School and district leaders are always looking for ways to increase student engagement and make school generally a more joyful place to be. There’s one opportunity, though, that they often miss to help with these goals: giving students more control over what is in their schedules.
Studies have shown that the more a school allows students to voice their interests and creates opportunities in the schedule for them to pursue those interests, the more students’ motivation and engagement—and yes, joy—are likely to rise. Indeed, students often report that the non-core classes they choose to take are the ones they find especially engaging and interesting and are a primary reason they show up for school at all. Moreover, enhanced student agency, especially for historically marginalized populations of students, has been linked to a variety of important education outcomes, including elevated achievement levels, greater classroom participation and engagement, and decreases in behavioral problems.
So why do so few middle schools offer voice and choice to students when it comes to class options, even if leaders see the value in doing so?
Common misperceptions about the challenges to implement these choices are part of the reason. Take one middle school I worked with. The school had 1,400 students and offered 12 different non-core class options to students, or four options per grade level. When a discussion was held to find ways to build in more voice and choice for students, comments like “The schedule won’t allow it” and “We don’t have the staff” were common.
When barriers like this are shared, it is usually because schools view voice and choice as an all-or-nothing proposition—either you offer it to students, or you don’t. In actuality, there exists a continuum of options for incorporating voice and choice into the schedule, as my coauthor Nate Levenson and I share in our book, It’s Time for Strategic Scheduling: How to Design Smarter K–12 Schedules That Are Great for Students, Staff, and the Budget (ASCD, 2023). Schools must determine the right balance of voice and choice for their unique circumstances—and keep in mind that fewer students in the school doesn’t necessarily mean you need to offer fewer electives options. A similar neighboring middle school to the one I mentioned earlier, with only 400 students, offers 21 different non-core class options for students, or seven per grade level—even with one-third fewer students!
Here are a few practical suggestions for how schools can offer voice and choice to students and bring a bit more joy into the middle school experience.
Survey Students on Their Interests
For non-core courses to be an effective hook that will make kids want to come and stay in school, they must tap into real student interests and passions. They must be relevant, culturally affirming, and legitimately engaging—and students must have a genuine opportunity to help determine what the classes are. This is where student voice comes in.
Students often report that the non-core classes they choose to take are a primary reason they show up for school at all.
To give students’ voice, let them provide input as to which non-core course options are offered. Simply asking students what interests them and what they would like to learn about is the best way to begin elevating student agency—and promoting joyful learning. This is especially the case for middle school students, who often crave more voice and choice than they are traditionally offered.
A two-step survey is an effective way to begin this process. First, conduct an interest survey to understand what excites kids. Ask questions such as:
- What activities do you most enjoy outside of school?
- What topics do you keep up with on social media?
- What is your favorite type of music to listen to?
- If the school added one new course, what should it be?
Responses to this survey can then inform a list of potential new classes or units that students then rank in a second survey. These results should be used to decide not only what new classes might be offered, but also insights into courses that could be removed or revamped.
When thinking about how to update and invigorate non-core classes to better engage students, schools can consider the following approaches.
Offer new, specialized flavors of old favorites. Art and music are still interesting and important subjects, but they can come in many forms. Keep the non-core courses already offered, but specialize the content and units within those courses to add a focus that taps into different student interests. Music, for example, moves from a generic survey course to one of any number of specialty areas such as electronic music, world music, or DJing. Similarly, a general PE course can branch out into choices such as yoga, free weights, jogging, or team sports.
Embrace modern trends and technology. Some of today’s hobbies didn’t exist 20 (or even 5) years ago, so it is not surprising that we may need to update courses to reflect a new generation’s interests. For example, instead of Family and Consumer Science, a school might offer App Design, Investing 101, Fashion Design, or Entrepreneurship based on the popular TV show Shark Tank.
Look to the core. Surprisingly, many popular non-core classes address topics best taught by core subject teachers or are spin-offs of content or units from core classes. Fantasy Sports Math, Podcasting 101, or Social Justice are just a few examples. In classes like these, core teachers can push students to engage with concepts or skills from their core classes in extended or more creative ways.
To get beyond the barrier of concern related to “The schedule won’t allow it,” you can use some common strategies from other middle schools to offer more choices in the schedule:
- Build in a once-a-week, 60- to 90-minute enrichment block, where students sign up for different offerings. This has the energy and feel of after-school clubs, but with guaranteed access for all students.
- Run elective classes during a “What I Need” (WIN) intervention or flex block (instead of using the time exclusively for academic intervention or study hall).
- Add classes into or update the set of classes in the unified arts or exploratory rotation based on student interests.
To expand options for students even further in any of the examples above, schools can vary the frequency and duration of classes. For example, if students in 8th grade take Art 8 all year, allow students to select two half-year art classes instead for twice as much variety.
Choice Matters
Once students have voiced their input on which courses they would like to see offered, give them the ability to select what they’re interested in. Offering an array of options is key: few offerings will excite all students, so allowing for choice is important.
