Standards: A 21st Century Skills Implementation Guide

1 St an dar ds:A 21stCenturySkillsImplementationGuideProd uced byPa rtn er sh ip for 21s t Century Skills 1 7 7 N .C hu rc h Ave nu e , S u i t e 3 0 5 Tu c s o n ,A Z 8 5 7 0 1 ( 5 2 0 ) 6 2 3 - 2 4 6 6 Tosucceed in coll ege,careerandlifein the21stcen tury, studentsmustbesupported in ta tionGuidepresents st at e leaders,policymakersand/ordistrictandsch oolleaders withassessmen t ta ct icsandexamplesto assistin st atewide21stcen tury nership for21st CenturySkillsha s issuedfivebr ief,user-friendlyguides,oneforea choftheP21 support systems:1. Sta ndards2.

2 Assess ment3. Profes sional Development4. Curriculum& Inst ruction5. LearningEnv ironmentsIt is wort h not in g thatthesesuppor t systemsarenotmerelyends,butmeanstoa greatergoal tohelpchildrendevel opthecogn it ive,academic,emotional andphysicalcompetenciestheyneedtosucceed in ng an ali gned,comprehensiveapproach acrossal l fivesupportsystemsis asi gnifi ca ntchalleng e forall educators. The ImplementationGuideshavebeendevelopedto help supportthisdi ffi ionandexamplewillapplyto everystate,wehopetheresourceswi ll he lpjumpstarteffortsto produce morecapable,successful21stcenturyst udents andci ti 21st cent ury skil ls ini tiativ es mus t focu s on :1:Core Aca demicSu bjec t Mas teryIt is importan t tonotethatno21stcentury skillsimplementationcanbe successfulwi thoutde velopingco reac ad emic subject kn owled geand understandingamongallstudents.

3 Studentswhocanthi nkcr iticall y andcommunica teeffecti velymustbuildon a baseofcoreacademicsubjectknowled ge. Fo rthisre as on, co re academic subjects are a bedrockcomponentoftheP21 Frameworkfor21stCenturyLearning. All21st centuryskills canandshouldbetaughtinthecontextof co re academic :21 st Cen tur y Sk ill s Ou tc om esIn ad dition to core subjectmastery,thePartnershipaskseveryst ate,dist ri ctandschoolthefo llo wingquestion: ar e schools helpi ngst udents Cr itical thinkers? Pr oblemso lvers? Goodcommunicators? Goodcollaborat or s? Informat io n an d technology literate?

4 Flexible an d ada pt ab le? Innov at ivean d cr eative? Globally competent? Financ iallylit er at e?Tole arnmore ab outthePa rtnership s stateinitiatives,theFrameworkortheImplem entationGuides,pleasevisitww tc entu ry sk ill rtn er sh ip for 21s t Century Skills 1 7 7 N .C hu rc h Ave nu e , S u i t e 3 0 5 Tu c s o n ,A Z 8 5 7 0 1 ( 5 2 0 ) 6 2 3 - 2 4 6 6 Rat io na leStandards drivethecr iticalelementsoftheAmericaneducationalsy stem thecurriculathatschools follow,thetextbooksstudents read,andtheteststheyta ke. Similarly, standards establi shthelevelsofper fo rmancethatst udents, teachers,andschoolsareexpectedtomeet.

5 Overthepa st twodecades,stateagenciesandeducationalgr oupshavepaidconsiderable at tentionto describingwhat st udentsneedto knowbutwithoutadequatelyaddressing themore complexthinking an d technicalskillsthatwillgovern21st what wevaluein or dertoachieveit. Andsoweca ll onst at estolookhard atcurrentst andards andask,do thesestandardsrea ll y representwhatourfut urecitizensshould knowandbe abletodo?Whilestandards typicallydefineessential academiccontentknowledge,theyshouldalsod efinetheskillsthatcontrib ut e tosuccessin modernli fe,suchaslifeskills,learningandinnovati onskills, andinformation, sionTosucce edinthe21stcentury,al l st udentsrequirea solidfoundationinco reac ademic subjectmastery.

