1. Getting and Assessing 21st Century Knowledge and Skills
Bob Pearlman
8th Annual Building Learning Communities Conference
Boston, MA
July 17, 2008
PowerPoint Slides at 1

2. What knowledge and skills do students need for the 21st Century?

3. “Results That Matter: 21st Century Skills and High School Reform”
Improving high schools requires the nation to redefine “rigor” to encompass not just mastery of core academic subjects, but also mastery of 21st century skills and content. Rigor must reflect all the results that matter for all high school graduates today. Today’s graduates need to be critical thinkers, problem solvers and effective communicators who are proficient in both core subjects and new, 21st century content and skills. These 21st century skills include learning and thinking skills, information and communications technology literacy skills, and life skills.
-- March 24, 2006

4. SCANS U.S. Department of Labor Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills
COMPETENCIES - Effective workers can productively use:
Resources - allocating time, money, materials, space and staff.
Interpersonal Skills - working on teams, teaching others, serving customers, leading, negotiating, and working well with people from culturally diverse backgrounds.
Information - acquiring and evaluating data, organizing and maintaining files, interpreting and communication, and using computers to process information.
Systems - understanding social, organizational and technological systems, monitoring and correcting performance, and designing or improving systems.
Technology - selecting equipment and tools, applying technology to specific tasks, and maintaining and troubleshooting technologies.
FOUNDATIONS - Competence requires:
Basic Skills - reading, writing, arithmetic and mathematics, speaking and listening.
Thinking Skills - thinking creatively, making decisions, solving problems, seeing things in the mind's eye, knowing how to learn, and reasoning.
Personal Qualities - individual responsibilities, self-esteem, sociability, self-management, and integrity.
1992

5. Released June 21, 2004 at NECC, New Orleans

6. 21ST CENTURY SKILLS DEFINED
LEARNING & INNOVATION
Creativity & Innovation
Critical Thinking & Problem-solving
Communication & Collaboration
LIFE & CAREER
Flexibility & Adaptability
Initiative & Self-direction
Social & Cross-cultural Skills
Productivity & Accountability
Leadership & Responsibility
INFORMATION & TECHNOLOGY
Information Literacy
Media Literacy
ICT Literacy
The skills needed to be successful today are much different than they were when schools were designed
Partnership for 21st Century Skills

7. So what does learning look like where students get 21st Century Knowledge and Skills?

8. Project- and Problem-Based Learning Keys to 21st Century Learning
Teachers start each unit by throwing students into a realistic or real-world project that both engages interest and generates a list of things the student need to know. Projects are designed to tackle complex problems, requiring critical thinking. The strategy for 21st Century Learning is simple:
To learn collaboration, work in teams.
To learn critical thinking, take on complex problems.
To learn oral communication, present.
To learn written communication, write.
To learn technology, use technology.
To develop citizenship, take on civic and global issues.
To learn about careers, do internships.
To learn content, research and do all of the above.

9. "What is Manor New Tech?" video -- In their own words, Manor New Tech (Manor, TX) students explain what MNTHS is to them. This video features footage of what is happening on campus every day. Presented by students at the Texas Computer Educators Conference, February 4, 2008.

10. Students form a team, develop a work contract and build a work plan
Each unit begins when students are presented with a complex, standards-based problem
Students form a team, develop a work contract and build a work plan

11. Students get to work!
Students are provided an online briefcase specific to the project with information, resources, links and assessment criteria that help guide them.

12. Students Need To Know
Student questions and “need to knows” drive classroom lectures and activities. Sometimes for the whole class … sometime for just one student

13. Students experiment and apply learning
Students test their ideas and experiment to find solutions and breakthroughs while receiving ongoing feedback from instructors.

14. Students get back to work!
Students work and collaborate in a business-like environment, where they know their deliverables and have the technology tools to do their jobs.

15. Students prepare to present
Students work on building presentations to repre-sent their work and defend their solutions

16. Students present their solutions!
Students present ideas through debates, skits, panels, presentations, etc… where their work is evaluated by peers, teachers, parents, and community

17. PBL EXAMPLE
PRESIDENT’S DILEMMA

18. MORE PBL EXAMPLES Moongames
Students are commissioned by TOYCO and NASA to create or modify games played on earth to work on Lunar colonies. Using Newton’s three laws and a lot of math, students consider issues like the height of a basketball hoop in low gravity conditions.

