Implementing a 21st Century Skill Focus in MY School

1. Implementing a 21st Century Skill Focus in MY School Stephen Sanders & Stuart Ciske, Ph.D. Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction October 2006

2. Extra! Extra! As we heard earlier today, the world is different! Agriculture Healthcare Manufacturing Others����.

3. Questions to ask? Who are the 21st Century Learners? What are the expectations from the global digital community? What is a framework for 21st century learning? How can students succeed as 21st century learners in MY SCHOOL?

4. Who are 21st Century Learners? Millennials (People born 1980-2005) As large in number as Baby Boomers Consumers- $150 billion annually Digital Media Users - 6 hrs daily Multitaskers: online - phone - print Hyper-Communicators -socially/ & civically Gamers-interactive learning Risk-Takers Pursuers of ongoing education Futurists & Optimistic In 2002, teens (ages 12-19) spent $170 billion. 15.6 million college students (ages 18-30) spend almost $200 billion annually. Two out of three students report influencing their parents� buying decisions.20% of teens own stock. 28% of high school students use a foreign news source to learn about current events. After September 11, 2001, 78% of students felt optimistic and hopeful. Two years later, 75% still look toward a future with optimism and hope. 70% of students report volunteering or participating in community service. In 2002, teens (ages 12-19) spent $170 billion. 15.6 million college students (ages 18-30) spend almost $200 billion annually. Two out of three students report influencing their parents� buying decisions.20% of teens own stock. 28% of high school students use a foreign news source to learn about current events. After September 11, 2001, 78% of students felt optimistic and hopeful. Two years later, 75% still look toward a future with optimism and hope. 70% of students report volunteering or participating in community service.

5. Who are 21st Century Learners?

6. Who are 21st Century Learners? �Today�s education system faces irrelevance unless we bridge the gap between how students live and how they learn.� �Schools are struggling to keep pace with the astonishing rate of change in students� lives outside of school.� Partnership for 21st Century Skills (2003)

7. What are the expectations from the global digital community? THE PROBLEM DEFINED: Today's school leaders face a serious dilemma: Communities expect graduates to thrive in the Digital Age Those skills are not included in many state learning standards or measured on most state and local assessments.

8. What are the expectations from the global digital community? Academic Achievement accelerates when 21st Century Learning Communities focus Digital-Age Literacy Inventive Thinking Effective Communication High Productivity 21st Century Skills for 21st Century Learners NCREL/METIRI (2003)

9. What is a common framework for 21st century learning? Partnership for 21st Century Skills www.21stcenturyskills.org/ index.php enGauge 21st Century Skills www.ncrel.org/engauge/skills/skills.htm

10. How can students succeed as 21st century learners in MY school? Agility at learning skills is what differentiates a 21st Century citizen and learner from a 20th Century citizen and learner�.The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn. Alvin Toffler (2000)

11. How can students succeed as 21st century learners in MY school?

12. How can students succeed as 21st century learners in MY school? Partnership for 21st Century Skills Bridge to 21st Century: 6 Key Elements Emphasize core subjects Emphasize learning skills Use 21st century tools to develop learning skills Teach & Learn in a 21st century context Teach & Learn 21st century content Use 21st century assessments that measure 21st century skills

