1. © Copyright 2008 Tony Wagner1 The Global Achievement Gap Tony Wagner, Co-Director Change Leadership Group Harvard University, Graduate School of Education tony_wagner@harvard.edu www.gse.harvard.edu/clg www.schoolchange.org

2. © Copyright 2008 Tony Wagner2 The New Educational Challenges: “The Rock & The Hard Place” The Rock: NEW SKILLS for Work, Continuous Learning & Citizenship in a “knowledge society” for ALL STUDENTS –Convergence of skills needed for careers, college, citizenship –Students lacking skills relegated to marginal employment & citizenship The Hard Place: The “Net Generation” is differently motivated to learn –Kids accustomed to instant gratification and “always-on” connection –Kids constantly connected, creating and multitasking in a multimedia world— everywhere except in school –Less fear and respect for authority—accustomed to learning from peers; want coaching, but also adults who don’t “talk down” to them Re-Framing the Problem: Reform vs. Reinvention –We do not know how to teach ALL students NEW skills. This is a new education challenge that requires development of new professional knowledge, new school structures, and new ways of working together.

3. © Copyright 2008 Tony Wagner3 The “New World” of Work and The Seven Survival Skills 1.Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving 2.Collaboration Across Networks and Leading by Influence 3.Agility and Adaptability 4.Initiative and Entrepreneurialism 5.Effective Oral and Written Communication 6.Accessing and Analyzing Information 7.Curiosity and Imagination From The Global Achievement Gap: Why Even Our Best Schools Don’t Teach The New Survival Skills Our Children Need—And What We Can Do About It, by Tony Wagner (New York: Basic Books, summer 2008)

4. © Copyright 2008 Tony Wagner4 Benchmarking Rigor: Employers View of What is Needed What skills and content areas will be growing in importance in the next few years? Critical Thinking78% I.T.77% Health & Wellness76% Collaboration74% Innovation74% Personal Financial Responsibility72% From “Are They Really Ready to Work” http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/documents/FINAL_REPORT_PD F09-29-06.pdf http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/documents/FINAL_REPORT_PD F09-29-06.pdf

5. © Copyright 2008 Tony Wagner5 Benchmarking Rigor: College View of What is Needed College professors’ views of the skills students lack: 70% say students do not comprehend complex reading materials 66% say students cannot think analytically 65% say students lack appropriate work and study habits 62% say students write poorly 59% say students don’t know how to do research 55% say students can’t apply what they’ve learned to solve problems 2005 Achieve Inc. http://www.achieve.org/files/pollreport.pdfhttp://www.achieve.org/files/pollreport.pdf

6. © Copyright 2008 Tony Wagner6 More Important Than Academic Content: The Competencies That Matter Most for College From research conducted by David Conley on “College Knowledge”: Writing Reasoning Analytic Thinking Problem-solving The College and Work Readiness Assessment—an online performance assessment of these core competencies. (see “Resources” slide for more information.)

7. © Copyright 2008 Tony Wagner7 Recent Grads Summary of What They Need Writing skills Study skills and time management Research skills Study group experience What would your graduates say?

8. © Copyright 2008 Tony Wagner8 Vignettes From The “Old World” of School 1.The ‘cake that flopped’: AP chemistry 2.Coloring within the lines: 9 th grade honors global studies class 3.Let me tell you now to answer this one: AP Government 4.Newton’s birth date or the stars: 7 th grade science 5.Skits on comma rules: 9 th grade honors English

9. © Copyright 2008 Tony Wagner9 What is The “Global Achievement Gap”? The Global Achievement Gap is the gap between what even our best schools are teaching and testing Versus The skills all students will need for careers, college, and citizenship in the 21 st century

10. © Copyright 2008 Tony Wagner10 AYP Versus Attainment… The Numbers That Matter Most for Kids’ Futures % of US Students Who Graduate From High School 79% of Asian Students (80% in CO) 72% of Caucasian students (80% in CO) 50% of African American & Hispanic students (64% & 55% in CO) Source Education Week http://www.edweek.org/apps/dc2008/state_compare.htmhttp://www.edweek.org/apps/dc2008/state_compare.htm Students Who Graduate “College-Ready” 1 in 3 Caucasian & Asian students (37%) 1 in 5 African American students (20%) 1 in 6 Hispanic students (16%) Source: Greene & Forster, “Public High School Graduation & College Readiness Rates in the US,” Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, 2003 http://www.manhattan-institute.org/ewp_03.pdf) http://www.manhattan-institute.org/ewp_03.pdf