19. MORE PBL EXAMPLES Together We Stand
Welcome new interns! As you may already know, the Solano, Napa and Partners Library Consortium is organizing a major exhibit on the Great Depression. It will be called Together We Stand. Our goal is to show in words and pictures that the 1930s provided America with its greatest test of character. Up to one-third of all Americans were out of work by the early part of the decade. Different groups were especially hard hit, including women, children and minorities. Because we live in such a diverse area, both racially and economically, we want to create an exhibit that touches the hearts and minds of all people.

20. PBL SUMMARY
The project drives the curriculum by creating a need for the students to know the content. Students work more autonomously on real or realistic work that has high stakes. Evaluation is made more authentic with performance based measurements and is often conducted with the help of non-teachers.

21. The Buck Institute for Education TRAINING  DEVELOPMENT  RESEARCH
Novato, California
TRAINING  DEVELOPMENT  RESEARCH

22. Project Management Teamwork

23. Oral Communication/Presentation Exhibition Assessment and Feedback

24. PLAN THE ASSESSMENT
What student product(s) could demonstrate that the student’s have learned what you wanted them to learn?

25. FINAL PRODUCTS SUB-ASSIGNMENTS PROCESS DOCUMENTS
PLAN THE ASSESSMENT
FINAL PRODUCTS
SUB-ASSIGNMENTS
PROCESS DOCUMENTS

26. THE FINAL PRODUCT Final Products Should…
require students to understand, synthesize, and apply the project’s outcomes.
• exemplify project outcomes in an authentic way.
• be relevant and interesting to students.
• give students the opportunity to demonstrate and reflect on their learning.
• require craftsmanship and artful composition.
• be relatively easy to assess. Be sure the product can actually demonstrate that the student mastered the skills and content required.

27. FINAL PRODUCTS SUB-ASSIGNMENTS PROCESS DOCUMENTS
PLAN THE ASSESSMENT
FINAL PRODUCTS
SUB-ASSIGNMENTS
PROCESS DOCUMENTS
SCAFFOLDING

28. SUB ASSIGNMENTS - Scaffolding
REMINDER…
PBL methodology does not exclude the use of traditional assignments like homework, journals, research, or event note taking.
BUT…these traditional assignments should have context within the larger project. Students should see a clear connection between the assignment and the project.

29. SUB ASSIGNMENTS - Scaffolding
Consider developing final products that are built in stages to provide checkpoints…
Proposals
Outlines
Plans
Blueprints
Drafts
Edited drafts
Models
Revised drafts
Product critiques
Product tryouts

30. PROCESS DOCUMENTATION
Group work contracts
Roles and duties of group members
Student generated task or “to do” lists
Project calendar
Group progress reports
Student time cards

31. DEVELOP ASSESSMENT RUBRICS
Design rubrics for content AND broader learning outcomes.
Rubrics should articulate the various performance levels.
Rubrics MUST be handed out in the early stages of the project when they can be used to set expectations.

32. New Technology High School
Napa, California
Integrating technology into every class
Interdisciplinary and project-based
Internship class consisting of classroom curriculum and unpaid work in technology, business or education
Digital Portfolio

33. New Technology HS LEARNING OUTCOMES Sacramento 10 Learning Outcomes:
Content Proficient
Able to Write Proficiently
Orally Proficient
Able to Think Critically
Technologically Proficient
Able to Collaborate
Prepared for a Career
Solid Citizens with Ethical Behavior
Able to Analyze and deal with Data
Possessing a solid Work Ethic
Napa 8 Learning Outcomes
Technology Literacy
Collaboration
Critical Thinking
Oral Communication
Written Communication
Career Preparation
Citizenship and Ethics
Curricular Literacy (Content Standards)

34. PROFESSIONAL PORTFOLIO LEARNING OUTCOMES
THE BIG PICTURE
PROFESSIONAL PORTFOLIO
REPORTING/STUDENT FEEDBACK
CURRICULAR UNITS (PBL)
EVALUATION RUBRICS
LEARNING OUTCOMES

35. CHALLENGE
PBL instruction is not as linear as traditional instruction. How can we organize our project materials for student access, action, self- direction, and project management?

36. The Project Briefcase allows teachers to put all project materials in one spot for easy student access and to share with other teachers.

