WASHINGTON, D.C. — Prior research has found that Iowa middle and high school students who report regularly taking ownership in learning new skills inside or outside of school are more likely to feel prepared for life after high school. A current analysis of Iowa students builds on that work, examining how specific aspects of learning — including the pace of learning, student effort, goal setting and choice — relate to students’ sense of preparedness.
In the current analysis, Iowa students’ sense of preparation for life after high school is consistently tied to how involved they are in their own education, and students who report greater input across multiple dimensions of learning are significantly more likely to say they feel ready for what comes next. Students in the current study who take greater ownership of their learning — through setting goals, making choices, working at their own pace and putting effort into activities outside of school — are substantially more likely to feel prepared for life after high school.
The preparedness gap between students with and without positive learning experiences is substantial. This pattern holds even after accounting for factors commonly associated with how students feel about school and their future, such as their grade level, gender, race/ethnicity, parents’ level of education and perceptions of their grades. This suggests that ownership in learning is related to students’ daily experiences in the classroom and is not simply due to students’ inherent attitude or personality differences that may otherwise be attributed to general outlook on life.
These findings are based on a recent study of Iowa middle and high school students conducted Sept. 22-Dec. 1, 2025, as part of an ongoing partnership between Opportunity Education Foundation and Gallup.
Student Preparedness for the Future
The majority of Iowa students in grades five through 12 (90%) can name clear goals for their future, but far fewer — just 58% — say they feel prepared or very prepared for life after high school. Another 19% say they feel unprepared or very unprepared, and 22% are unsure.
Feelings of preparedness are more commonly reported among high school students (69% feel prepared or very prepared) than middle school students (48% feel prepared or very prepared), a gap that may reflect how students’ sense of readiness develops closer to graduation.
Learning at One’s Own Pace Linked to Preparedness
Just over half of Iowa students, 54%, agree or strongly agree that they are able to learn at their own pace in class, while 21% disagree or strongly disagree and 24% are neutral.
The difference in perceived preparedness by student pacing experience is substantial: Those who agree that they can learn at their own speed are much more likely to report feeling prepared (85%) than unprepared (15%) for life after high school. When students have the flexibility to engage with material at a pace that they feel works for them, they may be better positioned to build belief in their readiness beyond high school.
Goal Setting Associated With Greater Preparedness
Just over half of Iowa students, 53%, agree or strongly agree that they set goals for what they want to improve in their classes, while 15% disagree or strongly disagree and 33% are neutral.
Goal setting’s link to feelings of preparedness is clear: Students who agree that they actively direct their progress through goal setting (84%) are far more likely than those who don’t engage in such goal setting (16%) to say they feel prepared for life after high school. Research on goal setting suggests that it helps students monitor their progress and self-assess their understanding, leading to a deeper understanding of the content and the ability to adjust their strategies, both of which are skills that matter in secondary school and long after graduation.
Choice in Learning Related to Preparedness
Just under half of Iowa students, 47%, agree that they get to make meaningful choices about what they learn in class. Twenty-two percent disagree with this, while 31% are neutral.
Having a say in learning is an important component of students’ perceived readiness: Eighty percent of students who agree that they get to make meaningful choices in their learning feel prepared for life after high school, while 20% feel unprepared. Iowa students, overall, have reported a lack of control over their learning. Students who do take ownership in learning new skills in school, however, are 53% more likely to feel prepared. The current findings build on that work, underscoring that opportunities for meaningful choice in the classroom may be one important way educators can support that sense of ownership that is tied to post-graduation readiness.
Effort Outside of School Also Linked to Preparedness
Nearly all Iowa students, 95%, report putting at least some effort into activities outside of school — 60% say a lot of effort, and 35% say some effort. While this is the most widely shared of the four experiences examined here, it is also the one with the smallest preparedness gap.
Roughly three-quarters of students who report putting at least some effort into activities outside of school (77%) feel prepared, while 23% feel unprepared. This aligns with what Iowa students say about their extracurricular activities: They put considerable effort into them and participate by their own choice, not their parents’. Engagement outside of school, through extracurricular activities or other pursuits, appears to provide students with opportunities to explore their personal interests and is tied to feeling ready for what comes next.
Bottom Line
A clear and consistent pattern runs across all four dimensions of learning examined in this analysis among Iowa students. The more ownership students report over their learning — through pacing, goal setting, choice and effort — the more prepared they feel.
Although these findings do not establish causation, they point to a clear and actionable signal for Iowa schools and educators: The level of ownership students have over learning is closely tied to whether they feel ready for what comes next, and that association holds consistently across Iowa student backgrounds. For schools and educators looking to support student readiness, these findings suggest that building opportunities for students to actively take ownership of their classroom experience may be a meaningful place to start.
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