Moving the Massachusetts Public Schools into the 21st Century

1
Moving the Massachusetts Public Schools into the
21st Century

• Presented by Gerald Chertavian
• On behalf of the Task Force for 21st Century
  Skills
• Tuesday, November 18, 2008

2
21st Century Skills
Last Centurys Classroom
3
This Centurys Classroom
4
Massachusetts Has Many Reasons To Be Proud

• Viewed as being a state that did Education
  Reform right
• Nationally-recognized standards and assessments
• We have kept standards high
• Continued bipartisan support for reform
• NAEP results top all other states
• SAT scores at or near the top nationally
• More than 70 of our graduates go to college

5
We Have Much More Work To Do

• Employers want graduates who are both book
  smartand prepared to succeed in todays
  hi-tech, complex, competitive world.
• To do this right we must
• Find ways to integrate and embed 21st century
  skills and knowledge in the K-12 curriculum
• Create conditions to support our teachers to
  teach and model these skills
• Find ways to assess whether these skills are
  being taught and if students are learning them

6
The Global Economy is Driving Change

• By 2015, about 85 percent of new jobs will
  require at least a two-year degree
• Just 10 percent of the states employment
  opportunities are in manufacturing
• Employers say most critical job skills are
  professionalism, work ethic, oral and written
  communications, teamwork, collaboration, problem
  solving and critical thinking
• Recent MBAE study found a majority of high school
  graduates and many college graduates were lacking
  in most of those skills

7
Todays Jobs Require Different Skills
Source Preparing Students to Thrive in the 21st
Century. 2007, Richard Murnane
8
Hourly Wage Gaps are Widening
Advanced Degree
4-year college degree
24 difference
12 difference
High School diploma
Some High School
9
Todays Jobs Require More Education Training
Change in the distribution of education / skill
level in jobs, 1973 v. 2001
-9
-23
16
16
Source Carnevale, Anthony P. Donna M.
Desrochers, Standards for What? The Economic
Roots of K16 Reform, Educational Testing
Service, 2003.
10
P21 Framework
11
21st Century Skills Framework
Core Subjects 21st Century Themes

• Economics
• English
• Government/Civics
• Arts
• History
• Geography
• Reading or
• Language Arts
• Mathematics
• Science
• World Languages

• Global Awareness
• Financial, Economic, Business
• Entrepreneurship Literacy
• Civic Literacy
• Health Literacy

12
21st Century Skills Framework

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

• Information, Media Technology
• Information Literacy
• Media Literacy
• ICT (Information, Communications Technology)
  Literacy

• Life Career
• Flexibility Adaptability
• Initiative Self-Direction
• Social Cross-Cultural Skills
• Productivity Accountability
• Leadership Responsibility
• Cultural Competency

13
Task Force on 21st Century Skills

• 22-member task force formed in May
• Leaders in education, business and technology
• Charged with developing recommendations for ways
  to integrate 21st century skills in K12
  curriculum
• 4 subgroups
• Assessment and Accountability
• Curriculum Development, Instruction and Learning
  Environments
• Standards and Workforce Development
• Educator Quality and Support

14
Recommendations Educator Quality and Support

• Overhaul the states teacher training and
  professional development programs to recruit and
  retain high achieving educators who have a
  background in and up to date knowledge of 21st
  century skills.

15
Recommendations Educator Quality and Support

• Redesign educator preparation, licensure and PD
  programs to attract and nurture high achieving
  candidates
• Build public/private partnerships to enhance
  educator growth and learning opportunities
• Offer PD opportunities on 21st century skills to
  educators, administrators and staff of ESE
• Require all educators to demonstrate mastery of
  the use of technology to teach, assess and manage
  student learning
• Develop online Hubs for curriculum, PD and
  assessment to share information, best practices
  and success stories

16
Recommendations Standards and WF Development

• Raise the states bar on rigor by embedding
  complementary 21st century skills and content
  throughout the Commonwealths curriculum
  frameworks in every subject.

17
Recommendations Standards and WF Development

• Review and update all curriculum frameworks to
  integrate and embed 21st century skills
• Prior to BESE vote, review revised frameworks
  with Partnership for 21st Century Skills and
  Achieve Inc.s American Diploma Project
• Create and promote new and existing scholarships
  and incentives for proficiency in 21st century
  skills
• Encourage schools to offer online learning
  options
• Commit Readiness Centers to serve in part as 21st
  century skills capacity-building centers to
  assist in curriculum and instruction

18
Recommendations Assessment

• Become a national leader in assessment by
  integrating the measurement of 21st century
  skills throughout the Massachusetts Comprehensive
  Assessment System (MCAS).

19
Recommendations Assessment

• Revamp the U.S. History exam to become the
  states first MCAS exam to test proficiency in
  both content and 21st century skills
• Update the STE exam to require students to
  demonstrate knowledge through locally
  administered projects and lab experiments
• Participate in multiple global benchmarking
  opportunities to analyze how MA performance
  compares internationally
• Develop and formalize partnerships with higher
  education and private businesses to explore
  innovative ways to improve MCAS

20
Recommendations Accountability

• Hold teachers, administrators and the state
  accountable for incorporating 21st century skills
  into the curricula in a complementary way and
  hold students accountable for learning them.

21
Recommendations Accountability

• Develop a growth model component of the states
  assessment system
• Require all students to use technology to
  research, develop, complete and present a
  locally-evaluated senior project prior to
  graduation
• Examine ways to incorporate performance
  assessment of 21st century skills and knowledge
  into the states accountability system and
  provisions
• Develop a method to measure the quality of
  opportunities schools provide for students to
  engage in creative work
• Develop Quality Teaching Audits to examine
  curricula and teaching methods

22
Recommendations Demonstration Vehicles

• Establish up to five 21st century districts and
  up to ten 21st century schools
• Expand the number of Expanded Learning Time
  schools to 100 or more
• Expand the Creative Teaching Partners Initiative
  and strive to place up to 1000 artists,
  scientists and/or engineers in schools part-time
  over the next five years

23
Next Steps

• Encourage EOE to draft principles and a vision
  for the Commonwealths 21st century students,
  educators, schools and districts, to be adopted
  by the ESE, DHE and EEC Boards
• Build support among education stakeholders
• Clearly define the role of the ESE and establish
  accountability measures
• Create an advisory council charged with making
  policy recommendations to the BESE
• Encourage MASS, MASC and union leaders to work
  together to build support for 21st century skills
• Collaborate with other New England states to
  adopt a common set of standards and policies