Students must learn 21st century skills
The current model of K-12 education, based on the mastery of facts, is no longer relevant when the amount of technical education in the world doubles every 24 months -- and will double every 72 days by 2020 -- said Ken Kay, president of the Partnership for 21st Century Skills.
Schools still need to teach the core subjects, but also must address 21st century skills, Kay said at the National Advocacy Networks Congressional Luncheon. These include such skills as problem solving, critical thinking, media literacy, global awareness, collaborative skills, and civic literacy.
The public is beginning to get it, Kay said. According to a recent national poll, 80 percent of voters agree that the skills students need to learn today are fundamentally different from what they needed 20 years ago. Even more compelling, 99 percent of voters believe “teaching kids 21st century skills is essential to the nation’s economic success.”
The partnership is working with seven states -- West Virginia, Wisconsin, Maine, Massachusetts, North Carolina, South Dakota, and Iowa -- to bring 21st century skills into state standards and assessments. Partnerships with New Jersey and Kansas will be announced soon.
Kay said the state education department in North Carolina is developing a new science assessment that includes a component on high school genetics that mirrors the professional certification exam taken by genetics counselors. This means students must learn how to provide support to patients and their families, as well as diagnose diseases. As a result, they learn how to be good communicators, problem solvers, and collaborators.
Kay urged school board members to support a bill introduced in the Senate, the 21st Century Skills Incentive Fund (S.1483), which would provide federal matching funds for state initiatives that address 21st century skills. It was introduced by Sens. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine).
What the nation needs, Kay said, is “a vision of where K-12 education can go that is aligned with the needs of work force development and the needs of economic development.”
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