1. Essential Skills Task Force Defining the Essential Skills Presented to State Board October 18, 2007

2. State Board Goal Each student demonstrates the knowledge and skills necessary to transition successfully to his or her next steps - advanced learning, work, and citizenship. State Board Goal Each student demonstrates the knowledge and skills necessary to transition successfully to his or her next steps - advanced learning, work, and citizenship. Oregon Diploma Requirements

3. Phase I: Define essential skills, indicators, proficiency levels, and assessment options Phase II: Address policy and operational implications for PK-20 alignment and accountability Essential Skills Task Force

4. Charter Timeline Recommendations to the Board in Feb 08 Targeted adoption of essential skills June 08 K-12/OUS/CCWD collaboration Participants: K-12, OUS, Com Col educators; special education; business/community; students

5. What are Essential Skills? Skills that are deemed essential for success in college, work and civic life Process skills that cross all disciplines, not content specific Embedded in content standards and curriculum Can be demonstrated in a variety of courses, subjects, and settings

6. HIGH SCHOOL TRANSCRIPT  Education Plan and Profile -- career focus Essential Skills  Read and interpret a variety of texts  Write for a variety of purposes  Speak and present publicly  Apply mathematics in a variety of settings  Use technology  Think critically and analytically  Demonstrate civic and community engagement  Demonstrate global literacy Credit Requirements** English - 4 creditsPhysical Ed. – 1 credit  1 Credit  1 CreditHealth – 1 credit  1 Credit Math – 3 creditsArts, CTE, and  1 Credit Second Language – 3 credits  1 Credit Science – 3 credits  1 Credit Electives – 6 credits *  1 Credit Social Sciences – 3 credits  1 Credit  1 Credit  Extended Application  Career Related Learning Standards  Career- Related Learning Experiences Total: 24 credits         Oregon Content Standards **Credit may be earned by demonstrating proficiency

7. Many national models support “essential” or “21 st century skills” Examples: Commission of the Skills of the America Workforce Partnership for 21 st Century Skills 21 st Century Skills, North Central Regional Ed Lab Essential Skills, Government of Canada Career One Stop National Work Readiness Credential, US Chamber of Commerce Standards for Success, College-Readiness Skills and Abilities That Employers Want, Education Testing Service (ETS) Achieve, Inc.

8. National Survey - Public Opinion Poll On behalf of The Partnership for 21 st Century Skills, Public Opinion Strategies and Peter D. Hart Research Associates conducted a national survey of 800 registered voters from September 10-12, 2007.

9. % Important (8-10) Computer and tech skills 87% Reading comprehension 85% Critical thinking and problem solving 80% Written communications 78% Oral communications 77% Ethics and social responsibility 75% Creativity and innovation 73% Teamwork and collaboration 73% Life-long learning and self-direction 72% Media literacy 67% Mathematics 66% Global awareness 66% Leadership 66% Science 62% Voters’ perception of the importance of the following skills: Source: Partnership for 21 st Century Skills

10. Defining The Essential Skills Identify skills that are necessary for success in entry- level college courses – not advanced levels – How similar are these across postsecondary institutions? Identify skills that are necessary for success in the workforce across all sectors – not job-specific. – How similar are these across work force levels and community? Consider what should be expected of all students.

11. Defining The Essential Skills Outcomes A list of well-described skills that are commonly considered essential by universities, community colleges, and the workforce (business & community). For each skill, a list of indicators of mastery at the appropriate level (college and workforce readiness). For each skill, a generalized description of the evidence of mastery that would satisfy universities, community colleges and the workforce (business & community).

12. Resources College & Work Ready Knowledge & Skills PASS Proficiencies Achieve Benchmarks Standards for Success General Education Outcomes Partnership for 21 st Century Skills National Educational Technology Standards for Students Workforce Readiness Certificate

13. Essential Skills Draft 3.0 Read and comprehend a variety of texts* at different levels of difficulty – *Texts includes all forms of written material, communication, and media Write clearly and accurately for a variety of purposes Listen actively, speak clearly, and present publicly Apply math to solve problems in a variety of settings Use technology to learn, live, and work Think critically

14. Essential Skills Demonstrate civic and community engagement Demonstrate global literacy Career-related learning standards: communication* problem solving* personal management teamwork employment foundations career development (*found in ES: read, write, speak, think, use technology)

15. Proficiency Level and Assessment Options Preliminary discussion, examples: – Agreement on use of multiple assessment tools – Authentic assessment reflecting post-high school world Writing: Prompts that reflect career-related activities Think: Open-ended problems or tasks with the use of a standardized scoring guide Tech: Exhibit mastery of common production applications through authentic task integrating the ES Math: Work samples and standardized proficiency test such as Compass or Asset

16. ESTF Next Steps Stakeholder input on draft 3.0 (Oct–Dec) Focus groups Web-based survey Nov 6 & Dec 11 th -- identify proficiency levels and assessment options – ESTF will review West Ed’s recommendations – Recommendations will merge with SATF work on core standards and the assessment system Dec 12 th : Begin policy discussion

17. Essential Skills West Ed recommendations – ES should be embedded across the core standards if all students are required to demonstrate proficiency to earn a diploma – Due to their performance orientation, ES may be best assessed at district level, using locally- developed formative assessment process

18. Policy Discussion Policy questions – What is the accountability of school districts to verify student proficiency of ES? – What methods of determining proficiency would be acceptable to OUS and CC for admission and placement? – How will the ES be recognized, valued, and used by OUS, CC and employers? – What policies are needed to ensure that agreements are widely understood and consistently implemented? – More (see charter)…..