The elements described below are the critical systems necessary to ensure student mastery of 21st century skills. 21st century standards, assessments, curriculum, instruction, professional development and learning environments must be aligned to produce a support system that produces 21st century outcomes for today’s students.
21st Century Standards
- Focus on 21st century skills, content knowledge and expertise
- Build understanding across and among core subjects as well as 21st century interdisciplinary themes
- Emphasize deep understanding rather than shallow knowledge
- Engage students with the real world data, tools and experts they will encounter in college, on the job, and in life; students learn best when actively engaged in solving meaningful problems
- Allow for multiple measures of mastery
- Assessment of 21st Century Skills
- Supports a balance of assessments, including high-quality standardized testing along with effective formative and summative classroom assessments
- Emphasizes useful feedback on student performance that is embedded into everyday learning
- Requires a balance of technology-enhanced, formative and summative assessments that measure student mastery of 21st century skills
- Enables development of portfolios of student work that demonstrate mastery of 21st century skills to educators and prospective employers
- Enables a balanced portfolio of measures to assess the educational system’s effectiveness in reaching high levels of student competency in 21st century skills
- 21st Century Curriculum and Instruction
- Teaches 21st century skills discretely in the context of core subjects and 21st century interdisciplinary themes
- Focuses on providing opportunities for applying 21st century skills across content areas and for a competency-based approach to learning
- Enables innovative learning methods that integrate the use of supportive technologies, inquiry- and problem-based approaches and higher order thinking skills
- Encourages the integration of community resources beyond school walls
- Highlights ways teachers can seize opportunities for integrating 21st century skills, tools and teaching strategies into their classroom practice — and help them identify what activities they can replace/de-emphasize
- Balances direct instruction with project-oriented teaching methods
- Illustrates how a deeper understanding of subject matter can actually enhance problem-solving, critical thinking, and other 21st century skills
- Enables 21st century professional learning communities for teachers that model the kinds of classroom learning that best promotes 21st century skills for students
- Cultivates teachers’ ability to identify students’ particular learning styles, intelligences, strengths and weaknesses
- Helps teachers develop their abilities to use various strategies (such as formative assessments) to reach diverse students and create environments that support differentiated teaching and learning
- Supports the continuous evaluation of students’ 21st century skills development
- Encourages knowledge sharing among communities of practitioners, using face-to-face, virtual and blended communications
- Uses a scalable and sustainable model of professional development
21st Century Learning Environments
- Create learning practices, human support and physical environments that will support the teaching and learning of 21st century skill outcomes
- Support professional learning communities that enable educators to collaborate, share best practices and integrate 21st century skills into classroom practice
- Enable students to learn in relevant, real world 21st century contexts (e.g., through project-based or other applied work)
- Allow equitable access to quality learning tools, technologies and resources
- Provide 21st century architectural and interior designs for group, team and individual learning
- Support expanded community and international involvement in learning, both face-to-face and online
