Creating Schools for the 21st Century

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Creating Schools for the21st Century

• A way to synergize our work
• Beth Ratway
• beth.ratway_at_dpi.wi.gov

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When the question 'What's new?' is pursued at
the expense of all other questions, what follows
in its wake is often an endless flood of trivia
and fashion. I wish to be concerned with the
question 'What is best?' for this question cuts
deeply, rather than broadly sweeping over
everything."

• Robert Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle
  Maintenance

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You have been asked to present at a congressional
hearing on NCLB they are wondering what are the
knowledge, skills and dispositions students need
for the 21st century?
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Overview
This is a story about the big public
conversation the nation is not having about
education whether an entire generation of kids
will fail to make the grade in the global economy
because they cant think their way through
abstract problems, work in teams, distinguish
good formation from bad, or speak a language
other than English. How to Build a Student for
the 21st Century, TIME Magazine, December 18, 2006
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Stop asking me if were almost there! Were
nomads, for crying out loud!
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What do our students need to know and be able to
do in the 21st century?
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State Superintendents High School Task Force

• Move outside of existing structures and pursue
  innovation
• Engage students in rigorous, authentic learning
  experiences that are relevant to their learning
  needs and future ambitions
• Create smaller learning environments require
  individualized learning plans
• Promote school, parent, business, and community
  partnerships

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Summit on 21st Century Skills
Preparing Students for Work,Postsecondary
Education, and Citizenship March 14, 2007
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Summit on 21st Century Skills

• Sponsors
• Competitive Wisconsin, Inc.
• The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction
• The University of Wisconsin System
• The Wisconsin Technical College System
• Wisconsin Association of Independent Colleges and
  Universities
• Attendees
• Business, Labor and Commerce Leaders
• Legislators
• Representatives from Community Organizations and
  Non-educational Government Agencies

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Summit on 21st Century SkillsFocus Group Question

• If you were to advise an 8th grade student in
  preparing him/her to work for your company 5-10
  years from now, what are the skills, knowledge,
  and abilities you believe would be essential to
  develop?
• What are the 21st century skills that will
  sustain and grow a vibrant, global economy?
• What should be expected of todays students so
  they can be effective citizens and leaders in our
  communities?

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Summit on 21st Century Skills What did we
find?

• Most often discussed among groups were
  Learning Thinking Skills and Life Skills
• critical-thinking and problem solving
• collaborative communications skills
• people skills
• contextual learning skills
• personal responsibility
• ethics
• adaptability (nimbleness)

http//www.dpi.wi.gov/cal/businesssummit.html
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American Diploma Project
Partnership for 21st Century

• Rigor and Relevance for 21st Century
• Engage stakeholders to ensure that every student
  graduates prepared.
• Align high school standards to postsecondary and
  workforce expectations.
• Focus initially on English language arts and
  mathematics.

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Current National Debate
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Partnership for 21st Century Skills enter the
debate
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Partnership for 21st Century Skills
Learning and Innovation Skills
Core Subjects 21st Century Themes
Life Career Skills
Information, Media, and Tech Skills
Standards Assessment
Curriculum Instruction
Professional Development
Learning Environments
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Core subjects - RIGOR

• State Standards
• ADP
• Grade Level Foundations

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What do you have in place?
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21st century Themes(Relevance)

• Grade Level Foundations

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21st Century themes

• Every generation of Americans wants our schools
  to prepare students for success in work and life.
  Today, business and education leaders agree that
  some content is missing from state and local
  standards and requirements for most students.
  This new content represents essential knowledge
  for the 21st century.

