Iowa High School Summit

1
21st Century Skills . . . the why, . . . the
what, and some possibilities . . .

• Iowa High School Summit
• December 8, 2008
• Nadene Davidson, College of Education, UNI
• Dal Grooms, Iowa Farm Bureau Federation
• Jody Stone, Price Laboratory School, COE, UNI

2
Case for Change

• . . .will use technologies that havent been
  invented to do jobs that dont exist.

3
Case for Change

• Development of new information is exponentially
  large.
• 2008 equals previous 5,000 years.

4
Policy - Mandates

• In 2008, the legislature and governor created a
  mandate in Iowa to implement the Core Curriculum
• Grades 9-12 2012
• Grades K-8 2014
• The State Board mandated the essential concepts
  and skills

5
Intent of the Iowa Core Curriculum

• To raise the achievement of each and every Iowa
  student
• To ensure that each and every Iowa student
  engages in a rigorous and relevant curriculum
• To provide educators with a tool for assuring
  that essential subject matter is being taught

6
Iowa Core Curriculum Areas

• K-12 Literacy
• K-12 Mathematics
• K-12 Science
• K-12 Social Studies
• K-12 21st Century Skills

7
ICC Essential Concepts and Skill Sets

• Defines the most critical concepts and skills
• Learned by each and every student
• Not defined by course titles
• Assures a strong foundation for every Iowa high
  school graduate
• Depth of understanding is emphasized over breadth
  of knowledge (Mile deep and an inch wide)

8
21st Century Skills

• Iowa legislature defined 21st Century Skills as
• Financial literacy
• Health literacy
• Technology literacy
• Civic literacy
• Employability skills
• Essential concepts and skills are complex
• Will require a deep understanding by educators
• The structure of schooling will need to be
  reexamined by all stakeholders

9
Process for 21st Century Skills Work Teams

• Developed after thorough investigation
• Partnership for 21st Century Skills
• enGauge
• SCANS
• Content related national standards

10

• Integrating 21st century skills into teaching
  and assessment, then, is not only an economic
  imperative, driven by changes in the workforce,
  but vital aspect of improving student
  learning.
• Measuring Skills for the 21st
  Century, 2008 - Silva

11
21st Century Skills and Instruction

• Video clip
• 1. What 21st century skills are evident in this
  example?
• 2. What are students doing that supports 21st
  century learning?

12
Instruction for 21st Century Skills

• Relevant to student outside the classroom
• Student is highly engaged
• Student has a choice and voice in his/her
  learning
• Student takes ownership for own learning
• Includes higher order thinking - creativity and
  innovation
• Learning tasks elicit evidence of learning

13
21st Century Skills Partners

• Video clip
• 1. What role does the community
• play in supporting instruction for
• 21st century skills?

14
Supporting Instruction of 21st Century Skills

• Educator professional development
• 21st century instruction
• Authentic assessments
• Collaboration
• Among teachers and students
• Community
• High expectations
• Each and every student
• Educators
• Community

15
Supporting Instruction of 21st Century Skills
(continued)

• Expect a changing school environment
• Project-based learning
• Time allocation
• Student ownership of learning
• Technology
• Tool for student learning
• Breadth of options

16
School wide classroom focus
Classroom Focus
School Wide Focus

• Where are 21st Century Skills being addressed?
  
• At what level are they being addressed?
• Which 21st Century Skills are not being
  adequately addressed?
• How might we restructure programs to ensure 21st
  century skills are adequately addressed?

• What 21st Century Skills am I addressing in my
  class?
• At what level are they being addressed?
• How do I know students are getting it?
• How do I restructure my class and instructional
  activities to increase learning of the 21st
  Century Skills?

17
Some possibilities . . .

• Lens of 21st Century Skills
• Inventory
• Focus on Employability essential concepts
• Direct instruction/assumed understanding
• How is this assessed?
• Share findings from inventory

18
Creative possibilities . . .

• Identify creative approaches to ensure each and
  every student in your school is learning the 21st
  century skills.
• Share out . . .

19
Possibilities for incorporating 21st Century
Skills

• Project based learning
• School-wide projects where students explore
  passions
• Internships
• Student driven action research projects
• Authentic service learning
• Creative alignment of educators
• Other . . . .

20

• It is a world in which comfort with ideas and
  abstractions is the passport to a good job, in
  which creativity and innovation are the key to
  the good life, in which high levels of education
  - a very different kind of education than most of
  us have had - are going to be the only security
  there is.
• New Commission on the Skills of the American
  Workforce, 2006