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Giving students more choice over what they learn and how they demonstrate mastery is a tricky task for educators.

Take the case of Lancaster, Texas, 10th grader Michael Lundy. He had to pick from three options to report on his summer reading project, and opted to create a mock Instagram post. 鈥淚 chose the one that was the most fun for me,鈥� he said.

But was the 鈥渇un鈥� option the best educational one? How much of a role should the teacher have played in helping the teenager choose from the options? And will giving students greater choice in what they learn and how they learn it lead to higher student achievement?

Educators are wrestling with those kinds of questions as more and more schools embrace personalized learning and its accompanying mantra to give students more individualized control over their academic experiences.

Proponents of this belief argue that it fuels student motivation鈥攚hich, in turn, improves achievement.

But critics see it very differently.

鈥淲e鈥檙e exacerbating an existing problem鈥� by letting kids, instead of teachers, guide learning, said Benjamin Riley, the executive director of , a coalition of education school directors working to improve teacher preparation and student achievement. 鈥淲hether a student is smiling, happy, and jumping around doesn鈥檛 tell you whether they鈥檝e learned anything.鈥�

The worry is that too much student choice could turn into a free-for-all that could hurt graduation rates, lead to poor performance on state tests, and weaken academic skills.

Still, educators across the country involved in personalized learning initiatives are embracing greater student choice. They cite higher student engagement, lower absentee rates, and even improvements in test scores.

But leaving more learning decisions up to students鈥攅specially those who are struggling academically鈥攎ay leave a lot to chance.

鈥淚f you have kids working far-below grade level, how do you reconcile those things?鈥� asked Laura Hamilton, a senior behavioral scientist at the , who has researched personalized learning.

At he Myrtle Beach Middle School in the 42,000-student Horry County, S.C., district, personalized learning has taken some interesting twists and turns. When it began in the middle school five years ago, the model was heavy on the use of digital curricula and was highly prescriptive in terms of pacing and what teachers were expected to cover.

Five years later, teachers and students have more control over the resources they use and the lessons they progress through. Students can make choices about their path and focus through digital content. Teachers frequently meet with students and help them set their own goals for achievement鈥攆or example, how well they would expect to perform on state tests, said Principal Janice Christy.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 want to be teaching students what they already know,鈥� she said. 鈥淥nce you know they know it, it鈥檚 time for the student to move on.鈥�

Myrtle Beach Middle School teacher Rebecca Myers said her students often work on very different projects or assignments in the same class. Some might be collaborating on a project, others working in small groups to build academic skills, and others meeting with her one-on-one. Sometimes, these might be self-selected tasks, while on other occasions they might be driven by the teacher鈥檚 decision. Students also have choices about how to demonstrate their understanding of a reading passage, picking from an essay or a Google slide presentation, she said.

鈥楤ringing KIDS Into the Conversation鈥�

Myers insists it鈥檚 not a free-for-all. What students learn is tied tightly to state standards. Teachers frequently meet with students to guide them in setting their own goals, and data play a critical role.

But the student is a key player in this process, examining data and setting expectations for where he or she should be in the learning process.

鈥淲hen all the adults share a vision for student achievement, the piece that often goes missing is when children are left out of the loop,鈥� Christy said. 鈥淲e are really focused on making sure we bring the kids into the conversation.鈥�

Though the results don鈥檛 conclusively demonstrate the impact of that approach, the school has seen jumps in achievement on state tests in reading and math in 7th and 8th grade. For example, from 2015 to 2018, 8th grade reading proficiency jumped from 59 percent to 65 percent. Seventh grade math proficiency jumped by 10 percentage points in the same period.

Empowering students to make choices can build important skills, said Betheny Gross, a senior analyst and research director for the Center on Reinventing Public Education, which released the report 鈥溾�� in June.

鈥淲e want kids to grow up and be confident and capable and charting their own course,鈥� Gross said. 鈥淲e know from brain science that developing the capacity to enlist your executive function and meta-cognitive skills takes training, and school is a good place to do that.鈥�

The downside is it鈥檚 tricky to do that well.

Gross said researchers working on the report did see instances of students taking positive control of their own learning and developing that agency and capacity. But they also saw drawbacks.

Often, she said, teachers don鈥檛 have a clear theory of action about how to provide 鈥渧oice and choice鈥� for student learning. When students are picking among options without a rationale behind what matters, 鈥渟tudents are just picking,鈥� she said.

In fact, when they have choices, students often go for the option that will be the easiest, not the one that will help them improve their skills the most, Gross said. 鈥淭he kids suffer the consequences of making bad choices鈥攁lways picking the collage, never developing the writing skills,鈥� she said.

And that reality, many educators say, can affect students who struggle in class鈥攐r even typical students鈥攕ignificantly more than high-achieving students.

Riley of Deans for Impact said educators often point to student engagement as a way to measure whether giving students greater choice over learning is beneficial. But he said there鈥檚 little evidence that engagement leads to better learning outcomes: 鈥淓ngagement is a poor proxy for learning.鈥�

Similarly, some researchers say allowing students to go at their own pace through materials presents complications. Researchers at RAND who are studying personalized learning found that when given flexible deadlines, some students wait until the last minute to do their work, the research group鈥檚 Hamilton said. 鈥淵ou can create some inequities if you allow pace to vary for different students,鈥� she said.

Plus, she said, 鈥渢here鈥檚 an inherent conflict between wanting students to have developed those skills required and giving students choices about what and how they learn. We heard from a lot of folks that there is this tension between state standards and grade-level testing and letting kids go at their own pace.鈥�

鈥榃hat I Want to Learn鈥�

In teacher Sarah Martindale鈥檚 Advanced Placement biology and chemistry classes at Lancaster STEM Early College High School in Texas, students get plenty of options to demonstrate learning, using a tic-tac-toe board with choices in every square. As assignments progress, students must use at least three of the options to demonstrate mastery.

Lundy, the student who chose the 鈥渇un鈥� option for his summer reading project, is in Martindale鈥檚 class. He concedes that he does sometimes choose the fastest option. 鈥淵ou always think: What鈥檚 going to take the most and least time? But I only think about what will be fastest if my schedule is packed. Otherwise, it鈥檚 more about what I want to learn.鈥�

Martindale is particularly proud of the fact that all of her students passed the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, or STAAR, biology tests鈥攁 record in her 18-year teaching career. She attributes it, in part, to students having those choices and taking ownership of their own educational success. 鈥淚f they鈥檙e more excited about the work, they鈥檒l remember it,鈥� she said.

Martindale frequently does 鈥渃heck-ins鈥� with students to make sure they鈥檙e progressing and sets deadlines. During those meetings, she pushes them to take learning further. 鈥淓ven the procrastinators, when they know you鈥檙e not going to leave them alone, they get it,鈥� she said.

Lyric Clayborn, a 10th grader who is also in Martindale鈥檚 class, said she appreciates the value of allowing students to have greater control over their education. 鈥淣ot every student gets it when the teacher lectures and they take notes. Some students need to go home and watch videos,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 want to be able to choose the way I learn.鈥