While the standard at most high schools is for students to choose most, if not all of their classes, such level of choice remains a rarity in middle school. Some middle school educators might push back on this and say, “We do offer plenty of choice! Students can choose between Spanish or French for world language, or between Band, Chorus, or Orchestra for music.” Yes, these are forms of student choice—and important ones at that—but if these fairly standard options are the only choice that students have, then students are still boxed in to categories of courses and not allowed the kind of extensive and varied choice that radically builds student engagement and joy.
Deep student choice means giving students agency over a unique and meaningful set of class options.
Deep student choice—the type that really boosts student engagement and attendance—means giving students agency over a unique and meaningful set of class options. Think classes like Coding, Chemistry Creations, Guitar, and Improv. By elevating choice, schools signal to students that their perspectives and preferences matter, which is an important message for middle-level learners to experience. When students can freely pick courses that match their interests, it can also deepen the relationships students have with their teachers, bring a sense of belonging, and cultivate student joy. What better way for students and teachers to get to know each other than by “geeking out” together on topics they are personally interested in?
Two practical ways to offer students more course choice at the middle school level include:
Bounded choice. In this option, students are required to take a set of subjects but have autonomy over what classes they take within each subject area. For example, a student might be required to take an art class, but they can choose from Watercolors, Digital Art, or Art as Social Protest. This approach is similar to what many liberal arts colleges require of students.
Scaled choice. In this option, students experience more choice as they progress through middle school. Students may rotate through a set of required exploratory courses in art, music, and PE in lower middle school grades before being provided with more specialized interest courses to choose from in upper middle school grades.
One tried-and-true method for facilitating either of these choices is to run mixed-grade non-core classes. Doing so allows schools to provide more choice to students and much more flexibility when creating the schedule because students have the option to take non-core classes at more points during the day.
Turning Obstacles into Opportunity
As I mentioned earlier, staffing and scheduling concerns remain a common barrier to giving students more voice and choice in their electives. With the right approach and a little creativity, however, this barrier can be overcome. Here are some ideas to take advantage of resources you might already have at your school.
Align offered courses with staff interest. Once you study your student interest survey results, see where student interest and staff interest and knowledge pair up. Offer non-core classes that your current staff members want to teach, which will prevent you from having to hire new staff. And don’t worry—if students are interested in a topic that you don’t have a teacher for, you can opt not to offer that course at this time. Providing voice is important to deepening engagement, but it does not mean students always have the final say.
Assuage staff fears with a clear process. A common concern from teachers is how changing student interests will impact their job security. If only half the students sign up for music, then will half the music staff be let go? If staffing is adjusted every year based on student course selections, will no one have job security? This legitimate concern can be easily addressed. A no-reduction-in-force rule that makes it clear no teacher will lose their position based on changes to course offerings can assuage this worry. Schools must be prepared to adjust staffing over time through attrition to better match student interest.
Build voice and choice over time. Schools operate on a never-ending treadmill and need to have plans in place every August or September. While school administrators might want to offer more music electives based on student interest, for example, they may not have the staffing or time to coordinate everything before the next school year. That’s fine. Schools should see the process of providing students more voice as an ongoing effort in which some voice and choice is incorporated more immediately and additional voice and choice is phased in over time.
Look for time in existing staff schedules. In some middle schools, math, science, English, and social studies teachers have or could have an extra teaching block available each day. For example, many high school teachers teach five periods a day, and in the same district middle school teachers teach only four. If middle school teachers taught an elective as their fifth period, no additional staffing would be needed to offer a class in Social Justice, the Big Bang Theory, or Fantasy Sports Math. Other schools have shifted from compensating teachers to teach after-school clubs to paying them to teach electives during the school day.
Seek scheduling support where needed. Even some strong advocates for more student-chosen electives like the idea in concept but are worried about the reality of the scheduling challenge. Incorporating new course offerings into the schedule is hard for some schools but fairly easy for others. A skilled scheduler—whether a principal, counselor, other staff member, or external expert—equipped with good software and the necessary staffing and student interest information can build even the most complex middle school schedule.
There’s Joy in Choice
Providing students agency by allowing them to voice their input on course offerings and some choice in selecting the courses in their schedule can make a big impact on delivering learning experiences that spark curiosity, passion, and joy. It is a not-to-be-missed opportunity for middle schools, and the approach can be tailored to align with a school’s unique circumstances. With a clear vision of the approach and process, voice and choice can be an achievable and impactful strategy for middle schools seeking to build engagement and enhance student experience.
Reflect & Discuss
➛ What's one way you could give students more voice and choice in your current elective offerings?
➛ Which staffing or scheduling barrier to offering more electives feels most challenging in your context? How might you overcome it?
It's Time for Strategic Scheduling
An accessible guide to creating schedules that amplify school and district priorities, support best practices in teaching and learning, heighten student engagement, and enhance equity.
