Transcript Designing for the future: Key Components for a 21st

Allison Zmuda, Facilitator
[email protected]
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National level conference this past summer
Garnered respect from leaders from
Partnership for 21st century skills
Developed an interface for evaluation
around the MILE guide
Who is it????
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Increasing awareness
Assessing your current state
Narrowing to a manageable number of skills
Planning
Implementation
Evaluation and continuous improvement
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1) create context-specific definitions for
whichever skills a district has decided to
begin with
2) create the [context specific] continua
3) develop a plan to conduct a gap analysis
comparing present lessons, units, etc. to the
continua that were developed
4) improve the quality of assessments
21st century student learning
STUDENT
TEACHER
CONTENT
Richard Elmore, et. al. Instructional Rounds
Only about 35% of students who entered
four-year colleges seeking a bachelor’s
degree in 1998 had earned their degree
four years later
 Only 56% had graduated six years later
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-- David Conley, Standards for Success
84% of employers say K-12 schools are not doing a
good job of preparing students for the workplace
 55% say schools are deficient in preparing students
with basic employability skills
 51% cite math and science deficiencies
 38% cite reading and comprehension deficiencies
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-- Findings reported in 2005 Survey of National Association of
Manufacturers
Copyright Zmuda 2009
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The most notable feature of the new labor
market, as just about everyone agrees, is that
people don’t stay tied to companies anymore.
Americans now change jobs on average every
3.5 years—a figure that has been declining
steadily for every age group; and workers in their
twenties switch jobs on average every 1.1 years,
according to 2001 figures from the Bureau of
Labor Statistics.
--- Richard Florida
“The skills of the workforce will increasingly be
the defining characteristic that determines the
extent to which an economy can develop and
exploit new technologies and compete in the
global marketplace. Knowledge workers in every
industry require high-level cognitive skills for
managing, interpreting, validating,
transforming, communicating and acting on
information.”
-- 2004 RAND Report
Copyright Zmuda 2009
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80% of voters say that the kind of skills students need to
learn to be prepared for the jobs of the 21st century is
different from what they needed 20 years ago.
88% of voters say they believe that schools can and should
incorporate 21st century skills such as critical thinking and
problem-solving skills, computer and technology skills, and
communication and self-direction skills into their curriculum.
66% of voters say they believe that students need more than
just the basics of reading, writing and math; schools also need
to incorporate a broader range of skills.
53% say they believe schools should place an equal emphasis
on 21st century skills and basic skills.
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“Just as the Web has empowered students to
undermine pointless, rote ‘research assignments’
through copy-and-paste masterpieces, the new WWW
shifts learning power to the students themselves.
When the world of information explodes beyond what
one head can hold, who decides what gets into that
head? When students can demonstrate their learning
in a persuasive essay, a sardonic blog, a moving short
film, a robust wiki entry or a humorous podcast, why
would we demand deadening conformity? The new
WWW may do us all a favor and put assembly-line
education out of its misery.”
-- T. March
Copyright Zmuda 2009
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“Schools have conflated technology use with
instructional quality and student engagement with
improved learning and higher-order thinking. In all
the excitement about new ways of teaching with
technology, we educators may have neglected to
pose the most fundamental question: Are students
really learning?”
-- M. Burns
Copyright Zmuda 2009
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“Laptops tend to amplify what is already taking place in
schools. Whatever a school is doing well, it can probably
do better with laptops. By the same token though, if a
school is seriously troubled with discipline problems or
unfocused instruction, laptops may amplify those
difficulties by giving students a new means for off-task
behavior and teachers a new tool for keeping students
busy rather than teaching them. Laptops will make a
good school better, but they won’t make a bad school
good.”
-- M. Warschauer
Copyright Zmuda 2009
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Two out of three respondents (67% in each year)
are bored at least every day in class in high school.
 Approximately half of the students (51% in 2007,
50% in 2008) are bored every day.
 Approximately one out of every six students (16%
in 2007, 17% in 2008) are bored in every class.
 Only 2% in each year report never being bored.
E. Yazzie-Mintz (2009). Engaging the Voices of
Students
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More than four out of five cited a reason for their
boredom as “Material wasn’t interesting” (83% in 2007,
82% in 2008).
About two out of five students (41% in each year) claimed
that the lack of relevance of the material caused their
boredom.
About one-third of the students (33% in 2007, 32% in
2008) were bored because “Work wasn’t challenging
enough.”
Just over one-fourth (27% in each year) of respondents
were bored because “Work was too difficult.”
More than one-third of respondents (35% in each year)
were bored due to “No interaction with teacher.”
E. Yazzie-Mintz (2009). Engaging the Voices of Students
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Failure becomes a bad word and is to be
avoided at all costs.
Giving the teacher what he or she wants is
critical if you want to get good grades.
Questions are good only if they are on topic.
Developing good ideas must be done in
accordance with the directions.
 “We’re bribing students into
compliance instead of
challenging them into
engagement.”