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What are we doing to address Themes

• Global
• International Education Council
• http//dpi.wi.gov/cal/interntled.html
• Civic
• Service learning
• http//dpi.wi.gov/fscp/slt4dist.html
• Health
• Health Standards
• http//dpi.wi.gov/sspw/skills_healthB.html
• Health Assessments
• http//dpi.wi.gov/sspw/pdf/hlahiv.pdf
• http//dpi.wi.gov/sspw/class_hlth.html
• Financial, Economic
• Personal financial literacy standards
• http//dpi.wi.gov/standards/pdf/pfl.pdf

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What do you have in place?
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Life and Career skills

• Skills Assessment
• Career pathways
• Project Lead the Way
• STEM
• Career Development
• http//dpi.wi.gov/pubsales/stw6a.html

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Life and Career Skills

• Flexibility and Adaptability
• Initiative and Self-Direction
• Social and Cross-Cultural Skills
• Productivity and Accountability
• Leadership and Responsibility

www.21stcenturyskills.org
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Information, Media and technology skills

• Information technology standards
• http//dpi.wi.gov/imt/itls.html

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Information, Media and Technology Skills

• Information Literacy
• Media Literacy
• Information, Communications, and Technology
  Literacy

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Learning and innovation skills

• School Counselors
• Library Media Specialists
• ELL
• Special Education
• Failing Forward
• 7 Habits
• Habits of Mind
• http//dpi.wi.gov/sspw/scstudentstandards.html

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Learning and Innovation Skills

• Creativity and Innovation
• Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
• Communication and Collaboration

www.21stcenturyskills.org
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How are we focusing on the skills
Inquiry, Critical thinking and problem solving
Skills (Critical thinking and systems thinking,
Problem identification, formulation and solution,
creativity, innovation and intellectual
curiosity)
Knowledge acquisition Skills (concept
development, learning how to learn)
REFLECTION
Information and communication
Skills (information and media literacy, ICT
literacy (communication skills))
Interpersonal and self-directional
skills (Interpersonal and collaborative skills,
self-direction, accountability, adaptability,
social responsibility)
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What do you have in place?
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Support Systems
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What are we doing

• Standards and Assessment
• ADP and Foundations
• http//www.achieve.org/
• http//dpi.wi.gov/standards/
• Assessment
• Balanced assessment system
• http//dpi.wi.gov/oea/
• Curriculum and Instruction
• Vertical Teams
• http//dpi.wi.gov/cal/pdf/verticalteambrochure.pdf
  
• Professional Development
• Characteristics of High-Quality PD
• Wisconsin Professional Development Model
• SEC
• http//www.ccsso.org/Projects/Surveys_of_Enacted_C
  urriculum/
• Learning Environments
• Standards of the Heart
• http//dpi.wi.gov/sspw/foster_heart.html
• School Counseling Standards and programs

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Standards and Assessment
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Standards

• Focuses on 21st century skills, content knowledge
  and expertise.
• Builds understanding across and among core
  subjects as well as 21st century
  interdisciplinary themes
• Emphasizes deep understanding rather than shallow
  knowledge
• Engages students with the real world data, tools,
  and experts they will encounter in college, on
  the job, and in life--students learn best when
  actively engaged in solving meaningful problems
• Allows for multiple measures of mastery

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Assessment

• Supports a balance of assessments, including
  high-quality standardized testing along with
  effective classroom formative and summative
  assessments
• Emphasizes useful feedback on student performance
  that is embedded into everyday learning
• Requires a balance of technology-enhanced,
  formative and summative assessments that measure
  student mastery of 21st century skills
• Enables development of portfolios of student work
  that demonstrate mastery of 21st century skills
  to educators and prospective employers
• Enables a balanced portfolio of measures to
  assess the educational systems effectiveness at
  reaching high levels of student competency in
  21st century skills

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Balanced Assessment System
Ongoing Periodic Benchmark
Large-Scale Evaluation Strategies
Assessments
Assessments (Formative) (Summative)
Daily, Ongoing Monthly, Quarterly
Annually
Student-Centered Classroom, School-Centered
District, State-Centered
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Authentic Instruction and Assessment

• Construction of Knowledge
• Disciplined Inquiry
• Value Beyond School
• In A Guide to Authentic Instruction and
  Assessment Vision, Standards and Scoring by
  Newmann, Secada, Wehlage, (1995), page 64.

