New Grant Opportunity From Agentic Learning Will Help Schools Successfully Implement Student-Centered Learning

National Search for Qualified Districts Commences

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Feb 02, 2018, 11:45 ET

PORTLAND, Ore., Feb. 2, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Empowering students by fostering student agency has been shown to improve outcomes, leading to gains in student engagement and achievement. But many school systems struggle to implement this approach effectively.

To remedy this problem, Agentic Learning today launched a competitive grant opportunity for school districts to work with the organization on an innovative and comprehensive one-year program to engage all learners and improve academic outcomes. Agentic Learning is conducting a nationwide search for school districts that believe student agency should be a primary goal in education and will award grants to two districts upon completion of a rigorous review process.

"We believe we have uncovered the key to raising student achievement and preparing students for the dynamic and ever-changing world they are facing — and this key is student agency. When student-centered learning is implemented authentically, student agency occurs. Unfortunately, this is not the experience in many schools today. As a result, students are disengaged — and learning is stagnant," said Dr. Michael Gielniak, CEO of Agentic Learning. "We are looking to partner with two school districts who believe in the importance of student agency and who are willing to do this challenging but groundbreaking work."

"In most school districts, new innovations are implemented top-down, and teachers are treated as cogs in a machine, not given the agency they need to authentically put the deep substance of new pedagogies in place," said Marie Bjerede, President of Agentic Learning. "Instead, we help districts give teachers ownership over the path and pace they use to lead student agency and turbo-charge learning in their classrooms."

In Agentic Learning's student agency program, the goal is to produce teachers who say, "I can't believe I get paid for this," and students who say, "I can't believe I get credit for this," as they find themselves achieving their goals with hard work that feels like fun. Agentic Learning's tools and resources help districts foster these outcomes by offering an environment that supports student agency, intrinsic motivation, and flow.

Beginning today, school districts can apply for the grant, which provides the one-year Agentic Learning program and support free of charge. The application period closes on March 1, 2018.

More information can be found at www.agenticlearning.org. Follow us on Twitter @agenticlearning.

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS

Agentic Learning is offering free consulting for one year to two qualified districts to help them successfully activate student agency in their learning.
Recipients will get monthly coaching of their leadership teams, co-creation of a Formal Improvement Process that supports teachers, and 1 free year of the REFLECT app that gives insight into practices and successes.
Agentic Learning empowers learners and can reduce behavioral issues, increase engagement and raise student achievement.

CONTACT:
Marie Bjerede
Agentic Learning
503.341.0566
[email protected]

Agentic Learning is a mission-driven company formed in 2017 to address the challenges districts face in implementing initiatives in a way that actually drives improved student outcomes. Too often initiatives with great promise have no significant effect once they make it to the classroom, or if they work in one classroom they don't scale. Agentic Learning has developed a protocol that addresses the failure of promising initiatives to scale throughout a district that is based in fostering student agency as a component of these initiatives and empowering teachers to take ownership of the path and pace of implementation. Through these mechanisms, the frequent systemic failure of initiatives like Project Based Learning, Inquiry, Design Thinking, and others to significantly impact student outcomes is addressed.

Related Links

Agentic Learning Website

SOURCE Agentic Learning