11. © Copyright 2008 Tony Wagner11 So What’s The Problem? A New Curriculum in American schools: test-prep –Assessment drives instruction—for better or for worse: “using the wrong metric is worse than having no measurement at all” –Andreas Schleicher: multiple choice tests are one reason why U.S. students perform poorly on PISA: 25 th out 56 in science, 35 th in math, 28 th out of 40 in problem-solving Assessment impacts student motivation—for better or for worse –More students drop out from boredom than lack of skills –Today’s students are differently motivated to learn and to work: instant gratification, multitasking in a multimedia universe; learning from peers and creating on the web; skeptical of adult authority and needing to make a difference

12. © Copyright 2008 Tony Wagner12 Your “Shareholders” Think Things Are Fine

13. © Copyright 2008 Tony Wagner13 Exploring Some Leadership Implications Create understanding and urgency to hold yourselves, your teachers, and your students to a higher standard for student success in careers, college, and citizenship. –Collect and share the real data : report cohort graduation rate; and percent of students going to postsecondary & how well they do; conduct post grad focus groups, video them and show to faculty Engage the community in discussions of how the world has changed and the skills that matter most. –Help them to redefine rigor for the 21 st century Invest in: assessments and improvement of instruction. –A combination of local performance assessments and national or international tests such as the CWRA and PISA are required. –Teachers don’t know how to teach all students new skills and motivate all students to achieve at high levels. –Leaders don’t know what good instruction looks like or how to coach teachers.

14. © Copyright 2008 Tony Wagner14 Redefining Rigor: 5 “Habits of Mind” Learning to Ask The Right Questions Weighing Evidence –How do we know what’s true and false? What is the evidence, and is it credible? Awareness of Varying Viewpoints –What viewpoint are we hearing? Who is the author, and what are his or her intentions? How might it look to someone with a different history? Seeing Connections/Cause & Effect –Is there a pattern? How are things connected? Where have we seen this before? Speculating on Possibilities/Conjecture –What if? Supposing that? Can we imagine alternatives? Assessing Value—Both Socially and Personally –What difference does it make? Who cares? So what? From www.missionhillschool.org See also Deborah Meier The Power of Their Ideaswww.missionhillschool.org

15. © Copyright 2008 Tony Wagner15 Resources The Global Achievement Gap: Why Even Our Best Schools Don’t Teach The New Survival Skills Our Children Need—And What We Can Do About It and Change Leadership: A Practical Guide to Transforming Our Schools –Tony Wagner www.schoolchange.org www.schoolchange.org The College and Work Readiness Assessment http://www.cae.org/content/pro_collegework.htm http://www.cae.org/content/pro_collegework.htm “Towards a More Comprehensive Conception of College Readiness” by David Conley http://www.gatesfoundation.org/nr/downloads/ed/researchevaluation/CollegeRea dinessPaper.pdf http://www.gatesfoundation.org/nr/downloads/ed/researchevaluation/CollegeRea dinessPaper.pdf “How the World’s Best-Performing School Systems Come Out on Top” http://www.mckinsey.com/clientservice/socialsector/resources/pdf/Worlds_Scho ol_Systems_Final.pdf http://www.mckinsey.com/clientservice/socialsector/resources/pdf/Worlds_Scho ol_Systems_Final.pdf Programme for International Student Assessment www.pisa.oecd.orgwww.pisa.oecd.org “Two Million Minutes,” a documentary film comparing 6 high school students in the US, China, and India http://www.2mminutes.com/index.htmlhttp://www.2mminutes.com/index.html Partnership for 21 st Century Skills http://21stcenturyskills.org/http://21stcenturyskills.org/ Videos of Good Teaching http://www.teacherscollegepress.com/teachertoteacher.html http://www.teacherscollegepress.com/teachertoteacher.html