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. 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.

2 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. 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?

3 Pr oblemso lvers? Goodcommunicators? Goodcollaborat or s? Informat io n an d technology literate? 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. Overthepa st twodecades,stateagenciesandeducationalgr oupshavepaidconsiderable at tentionto describingwhat st udentsneedto knowbutwithoutadequatelyaddressing themore complexthinking an d technicalskillsthatwillgovern21st what wevaluein or dertoachieveit.

4 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. 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.

5 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.

6 #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://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.

7 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. 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.

8 Ht es tan AAS L s Sta nd ard sforthe21st Century Lea rnerha s putfort h sta ndardsthathelp ed uc at orsunderstan d andintegrat e key21s t centur y skillsacros s thecurriculum,requirin g studentsto 1) inquire, thinkcr it icall yandgainknowl edge; 2) drawco nc lusions, mak e informeddecisions,apply knowledgetonewsi tuationsan d create newknowledge; 3) shareknowl ed ge andpa rticipate ethica ll y andpr oducti vel y asmembersofsocie ty; an d 4) pursuepersonal an d aes thetic gr la .org/al a/ mgrps/ divs/ aa sl/guidelinesandstandard s/learningst an dards /standards .cf mGu idin g Recommend atio nsPr omi sin g Dir ect ion s#4 :Inco rp orate 21st cen tury te chn olo gylitera cy and tools whereapp ropri ate int ostand increasinglypl aysasignifican t rol e inmasteringsubjectareaco ntentkn owledg e.

9 Inthe21stcentury,a st udent s abil ityto conductreleva ntscienceinquiry,mathematicalproces se s andmulti-discipl inaryprojects reli esontechnolo gyli teracy. P21 Pa rt ner Stateshaveinte grated (orarein th e processofinteg rating)technologyliter acyskill s in toth ei r st an dards;th eseincludeWestVir gi nia,Nor thCarolin a, Massachusetts,NewJe rsey,Io waan dWisconsin. IST E Nat iona l Edu cat ion Te ch nol og y Sta ndar dsforstudents,teachers an d ad mini st rators arest rongly al igned wi th21stce : st e. or g#5 :Ma ke st andar ds obs erva bl e andmea sura beeffective,st an dards thatin tegrate21stcenturyskill s mustallowdi scretemeasurement oftheseskills;assessmentsystemsmus t be al igned wi thanyrevisedstate st anda rdsthatincorporate21stcenturyskills. P21 Pa rt ner States:Par tn er st at esthathavebeenre visi ng standardsinway s toen sure observable,measurea bleout co mesinclude West Vir gin ia,Nort h Carolina, Massa chuset ts , NewJe rsey, IowaandWis co nsin.

10 Am eri can Diplo ma Pro je ct (Ac hieve ):Achi eveha s longbe ena le aderin thepushto ens urest at e sta ndardsare observ able ADPN etwork#6 :Ma ke st andar ds usefu l and acce ssibl the21st centurystandar dsareto beeffec ti ve,theyshould reflectrealistic practicesof today : Ci vic, corporatean d ot hercommunityco ns tituenciesshould beinvolvedinde ve lo pinga fr ameworkfo r st andards. St ates shouldcreatecurriculumandinstr uc ti onguidesandprofessionalde ve lo pmentstrategiesfully al ignedwithth e st an da rd s. Attention should begivento thefo rmatandde liv er y of thestandar d documentitself. Suchdocumentsshould bereadable,highlightthepr es enceandrel evanceof21stcenturyskills,an d ul ti mately , bepresentedviainteractive,web-b as edformats. We st Vir gi nia s Teach 21 Web site:Te ach21is a comprehensive Webresour cedesignedby teachers work ingcollaborativel y wi thth e WestVir ginia Departmentof Education.