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Rigor and Relevance Framework

• International Center for Leadership in Education
• http//www.leadered.com/rigor.html

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Knowledge Taxonomy

• 1. Awareness
• 2. Comprehension
• 3. Application
• 4. Analysis
• 5. Synthesis
• 6. Evaluation

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Application Model

• 1. Knowledge in one discipline
• 2. Application within discipline
• 3. Application across disciplines
• 4. Application to real-world predictable
  situations
• 5. Application to real-world unpredictable
  situations

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Rigor/Relevance Framework
Knowledge
Application
1
2
3
4
5
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Levels
Blooms
C D A B
6
5
4
3
2
1 2 3 4 5
1
Application
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Rigor/Relevance Framework
Teacher/Student Roles
KNOWLEDGE
D
C
Student Think Work
Student Think
B
A
Student Work
Teacher Work
A P P L I C A T I O N
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Curriculum and Instruction

• Teaches 21st century skills discretely in the
  context of core subjects and 21st century
  interdisciplinary themes
• Focuses on providing opportunities for applying
  21st century skills across content areas and for
  a competency-based approach to learning
• Enables innovative learning methods that
  integrate the use of supportive technologies,
  inquiry- and problem-based approaches and higher
  order thinking skills
• Encourages the integration of community resources
  beyond school walls

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Curriculum

• Fundamental Questions (school wide tied to vision
  and mission)
• Backwards Design - Wiggins
• Concepts/Big Ideas (use standards)
• Focusing questions (use standards)
• Assessments (formative and summative)
• Instruction
• Resources

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Authentic Instruction

• 1. Higher-Order Thinking
• lower-order thinking only 1... 2... 3... 4...
  5... higher-order thinking is central
• 2. Depth of Knowledge
• knowledge is shallow 1... 2... 3... 4... 5...
  knowledge is deep
• 3. Connectedness to the World Beyond the
  Classroom
• no connection 1... 2... 3... 4... 5... connected
• 4. Substantive Conversation
• no substantive conversation 1... 2... 3... 4...
  5... high-level substantive conversation
• 5. Social Support for Student Achievement
• negative social support 1... 2... 3... 4... 5...
  positive social support
• http//pdonline.ascd.org/pd_online/diffinstr/el199
  304_newmann.html

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Professional Development

• Highlights ways teachers can seize opportunities
  for integrating 21st century skills, tools and
  teaching strategies into their classroom practice
  and help them identify what activities they can
  replace/de-emphasize.
• Balances direct instruction with project-oriented
  teaching methods
• Illustrates how a deeper understanding of subject
  matter can actually enhance problem-solving,
  critical thinking, and other 21st century skills.
  
• Enables 21st century professional learning
  communities for teachers that models the kinds of
  classroom learning that best promotes 21st
  century skills for students
• Cultivates teachers ability to identify
  students particular learning styles,
  intelligences, strengths and weaknesses
• Helps teachers develop their abilities to use
  various strategies (such as formative
  assessments) to reach diverse students and to
  create environments that support differentiated
  teaching and learning
• Supports the continuous evaluation of students 
  21st century skills development
• Encourages knowledge sharing among communities of
  practitioners, using face-to-face, virtual and
  blended communications
• Uses a scaleable and sustainable model of
  professional development

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Questions to frame all PD

• What do we want all students to know and do?
  (Rigor)
• Why should our students learn this? (Relevance)
• What do we need to know to help students achieve
  (to improve students achievement)
• How will we get them there?
• How will we chart students progress toward our
  goals?
• What will we do when students are not achieving
  or have already achieved our goals?

