1. International Center Resource Kit
Personal Skill Development in Grades 6 – 12:
Enhancing Learning for 21st Century
Success

2. International Center’s Four Learning Criteria
1. Core Academic Learning
2. Stretch Learning
3. Student Engagement
New Training Kit:
4. Personal Skill Development
Measures of personal, social, service, and leadership skills
Demonstrations of positive behaviors and attitudes.

3. Resource Kit: Table of Contents
1: Necessary Personal Skills in a Changing World
2: Character-Centered Learning Chapter
3: Soft Skills for Success in School and in the Workplace
4: Communication Skills for the Workplace
5: Group Communication Skills
 6: Self-Management Skills for Success in Life and Work
 7: Problem Solving and Decision Making Skills
8: Training Students in Leadership Skills
9: Skills for Civic and Financial Literacy
Appendix A & B –Descriptions of Successful Programs & Handouts

4. Sample Data Indicators of Personal Skill Development
Participation in service learning
Students holding leadership positions in clubs or sports
Assessment of time management, ability to plan and organize work
Leadership and/or follower-ship
Respect for diversity
Conflict resolution--Reduction in number of student incidences of conflict
Work as a member of a team

5. Global Workplace Environment
Workers must demonstrate:
strong communication skills
flexibility
organizational skills
respect
positive attitude.

6. U. S. Department of Labor Necessary Personal Qualities:
Responsibility
Self-esteem
Sociability
Self-management
Integrity
Interpersonal Skills
Participates as a Member of the Team
Teaches Others
Serves Clients / Customers
Exercises Leadership
Negotiates
Comfortable with Cultural Diversity

7. Think About These Skills:
Who teaches young people these skills?
How do the students in your school demonstrate these important personal skills?
How can we incorporate these skills into the curriculum?

8. Don’t You Wish the Clerk at the Store Had These Skills?
Teamwork and collaboration
Self-motivation and initiative
Work ethic including dependability
Critical thinking and creativity
Flexibility and adaptability
Leadership and Interpersonal skills
Organization skills
Problem-solving skills
Multicultural skills
Time management skills

9. 550 Employers in Virginia Say:
Math, reading, writing, and speaking should be paired with decision making and problem solving.
Workers should take the job seriously, have a positive attitude, and demonstrate responsibility, reliability, and flexibility.
The primary responsibility lies in the education system, K-12.
Three-fourths believe schools should prepare future workers with both the basic skills and the applied personal skills they need for success.

10. 300 Research Studies Say:
When students learn to communicate effectively, respect others, accept responsibility, resolve problems, analyze, evaluate, and work on teams, their academic achievement improves.
Plus 10 percentile points and more on standard achievement tests.
Improved attendance
Better classroom behaviors
Far fewer discipline referrals

11. Where to Start? Character Education Guiding Principles
Intrapersonal Domain
Responsibility
Contemplation
Initiative
Perseverance
Optimism
Courage
Interpersonal Domain
Respect
Compassion
Adaptability
Honesty
Trustworthiness
Loyalty

12. Character Education Partnership
Partner with community groups, parents, administrators, local leaders, and others.
Must be deliberate and intentional
Must be incorporated into all aspects of school life
Must be stressed in students’ and adults’ interpersonal relationships

13. The Partnership for 21st Century Skills
Schools should move from traditional learning in school to out of school experiences.
Apply course content to real-world problems and practice working together in groups
Place students in a situation where they must interact as if they are employees of a company.

14. Writing for the Workplace
Perform at the high level of proficiency demanded in the workplace.
Professionalism in writing means:
Businesses cannot send materials to customers with mistakes in sentence construction, grammar or spelling.

15. Students as Managers Give students managerial roles to:
experience the workplace through the eyes of employers.
practice leadership and organizational skills.
analyze a situation, determine solutions to a problem, assist others, and view the big picture.

16. Project-Based Learning: Solve Community Problems
Lack of student parking at the school
Recycling program for the area
Need for an animal shelter in the area
Assistance for the elderly: yard clean-up, errands.
Recreational facilities for youth, senior citizens
Tutoring programs for younger students
Affordable day care center for young families.
Student health clinics; youth employment centers
Literacy programs for adults, immigrants
Need for an EMT unit in town

17. Connections to Curriculum: Language Arts Example
Beowulf– Legendary Dragon-Slayer, kills Grendel who has terrorized the community
Groups of students: what community problems are causing conflict? Where do we need dragon-slayers?
Read newspapers, attend City Council, County Commission, or Department of Transportation open meetings
Interview elected officials or community leaders

18. Beowulf Lesson Plan In groups
Brainstorm the problem, cite the opinions of all entities involved, determine what solution will satisfy all parties.
Write an action plan that presents their solution and includes a timeline, approximate costs, sources of funding, and other detail.
Present the plan to an appropriate audience.

19. Example: Social Studies
Dust Bowl Period in American History
Gather data on the cost of supporting a family of four for one month in their area of the state.
Research salaries and costs of housing, groceries, child care, transportation, utilities, insurance, clothing

20. Dust Bowl
Design a 6-panel informational brochure outlining these costs for young families moving into the area.
Deliver the brochures to appropriate agencies in the community.
Prepare a panel presentation on the data and their findings.

23. Integration: Health and Art Classes
Research the use of art as therapy for Alzheimer’s, post traumatic stress disorder, mental illness, and other diseases.
Groups develop a plan for implementing art therapy for patients in conjunction with the school’s art department.
Write a proposal that includes the feasibility of the program, an outline of activities, a timeline, costs and materials, etc.

24. Science– