New Report: Measuring Skills for the 21st Century

This week, Education Sector released the report Measuring Skills for the 21st Century and hosted an online discussion about 21st century learning. In that discussion, Judith Goodrich from Augusta Lewis Troup School asked:

Schools are faced with the pressure of standardized tests and the impact of making annual yearly progress. Schools that are struggling have little time in a rigid schedule to integrate 21st century skills. How do we turn the tide on a practical level in our classrooms—is cooperative/collaborative learning the place to start?

Among the responses from the panel of experts, Eva Baker from CRESST UCLA responds, "Nope, changing the standards and assessments is the place to start."

In the upcoming January 2009 issue of Education Update, we sit down with the executive director of West Virginia's Teach 21 project, a statewide initiative to align teaching, standards, and assessments with 21st century skills and learning, and examine how one state is "turning the tide on a practical level."

What are your questions about teaching and assessing for 21st century skills?

Comments

[frances rice]

I just read a wonderful article by Rick Stiggins (Assessment Through the Student's Eyes, Educational Leadership, May 2007)about assessing for student learning as compared to assessment of student learning. If students have frequent opportunities to reflect, and analyze both their successes as well as errors opportunities for growth are more highly supported. High stakes testing has not only pressured students, but changed the way many teachers view their time with students as Judith Goodrich stated. It's all about preparing students for success on the test instead of discovering the joys of exploring ideas and utilizing skills in meaningful ways, which I personally believe would be a superior way to prepare for the tests anyway. Cooperative and collaborative learning combined with assessment for learning would be one of a variety of strategies that could be utilized to maximize student outcomes.

[Ann Marie]

More mumbo jumbo Outcome Based garbaged packaged with a new name.... You can fool some of the people, but there are plenty of us who know snake oil when we see it.