13. How can students succeed as 21st century learners in MY school? Examine the frameworks Partnership or enGauge & Information and Technology Literacy Standards (ITLS) Use enGauge results & ITLS to build bridges Curriculum revision - Honor and EXTEND existing work NEW Curriculum � collaborate and embed ITLS Matrix Make system level decisions Involve the community Stay Focused: Remember, the goal is to ensure that our students are able to thrive in the Digital Age. Getting there from here will take commitment, perseverance, hard work, and careful analysis of whether your strategies and tactics are contributing to that goal. Take on Something Doable: Don't try to implement all of the 21st century skills at once. Bring them into the mainstream of standards-based learning and academic achievement, cluster-by-cluster, skill-by-skill. Identify a couple of skills that you know will resonate with your school and community. Build from there. Build Bridges: Advocate the use of common sense, logic, statistics, insights from the business community, humor, and other tactics to create a sense of urgency for your 21st century skills. In this age of high-stakes assessment, it will be necessary to build a bridge between the 21st century skills and the high academic achievement that is first and foremost in teachers' and administrators' minds. Do your homework. Build a strong bridge�convince others that the 21st century skills can add to students' viability in this knowledge-based, global society. Honor and Extend Existing Work: Chances are some, if not all, of the 21st century skills are being at least partially addressed by innovative teachers in your school or community. Build on that work by helping those educators to be more explicit and purposeful in addressing such skills, adding missing components such as assessments. Where the 21st century skills are not being addressed, help teachers to build them�along with effective uses of technology�into existing lessons. Go slowly�appeal to teachers' natural inclination to do what is right for students. Make Decisions at the System Level: Don't expect teachers to make individual decisions to incorporate 21st century skills into their classrooms until the school district has made a formal commitment to doing so. In this high-stakes testing environment, it is just too risky for individual teachers to dedicate instructional time to ideas not yet sanctioned by the school system. Commit to the concept at the system level; collaboratively build and align curriculum, instruction, and assessment to the 21st century skills; and create a culture of openness, support, and reward work toward that innovation.Stay Focused: Remember, the goal is to ensure that our students are able to thrive in the Digital Age. Getting there from here will take commitment, perseverance, hard work, and careful analysis of whether your strategies and tactics are contributing to that goal. Take on Something Doable: Don't try to implement all of the 21st century skills at once. Bring them into the mainstream of standards-based learning and academic achievement, cluster-by-cluster, skill-by-skill. Identify a couple of skills that you know will resonate with your school and community. Build from there. Build Bridges: Advocate the use of common sense, logic, statistics, insights from the business community, humor, and other tactics to create a sense of urgency for your 21st century skills. In this age of high-stakes assessment, it will be necessary to build a bridge between the 21st century skills and the high academic achievement that is first and foremost in teachers' and administrators' minds. Do your homework. Build a strong bridge�convince others that the 21st century skills can add to students' viability in this knowledge-based, global society. Honor and Extend Existing Work: Chances are some, if not all, of the 21st century skills are being at least partially addressed by innovative teachers in your school or community. Build on that work by helping those educators to be more explicit and purposeful in addressing such skills, adding missing components such as assessments. Where the 21st century skills are not being addressed, help teachers to build them�along with effective uses of technology�into existing lessons. Go slowly�appeal to teachers' natural inclination to do what is right for students. Make Decisions at the System Level: Don't expect teachers to make individual decisions to incorporate 21st century skills into their classrooms until the school district has made a formal commitment to doing so. In this high-stakes testing environment, it is just too risky for individual teachers to dedicate instructional time to ideas not yet sanctioned by the school system. Commit to the concept at the system level; collaboratively build and align curriculum, instruction, and assessment to the 21st century skills; and create a culture of openness, support, and reward work toward that innovation.

14. How can students succeed as 21st century learners in MY school? Our Information and Technology Literacy Standards cross match very well with the enGauge and the Partnership 21st century skill sets promote 21st century teaching and learning promote the skills, beliefs and attitudes desired by our communities and employers should be in the forefront of school improvement and student achievement

15. How can students succeed as 21st century learners in MY school? Partnership for 21st Century Skills www.21stcenturyskills.org/index.php

16. How can students succeed as 21st century learners in MY school? Assess21 web-based repository for information on assessments of 21st century skills

17. How can students succeed as 21st century learners in MY school? MILE Guide Milestones for Improving Learning and Education (MILE) Guide for 21st Century Skills assists educators and administrators in measuring the progress of their schools in defining, teaching and assessing 21st Century Skills 23 questions with immediate results

18. How can students succeed as 21st century learners in MY school? Route 21 An Interactive Guide to 21st Century Learning Internet-based tool that assists education stakeholders in developing and implementing an actionable plan to achieve a successful 21st century learning environment.

19. Time for Q & A

20. Links and Resources enGauge 21st Century Skills www.ncrel.org/engauge/skills/skills.htm Partnership for 21st Century Skills www.21stcenturyskills.org/index.php Metiri Group www.metiri.com/features.html