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Learning Environments(Relationships)

• Creates learning practices, human support and
  physical environments that will support the
  teaching and learning of 21st century skill
  outcomes
• Supports professional learning communities that
  enable educators to collaborate, share best
  practices and integrate 21st century skills into
  classroom practice
• Enables students to learn in relevant, real world
  21st century contexts (e.g., through
  project-based or other applied work)
• Allows equitable access to quality learning
  tools, technologies and resources
• Provides 21st century architectural and interior
  designs for group, team and individual learning.
• Supports expanded community and international
  involvement in learning, both face-to-face and
  online

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Standards of the Heart

• 1. Core Values School and community members
  identify citizenship qualities such as honesty
  and responsibility that all agree to foster in
  children. These qualities are modeled by staff
  and students alike and set the standard for
  acceptable behavior.
• 2. Safe and Orderly Places Students and staff
  feel respected, and the climate and culture of
  the school is drug free and safe from any form of
  violence. Children and adults learn constructive
  ways to settle differences, and peaceful conflict
  resolution is the norm.
• 3. Family and Community Involvement The
  contributions of all who make up the school
  community are honored and celebrated. Parents,
  caregivers, and community members have a variety
  of opportunities to make meaningful contributions
  to school programming and student citizenship
  development.
• 4. Address Societal Issues Prevention of risk
  behaviors such as violence, alcohol and other
  drug abuse, AIDS/HIV, and teen pregnancy are a
  valued part of the school's programs. Services
  are available to students and staff who may be
  facing such issues in their own lives.
• 5. Positive Relationships Students feel
  personally known and cared for by at least one
  adult in the school. Students and community
  members are viewed as resources for supporting
  one another.
• 6. Engage Students' Minds Schools use many
  strategies and approaches to make learning
  relevant for students. Classrooms are interactive
  places that often take learning beyond the
  schoolhouse door.
• 7. High Expectations Students are expected to do
  their best and experience success. All students
  and staff are expected to model positive
  behaviors that embody good citizenship.

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What do you have in place?
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How can you move forward?
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Critical Collaborative Conversations(all must
involve business leaders, community members,
higher education and educators)

• Using the themes and skills
• The Why Committee
• Why are we doing this? What is our purpose?
• Develop a mission and vision
• The What Committee
• What is important for all teachers
  administrators, community members and students to
  know and do as connected to our mission and
  vision?
• Vertical Conversations (across grades)
• Horizontal conversations (across disciplines)
• Connected Conversations (among groups)
• The How Committee
• How will we structure the learning for everyone?
• How will we know we are achieving our mission and
  vision?
• Adult learning and student learning should ALWAYS
  connect!

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21st Century Learning Themes and Outcomes
Standards and Assessments Curriculum and
Instruction Professional Development Learning
Environments
Mission and Vision for 21st Century School
Info Media Technology Skills
Learning Innovation Skills
Life Career Skills
21st Century Themes
Are there currently intersections? Should there
be intersections?
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Conclusion
There is remarkable consensus among educators
and business and policy leaders on one key
conclusion we need to bring what we teach and
how we teach into the 21st Century. TIME
Magazine, December 18, 2006
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World Café on Charter Schools

• In 2010, you open up your local paper to read the
  headline
• Wisconsin Charter Schools Receives National
  Award.
• Wisconsin received this award from businesses,
  educators, parents and students for our success
  in preparing students for life in the 21st
  century.
• How does the article describe your
  accomplishments?
• What was the key to your success?

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My challenge to you

• During your work continually ask yourself
• How can we all work together towards this
  common purpose to prepare all kids for the 21st
  century?

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The only man who is educated is the man who has
learned how to learn...how to adapt and change.

• Carl Rogers, Freedom to learn, 1969

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Resources

• Self Assessment Handbook
• http//dpi.wi.gov/ssos/pdf/dsahandbk.pdf
• High School Task Force
• http//dpi.wi.gov/sprntdnt/pdf/hstask_report.pdf
• Citizenship Toolkit
• http//dpi.wi.gov/sspw/pdf/citizentoolkit.pdf
• Career Development
• http//dpi.wi.gov/sspw/sccareer.html