Carroll County Public Schools Developing 21 st Century Learners In collaboration with the Partnership for 21 st Century Skills

Overview “Eighty percent of the jobs today’s kindergartners will occupy sometime in the future do not yet exist, and the average kindergartner of today will experience four different careers and nine different jobs in his lifetime.” Ed Barlow, Futurist, April 26, 2007 “To succeed in today’s workplace, young people need more than basic reading and math skills. They need substantial content knowledge and information technology skills; advanced thinking skills; flexibility to adapt to change; and interpersonal skills.” J. Willard Marriott Jr., CEO of Marriott International, T.H.E. Journal, July 2007.

20 th Century Education Model

21 st Century Education Model

Core Subjects - English - Reading or Language Arts - Mathematics - Science - Foreign Languages - Civics -Government - Economics - History - Geography - Arts

Thinking and Learning Skills Critical Thinking & Problem Solving Skills Creativity & Innovation Skills Communication & Information Skills Collaboration Skills

ICT Literacy Information and communications technology (ICT) literacy is the ability to use technology to accomplish thinking and learning skills: Critical Thinking & Problem Solving Skills Creativity & Innovation Skills Communication & Information Skills Collaboration Skills

Life Skills Leadership Ethics Accountability Adaptability Personal Productivity Personal Responsibility People Skills Self Direction Social Responsibility

21 st Century Content Global Awareness Financial, Economic, Business and Entrepreneurship Literacy Civic Literacy Health & Wellness Awareness

What will a 21 st Century educated student in Carroll County be? A critical thinker A problem solver An innovator An effective communicator An effective collaborator A self-directed learner Information and media literate Globally aware Civically engaged Financially and economically literate

Why Are 21 st Century Skills so Important? Carroll County students must compete in a new global economy. When I was growing up, my parents told me, "Finish your dinner. People in China and India are starving." I tell my daughters, "Finish your homework. People in India and China are starving for your job." Thomas Friedman, The World Is Flat, 2005

5 Reasons Why We Need To Implement 21 st Century Skills 1.U.S. students must compete in a new global economy. 2.The U.S. is falling behind? 3.The nature of work is changing. 4.The requirements of the 21 st Century work force are changing. 5.We need to prepare our students to be effective 21 st Century citizens.

These 21 st Century Skills will become the new “design specs” for 21 st Century education. How do we implement the 21 st Century Skills?

For the most part, we are teaching many of the skills in our current curriculums! We will, however have to make a renewed conscientious effort to change many of our current pedagogies and incorporate and imbed the skills into all of our program areas and school curriculums.

Where do we go from here? Utilize the following 8 strategies provided by the Partnership for 21 st Century Skills to determine our direction.

1.Develop a consensus among the key stakeholders on the 21 st Century skills needed by students in our schools and district. 2.Perform a self assessment utilizing the rubric provided by the Partnership for 21 st Century Skills. 3.Upgrade our professional development by creating a teacher professional development strategy for 21 st Century skills.

4. Imbed 21 st Century Skills in core subjects 5.Upgrade assessments utilizing a full range of assessments, including high-stakes, portfolio and classroom assessments, to measure 21 st Century Skills. 6.Focus on reform, on the results that matter in the 21 st Century. Redefine rigor to include 21 st Century skills.

7.Collaborate with community based groups including youth development and after-school programs on a “community strategy” to pursue 21 st Century Skills. 8.Collaborate with the business community to develop an agreement on skill outcomes and ask local businesses to provide career awareness and internships that offer opportunities to learn beyond the classroom.

We continue to aim at a target that always moves and changes, our best chance of hitting that target is to anticipate and plan for where it moves next. Education as is life, is a journey and not a destination. For more information on the Partnership for 21 st Century Skills visit their website at:

Carroll County Public Schools are pleased to participate in the Partnership for 21 st Century Skills Initiative. The Partnership for 21st Century Skills has developed a unified, collective vision for 21st century learning that can be used to strengthen American education. The elements described as “21st century student outcomes ”are the skills, knowledge and expertise students should master to succeed in work and life in the 21st century. These outcomes include: Core Subjects and 21 st Century Themes; Learning and Innovation Skills; Information, Media, and Technology Skills and; Life and Career Skills. To achieve these 21 st Century outcomes, a 21 st Century support system must be established. The following elements are the critical systems necessary to ensure student mastery of 21st century skills. 21st century standards, assessments, curriculum, instruction, professional development and learning environments all must be aligned to produce a support system that produces 21st century outcomes for today’s students. To accomplish this, Carroll County Public Schools have adopted the following 7 C’s and 3 R’s of 21 st Century Learning as our school system’s philosophy for 21 st Century Skills.

The “7 C’s” of 21 st Century Skills Critical Thinking and Problem Solving Creativity and Innovation Collaboration, Teamwork and Leadership Cross-Cultural Understanding Communications and Media Fluency Computing and Information Communication Technology (ICT) Fluency Career and Learning Self Reliance X The “3R’s” of a High Quality Education Rigor Relevance Relationships 21 st Century Learning in Carroll County Public Schools The “7 C’s” are part of the Oracle Education Foundation’s Essential 21 st Century Skills The “3 R’s” are part of the Bill and Melinda Gates Education Foundation Philosophy =