Preparing Every Child for the 21 st Century Ken Kay, President Partnership for 21 st Century Skills APEC EdNet – Xi ’ an Symposium Xi ’ an China January 17, 2008

Why are 21 st Century Skills so important? What is the Framework for 21 st Century Skills? What should APEC economies do? What are some recommendations for the APEC Education Summit? Overview

Why are 21 st Century Skills so important? What is the Framework for 21 st Century Skills? What should APEC economies do? What are some recommendations for the APEC Education Summit?

Why 21 st Century Skills? New Contexts New Job Skills Global Citizenship

Why 21 st Century Skills? New Job Skills Global Citizenship New Contexts

Why are 21 st Century Skills so Important? There are new 21 st Century Contexts Global Competition Global Cooperation Information Growth More Jobs & Careers Service Economy

Global Competition: ●Global Awareness ●Self-Direction Global Cooperation: ●Global Awareness ●Collaboration ●Information & Communication Technology (ICT) Literacy Information Growth: ●Information Literacy ●Critical Thinking ●Problem Solving More Jobs & Careers: ●Critical Thinking & Problem Solving ●Innovation & Improvement ●Flexibility & Adaptability Growing Service Economy: ●Communication Skills ●Life and Career Awareness Skills New ContextSkills Required

Are we asking the right questions? Why 21 st Century Skills? Are our students critical thinkers and problem solvers? Are our students globally aware? Are our students self-directed? Are our students good collaborators?

Are we asking the right questions? Why 21 st Century Skills? Are our students information and technology literate? Are our students flexible and adaptable? Are our students innovative? Are our students effective communicators?

Why 21 st Century Skills? New Contexts Global Citizenship New Job Skills

Why 21 st Century Skills? The requirements of the workforce are changing

Why 21 st Century Skills? What skills are most important for job success when hiring a high school graduate? Work Ethic80% Collaboration75% Good Communication70% Social Responsibility63% Critical Thinking & Problem Solving58%

Why 21 st Century Skills? Of the high school students that you recently hired, what were their deficiencies? Written Communication81% Leadership73% Work Ethic70% Critical Thinking & Problem Solving70% Self-Direction58%

Why 21 st Century Skills? What applied skills and basic knowledge are most important for those you will hire with a four-year college diploma? Oral Communication95.4% Collaboration94.4% Professional/Work Ethic93.8% Written Communication93.1% Critical Thinking/Problem Solving93.1%

Of the four-year graduates you recently hired, how do they rate? Why 21 st Century Skills? Professional/Work Ethic 27.6Critical Thinking/Problem Solving 15.8Written Communication 24.6Collaboration 24.8Oral Communication DeficientExcellent Adequate

Why 21 st Century Skills? What skills and content areas will be growing in importance in the next five years? Critical Thinking78% I.T.77% Health & Wellness76% Collaboration74% Innovation74% Personal Financial Responsibility72%

Why 21 st Century Skills? New Contexts New Job Skills Global Citizenship

Why are 21 st Century Skills so important? What is the Framework for 21 st Century Skills? What should APEC economies do? What are some recommendations for the APEC Education Summit?

P21 Members

20 th Century Education Model 21 st Century Skills Framework

Core Subjects -Economics -English -Government -Arts -History -Geography -Reading or Language -Arts -Mathematics -Science -World Languages -Civics 21 st Century Themes - Global Awareness - Financial, Economic, Business & Entrepreneurship Literacy - Civic Literacy - Health Literacy

Learning & Innovation Skills Critical Thinking & Problem Solving Creativity & Innovation Communication & Collaboration 21 st Century Skills Framework

Information, Media & Technology Skills Information Literacy Media Literacy ICT (Information, Communications & Technology) Literacy

21 st Century Skills Framework Life & Career Skills Flexibility & Adaptability Initiative & Self-Direction Social & Cross-Cultural Skills Productivity & Accountability Leadership & Responsibility

21 st Century Skills Framework Critical Thinking and Problem Solving Skills for EVERYONE Innovation and Creativity Skills Life and Career Skills for EVERYONE Information, Media and Technology Skills What’s new about 21 st Century Skills? New Understanding of CoverageNew Areas of Emphasis

21 st Century Skills Framework How do I find out more?

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Why are 21 st Century Skills so important? What is the Framework for 21 st Century Skills? What should APEC economies do? What are some recommendations for the APEC Education Summit?

1. Develop a “Partnership” Focused on 21 st Century Outcomes Develop a consensus among the key stakeholders on the 21 st Century Skills needed by your students. Be sure the business community is included. What can the APEC economies do?

Create a teacher professional development strategy for 21 st century skills. 2. Upgrade Professional Development What can the APEC economies do?

3. Upgrade Teacher Preparation Develop a comprehensive reform strategy for Colleges of Education and Higher Education What can the APEC economies do?

4. Upgrade Assessments What can the APEC economies do? 20 th Century 21 st Century Use a full range of assessments, including high-stakes and classroom assessments, to measure 21 st century skills.

Models for blending content and skills 21 st Century skill assessments Professional development of 21 st Century skills (e.g. U.K. Stage III ICT Literacy Assessment) 5. Invest in Research and Development What can the APEC economies do?

Why are 21 st Century Skills so important? What is the Framework for 21 st Century Skills? What should APEC economies do? What are some recommendations for the APEC Education Summit?

1. Focus on general recommendations for 21 st Century skills. Recommendation for APEC Education Summit

2. Define Global Awareness broadly Recommendation for APEC Education Summit Global Awareness must be broader than just second language learning.

3. Link STEM skills to 21 st Century Skills Recommendation for APEC Education Summit Use STEM skills to strengthen critical thinking and problem solving skills in all students. Ensure STEM students have life, career awareness, communication, and collaboration skills.

4. Leverage the core competencies of vocational education professionals Bringing life and career awareness skills to EVERY student. Recommendation for APEC Education Summit

5. Adopt a rigorous global standard of ICT literacy International standard must go beyond tech competency. Recommendation for APEC Education Summit

6. Focus on potential areas of global 21 st century skills cooperation: Recommendation for APEC Education Summit Develop global benchmarking that emphasizes 21 st century skills Develop common resources for professional development and assessment Share best practices Develop a common rubric for global awareness

Are our students critical thinkers and problem solvers? Are our students globally aware? Are our students self-directed? Are our students good collaborators? Are our students ready for the 21 st Century? Conclusion

Are our students information and technology literate? Are our students flexible and adaptable? Are our students innovative? Are our students effective communicators? Are our students ready for the 21 st Century? Conclusion

These skills should become the “design specs” for 21 st Century education in every APEC economy. Conclusion

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