American education has long prioritized compliance over curiosity—producing dependent learners unprepared for today’s world. But momentum is shifting. Families are demanding learner-centered schools, states are funding innovation through Education Savings Accounts, and microschools like Acton and Prenda are proving what’s possible. New research from the Institute for Self-Directed Learning shows that agency can be developed through four phases—desire, resourcefulness, initiative, and persistence—and that schools built for autonomy drive motivation, mastery, and well-being. The takeaway: to prepare young people for a changing world, we must move from control to self-direction—now.