environment in which students can make appropriate choices. Educational researcher Robert Marzano<\/a> identified three main areas where students can have meaningful choices in their schoolwork: choice in task, choice in assessment, and choice in learning goals. Students can be given meaningful choices in non-academic areas of classroom life as well. Students can (and should) be involved in creating classroom norms, for example.<\/p>\n

It is important to note that what makes choice work is giving students true<\/em> choice. When I first started involving my own students in setting classroom norms, I had a very clear picture in my mind of what those norms should be, and my process involved guiding students to my<\/em> norms. It was only when I understood that my students had valid ideas about how the classroom should function that they really began to have agency in the process. I still gave them guidance, of course. But once I accepted that my elementary school students could come up with class rules that were legitimate even if they didn\u2019t match my original ideas, the process of creating those rules became fully authentic. If students suggested something inappropriate or missed something important, as the teacher, I still had final say. Not chaos; freedom within limits.<\/p>\n

How to offer more choice in your classroom<\/h2>\n

There are many ways to offer students at any grade level meaningful choices throughout the day. Some are universal, while others work best for a specific grade level. The amount of planning and resources required for student choice opportunities varies, but there is something for everyone.<\/p>\n

Early elementary<\/em><\/h2>\n

We may think of young children as needing the most direction, but it is important to find opportunities for choice for early elementary students. Even more than older kids, primary-grade children\u2019s lives are directed and controlled by adults from morning to night. Any opportunity for independence and self-direction is a welcome break from being told what to do and when and how.<\/p>\n

Important considerations:<\/p>\n