STUDENT
TEACHER
CONTENT
Richard Elmore, et. al. Instructional Rounds
 5-10 minute brainstorm
 5 minutes to whittle it down to
less than six
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Too much content – needs to be more clear
about essential learnings and 21st century
skills
Subject areas are in silos – don’t have
opportunities to make connections or apply
learning
Pacing of content is too fast
Overreliance on traditional and/or superficial
assessments
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Attitudes about 21st century skills as it
relates to teaching to the test
Teacher contract/time
Physical setup of classroom design
How teachers learn
Differentiation of instruction i.e. time,
materials, human resources
Horizontal & Vertical discussions between
grade-levels (getting people together)
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Lack of relevance and motivation
Students feel defined by their deficits
Lack of self reflection
Unwilling to fail/learn from mistakes
Traditional schooling—geared toward the
industrial revolution as opposed to 21st
century learning
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“The core of schooling remains relatively stable in
the face of massive changes in the structure around it.
Schools legitimize themselves with their various
conflicting publics by constantly changing external
structures and processes, but shield their workers
from any fundamental impact of these changes by
leaving their core intact. This accounts for the
resilience of practice within the context of constant
institutional change.”
- Richard Elmore
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“We are not brains disembodied in the bucket
sitting in the corner. And likewise, we don't
learn by having information stuck into our
brains. It doesn't work that way. We have to
learn more actively than that. So it is not true
that you can plug the world into the brain and
thereby know everything. Instead, knowledge
has to built.”
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Critical thinking / Problem solving
Information Technology Application
Teamwork / Collaboration
Creativity / Innovation
Diversity
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Critical thinking and Problem Solving
Collaboration
Agility and Adaptability
Initiative and Entrepreneurship
Effective Oral and Written
Communication
Accessing and Analyzing information
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Push for reform from the outside in
Cannot be done in addition to status quo
Rethinking and imagining required to come
up with a viable definition
CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION
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Ability to synthesize to come up with
combinations that are new and useful
Self-assurance, self confidence
Ability to take risks
Breaking or stretching generally accepted rules
Passionate interest -- the work is enjoyable
Tolerance for disruption to existing patterns of
thought and life
Largely driven by intrinsic motivation
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Look at the three sets here
Look at the samples in the slides
Come up with your “right answer”
(HINT: THIS IS THE EASY PART! It will be
uphill from here….)
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Identify a good model for each skill
 HINT: Don’t reinvent the wheel.
 HINT: You may pick and choose from each of the
three examples.
 HINT: Keep in mind it should get progressively
harder (both the level of the task and the level of
performance).
Criteria:
 Is it framed in terms of a learning goal?
(What the learners will accomplish NOT how
the system works)
 Is it framed in language that is measurable?
 Is the language clear enough to give the
necessary leverage to improve teaching
practice and system effectiveness?
NOVICE
EMERGING
PROFICIENT
EXEMPLARY
Information and media literacy
Access and evaluate information and sources critically; apply information to
complete the task in an ethical and legal manner
NOVICE
EMERGING
PROFICIEN
T
EXEMPLAR
Y
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Use the continua as the benchmark
Not good enough to “fit it” – stay true to the
language
Look for areas of “weird-ness” – don’t assume
that students aren’t capable….somebody is
already doing it
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It is difficult to measure the full scope of the
standards.
Teachers will be instantly over-budget in
terms of instructional time and assessment
fatigue.
This cannot be done in addition to what
teachers are already expected to do.
Transfer requires…
 Tasks with minimal cues and
scaffolding,
 Learning how to adapt, grapple with
new or unfamiliar elements, uses, or
obstacles
Transfer of learning is the cornerstone upon
which education should ultimately rest. In its
broadest sense, transfer of learning is basic
to the whole notion of schooling. If there is
no transfer at all, students will need to be
taught specifically every act that they will
ever perform in any situation [which is
impossible]. (Bigge & Shermis, 1992).
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What are the key representative complex challenges
spanning a field of study?
 What are the various challenges we expect
successful people to be able to handle?
 What does it mean to “do” the subject?
What are the representative tasks?
 Think: the decathlon in each subject area
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Problem/Solution- Identifies and defines a problem and
generates a possible solutions (or solution paths),
evaluates the viability of each solution, and offers a
recommendation.
Inquiry/Investigation- Systematically develop questions
and pursue an explanation/pattern based on, but not
limited to, known information.
Source/Comparative Analysis- Analyze data, information,
artifacts, and/or textual evidence to develop an
explanation, interpretation, and/or determine impact.
Critique/Self-Analysis- Evaluate a given text,
performance, or problem based on established criteria
Debate, Panel, Role Play- Present and participate in a
debate, panel, or role play to provide information, gain
insight and/or promote a particular point of view
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Performance / Product - Generate a performance/product using visual,
multimedia, sound, writing, and /or speech to demonstrate
understanding and/or communicate creative intent
Modeling/Simulation- Given a model or set of criteria/data/experiences,
create representations to illustrate/predict outcomes or to deepen
understanding
Correspondence/Interviews- Appropriately communicates and/or
responds to an idea, point of view, concern, request or proposal to an
audience to achieve a desired result
Persuasive statement- Develop an argument/artifact using supporting
information and persuasive techniques to promote a particular point of
view and/or cause action
Portfolio/Reflection- Collect work over time to demonstrate mastery in
one or more modes of expression/College, Career, Citizen-Ready skills,
reflect on growth, and/or set goals
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Based on your drafted 21st century skills, how
does this correlate to the ten performance
assessments?
What is missing? (skills or assessments)
What is redundant?
Look at the “ten” assessment vehicles.
 What’s missing?
 Where are there areas of redundancy?
 Is it attractive to multiple disciplines?