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Moving the Massachusetts Public Schools into the 21st

Century

Presented by Gerald ChertavianOn behalf of the Task Force for 21st Century Skills

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

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21st Century Skills

Last Century’s Classroom

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This Century’s Classroom

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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

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We Have Much More Work To Do

Employers want graduates who are both “book smart”and prepared to succeed in today’s 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

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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 state’s 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

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Today’s Jobs Require Different Skills

-10

-8

-6

-4

-2

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

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1969 1980 1990 1998

Perc

entile

Change in 1

969 D

istr

ibution

ComplexCommunication

Expert Thinking

Routine Manual

Routine Cognitive

Source: Preparing Students to Thrive in the 21st Century. 2007, Richard Murnane

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$10.00

$15.00

$20.00

$25.00

$30.00

$35.00

$40.00

Wag

e/H

our (

2005

$)

Advanced Degree

4-year collegedegree

High Schooldiploma

Some High School

Hourly Wage Gaps are Widening

$12 difference

$24 difference

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Today’s Jobs Require More Education & Training

32%40%

12% 16%9%

31% 28% 32%

0%

20%

40%

60%

High school dropouts High school graduates Some college/ associatedegree

Bachelor's degree &higher

Employment share, 1973 Employment share, 2001

-23%

-9%

+16%

+16%

Source: Carnevale, Anthony P. & Donna M. Desrochers, Standards for What? The Economic Roots of K–16 Reform, Educational Testing Service, 2003.

Change in the distribution of education / skill level in jobs, 1973 v. 2001

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P21 Framework

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

Core Subjects 21st Century Themes

21st Century Skills Framework

- Global Awareness- Financial, Economic, Business & Entrepreneurship Literacy- Civic Literacy- Health Literacy

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

21st Century Skills Framework

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

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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:

1. Assessment and Accountability

2. Curriculum Development, Instruction and Learning Environments

3. Standards and Workforce Development

4. Educator Quality and Support

Task Force on 21st Century Skills

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Overhaul the state’s 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.

Recommendations: Educator Quality and Support

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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

Recommendations: Educator Quality and Support

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Raise the state’s bar on rigor by embedding complementary 21st century skills and content throughout the Commonwealth’s curriculum frameworks in every subject.

Recommendations: Standards and WF Development

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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

Recommendations: Standards and WF Development

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

Recommendations: Assessment

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Revamp the U.S. History exam to become the state’s 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

Recommendations: Assessment

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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.

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Develop a growth model component of the state’s 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 state’s 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

Recommendations: Accountability

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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

Recommendations: Demonstration Vehicles

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Next Steps

Encourage EOE to draft principles and a vision for the Commonwealth’s 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