Students’ dispositions that they can act to impact their learning outcomes—students displaying a high degree of agency can and will envision an outcome, plan for an outcome, enact that plan, reflect on progress, adjust accordingly, and continue to pursue their goals.

The nature of students’ interaction with—and psychological investment in— school derives from both internal factors and the school context, and is defined in three dimensions:

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• The emotional, or sense of belonging and connectedness to school and people in school

• The cognitive, or the investment in learning mastery, ability to self-regulate and set goals,        and utilize strategies in learning 

• The behavioral, or adhering to norms, giving effort and attention to academic tasks, and, at    its highest level, to student-initiated participation

Assessment for learning is:

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• frequent, intentionally, regularly incorporated, and relatively low stakes;

• utilizing measurement of valued outcomes (e.g., achievement, engagement, agency),

   allowing for focus on variation;

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• collaborative, where students and teachers examine results together in light of jointly      

  understood learning objectives;

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• embedded in teaching and learning, used to adjust and improve instruction, and part of a process

  of ongoing improvement of learning;

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• reflective for students, making them active partners in planning to improve their learning; and

• open to sharing and collaboration among teaching colleagues.

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