Lesson 5

Offering Instructional Choices to Increase Engagement and Agency

Recommendation 4 focuses on giving students meaningful options for how they participate in classroom activities. This lesson examines how school psychologists can help teachers use instructional choice strategically to increase engagement, reduce challenging behavior, and strengthen student agency.

Recommendation 4 Moderate Evidence Student Agency Engagement Consultation

Reading Assignment

Teacher-Delivered Behavioral Interventions in Grades K–5

Read Recommendation 4: Pages 39–46

Focus on the difference between within-activity and across-activity choice, the six implementation steps, student feedback, and the potential obstacles described at the end of the recommendation.

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Summary of the Recommendation

Choice Can Change How Students Experience a Task

Instructional choice means giving students two or more acceptable options for how they will engage in a classroom activity. The teacher still defines the instructional boundaries, but the student is given meaningful control within those boundaries.

The guide identifies instructional choice as a low-intensity strategy that can increase student agency, promote engagement, and reduce challenging behavior. Choice can be used with an individual student, a group, or an entire class in both general and separate classroom settings.

Within-Activity Choice The activity remains the same, but the student chooses how to complete it. Examples include choosing materials, location, partner, response format, or which items to complete.

Across-Activity Choice The student chooses among different activities, the order in which activities will be completed, or sometimes the activity that follows a required task.

School psychology connection: Choice should not be confused with removing expectations. A good consultation plan asks, “Which parts of this task are essential, and which parts can reasonably be placed under student control?”

Implementation Process

Six Steps for Using Instructional Choice

Create a menu of choices.
Identify options the teacher is genuinely comfortable providing. Menus can include both within-activity and across-activity choices and may be developed with student input.

Decide where choice fits in the lesson.
Select choices that are appropriate for the instructional objective, classroom routine, and students who need additional support maintaining engagement.

Clearly present the available options.
Students should understand what the choices mean. Verbal descriptions, visual supports, objects, pictures, or written options can be used.

Ask the student to choose and allow adequate time.
Simple decisions may take only seconds. More complex choices may require considerably more time. If choosing is difficult, clarify or narrow the options rather than assuming the student is refusing.

Honor the student's selection.
Once an acceptable choice has been offered and selected, provide access to that option rather than discouraging the student's decision.

Ask students for feedback.
Periodically determine whether students like the choices, whether choice supports their engagement, and what other acceptable options they might value.

Why This Matters for School Psychologists

Choice Is a Behavioral Support, Not Simply a Preference

During consultation, school psychologists may encounter students who disengage, avoid tasks, argue about materials, delay beginning work, or struggle when every aspect of an activity is adult-directed. Instructional choice can alter the context without changing the core academic expectation.

Preserve the Learning Goal A choice should not accidentally remove the skill the lesson is designed to teach or assess.

Offer Real Choices Students should be able to select any option presented. Offering a choice and then discouraging the selected option undermines agency.

Match Choice to the Student Choices should reflect student needs, backgrounds, preferences, and abilities rather than assuming the same menu will work for everyone.

Don't Overload the Student Some students may struggle when given too many options. Two clear choices may be more effective than a long list.

Use Choice Strategically Begin in routines or activities where engagement problems are most likely rather than assuming every instructional decision must become optional.

Monitor the Effect If choice does not improve engagement, consider changing the type of choice or asking students which options would be more meaningful.

Interactive Activity 1

Within-Activity or Across-Activity?

Identify which type of instructional choice is being offered.

Scenario 1:
A student completing a writing assignment may choose to write with a pencil, pen, or computer.

Scenario 2:
A student chooses whether to complete the vocabulary activity or the reading-response activity first.

Scenario 3:
Students may complete the same independent reading assignment at their desk, on the carpet, or at the classroom reading table.

Scenario 4:
Students demonstrate understanding of a story by choosing to write a paragraph, create an oral presentation, or develop another approved product that meets the same instructional goal.

Interactive Activity 2

Build a Meaningful Choice Plan

Select the strongest components for a student who frequently delays beginning independent reading.

Eli reads at grade level but often spends the first ten minutes of independent reading talking to peers or looking around the room. His teacher reports that he is more engaged when he has some control over how he works.

Where should choice be introduced first?

Which is a reasonable within-activity choice?

What should happen after Eli chooses?

What should happen later?

Interactive Activity 3

“If I Give Choices, They'll Think Everything Is Optional”

Work through a consultation with a teacher who is concerned that instructional choice will reduce classroom expectations.

Decision 1 of 3

A teacher says, “I'm not giving them choices. They already know what they're supposed to do, and I don't want them thinking assignments are optional.”

What is the strongest consultation response?

The teacher agrees to let one student choose between completing even or odd math problems. The student chooses odd problems, but the teacher says, “Actually, I'd rather you do the even ones.”

What consultation point is most important?

After three weeks, engagement is somewhat better, but the original choices no longer seem especially motivating to the student.

What is the best next step?

Interactive Activity 4

Choose Without Escaping the Task

Apply the principles of instructional choice to determine how student agency can be increased while preserving the essential learning expectation. Explain how the available choices can remain meaningful without making the required task optional.

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Lesson Summary

Key Takeaways for School Psychologists

Instructional choice gives students meaningful control within boundaries established by the teacher.
Within-activity choice changes how a student completes an activity; across-activity choice changes which activity or sequence the student selects.
Choices should be planned around the instructional objective and should consist only of options the teacher can genuinely honor.
Students should be given adequate time to choose and support if the choice-making process itself is difficult.
Choice menus should reflect student needs, backgrounds, and preferences and can be adjusted when the original options no longer support engagement.
School psychologists can help teams distinguish between preserving an essential learning expectation and increasing student agency around the way that expectation is met.

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