6 Inaddition, all st udentsmustga intheco gnit iveandsocialskillsthatenablethemtodealwi ththecomplexpr oblemsof for21stCenturySkillsFramework emphasizeslearni ngandinnovationsk ill s, in format ion, mediaandtechnology Skills andlifeandcareerskills. aswellascore subjectsand21stce nturythemes .To succeedin th e 21stce nt ury , al l st ud en ts willne ed to 1) mast er coreac ad emicsub ject s, 2)pe rf ormto hi gh st and ar ds,an d 3) gai n the cognitivean d soci al sk ill s thaten ab le themto deal withthe com pl ex pro blems ofour rtn er sh ip for 21s t Century Skills 1 7 7 N.

7 C hu rc h Ave nu e , S u i t e 3 0 5 Tu c s o n ,A Z 8 5 7 0 1 ( 5 2 0 ) 6 2 3 - 2 4 6 6 Guid ing Recom me ndations, Promi sing Dire ctionsThefollowingac tionstepsca n betakentomovestates,districtsandschoolst owardsensuringthatournation sst udents willbe preparedforsuccessin idin g Recommend atio nsPr omi sin g Dir ect ion s#1 :Integrate 21 st cen tu ry sk ill s in to cor eacademic su bjec t ar eashouldbetreated dif ferently,wi thaneyeforthoughtfulandauthentic waysto incorporateskil ls li kecriti ca l thinking, problemso lving,communication,informationlit eracyandtechnolo gyli teracyintothest Par tne r St ateshavedev el ope d, or areintheprocessofdevelo ping,21stcenturysk il ls st an dards inco reacademic su bje sestatesin clude West Virgin ia, Nort h Car ol ina,Wisconsi n an d New Jersey.

8 #2 :Integrate 21 st cen tu ry the mes into coresubj ect area stand ards, wher e appropriat ba l aware ness,financialli teracy,healthliteracyandci viclit eracyar e al l requirementsinthe21stcenturyandshould bein tentionallyintegratedin to sta testandard s whereverpossible. Iowahasintegrate d 21s t centuryskills such as financ ia l li terac y,te chnolo gyliteracy, civicli teracy andmoreinto st at e sta ndardsandthecore :/ ecurric / Wi sc onsin s Finan cia l Li terac y Stan dard ssetfo rththeknowledge, Skills ,andat tit udesstudents needto understa ndandmake informedde cisionsforthe mselv es andtheir fa milies,la yingthefoundationforfinanciall y lit erate tp.

9 //d ds / ASCD s Hea lth y Sc hoo l Com muni tie sef fo rt servesas a co mmunity-buildi ngresource forschoolsandcommunities that worktogether tocreat e he althy environments that support alsopr ovide s a spac e fornet workingan d sha ringof res ources,id eas, andpr actices tha t encourage theongoi ng promotio n of a coordinatedapproachto schoolhealthprogramming andpolic y withinschoolcommunit ies. hy sc Nati ona l Healt h Edu cat ion St and ards (NHES )publishedbytheAmericanCanc er Societyemphasizesskil l acquisit ionas oneofthefo undat ions fo r its wor k.

10 These sta ndardsfoc usonensuringthatstudent s understandconcepts such as healthpromotionanddis easeprevention, andfactorsthatin fluencehealthbehaviors.#3 :Ma ke st andar ds inch-wideand mile-d ee than pr esentinga longlistof facts,stan dardsshouldcommunicate theessentialunde rs tandings,orhabitsofmind, wi thineachsubjectarea. Typical statestandardsat tempttocover a content are a socomprehensively, thees sential conceptsthatproducedeepmasterycanbecome lost. The Co mmon Cor e St at e Sta nda rd s Ini tiat iveha s id entifiedthene edfo r co reacademicsta ndardsto be f ewer,clearer , andhigher, to bestdr iv e ef fectiv e policy and pra ctice.