37. They include everything from the entry document that launches the project to the rubrics used to assess the student’s performance.

38. Teachers can easily lock items from the student view.

39. Teachers can easily lock items from the student view.
The Briefcase holds individual project documents. It can contain text, images, web links, and links to other NTH tools.

40. How can we help students stay on task and develop self-direction?
CHALLENGE
How can we help students stay on task and develop self-direction?

41. The Course Agenda helps keep complicated projects organized.

42. Teachers enter activities for each day including links to resources and homework assignments.

43. You might be thinking… this is cool but our school environment look NOTHING like this.
Our school population looks much like your
Diverse and very Urban
Classes are mainstreamed- students with varying ability levels and learn styles

44. CHALLENGE
How can we better hold students accountable for their collaboration skills while working in a group?

45. At the end of each project, students evaluate their group members using this collaboration rubric database.

46. Students submit evaluations using a standardized rubric for the whole school.

47. Students can view how their peers rated them (although the evaluations are anonymous).
Teachers can view, edit, and delete evaluations as necessary. They can also print a report that averages the evaluations for a given project.

48. The evaluations are accessible on the web.
Students have the option to “publish” the evaluations for use as evidence of their collaboration skills.
This is the key to allowing students to demonstrate their performance of our learning outcomes.

49. CHALLENGE
How can we capture evidence for skills such as Oral Communication so that students have something to put on their portfolios?

50. Students present their solutions!
Students present ideas through debates, skits, panels, presentations, etc… where their work is evaluated by peers, teachers, parents, and community

51. The evaluations are accessible from the web after the student has marked the evaluation “public”.

52. The Presentation Database is a place to record and display evaluations of student performance on presentations. Collecting data on our learning outcomes is critical for the student’s Professional Portfolio.

53. CHALLENGE
How can we give students and parents clear feedback on student performance that better reflects our authentic assessment practices?

54. ?
What do traditional teachers do with a major research paper that has been turned in late?

55. ASSESSMENT B+
More than likely, the teacher will take off points for each day the paper is late.

56. ASSESSMENT B+
More than likely, the teacher will take off points for each day the paper is late As soon as the teacher puts that lowered grade in the grade book, we lose important data about the skills and abilities of the student. C-

57. SKILLS BASED ASSESSMENT

59. A REPORT CARD THAT MATTERS
When checking grades online, students see course grades and 21st Century skill assessments.

60. CHALLENGE
How can we give students a way to demonstrate their proficiency on the learning outcomes and then how can we assess them?

61. Students demonstrate mastery through ….
Products
Presentations
Portfolios

62. The Professional Portfolio is the capstone of the NTHS Learning System
The Professional Portfolio is the capstone of the NTHS Learning System. NTHS’s entire curriculum serves eight overall learning outcomes. In their portfolios, students demonstrate their proficiency in all eight outcomes.

63. These guidelines provide structure around what is otherwise a student-managed collection of projects, evaluations, and documents organized into a web site.

64. The portfolios are as diverse as the student body but with similar layouts and organization to aid in evaluation by staff and community members.

65. What is the Learning System?
DIGITAL PORTFOLIO
CURRICULUM LIBRARY
NTHS GRADEBOOK
What is the Learning System?
The NTH Learning System™ is a set of tools and technologies that support a student-centered, project- and problem-based learning environment.
COMMUNICATION TOOLS
COLLABORATION EVALUATOR
DISCUSSION BULLETIN BOARDS
STUDENT DATA COLLECTION

66. Key recommendations Go see 21st Century Learning Learning Outcomes
Determine the school’s Learning Outcomes (21st Century Skills)
Embed the Learning Outcomes into projects
Design assessments to measure Outcomes
Students prove mastery of Learning Outcomes through Products, Presentations, and Portfolios
Provide students with just-in-time assessment feedback
Projects
Assess 21st Century Skills
Products Presentations Portfolios
Go see 21st Century Learning
Skills-Based Grade Reports

67. NEW TECHNOLOGY HIGH SCHOOLS (late September  March)
Napa and Sacramento
Study Tours and Visits
(late September  March)

68. PowerPoint Slides at www.bobpearlman.org/BLC2008.htm
Contact Information
Susan Schilling
CEO
1040 Main St., Suite 302
Napa, CA 94559
Bob Pearlman
Director of Strategic Planning
PowerPoint Slides at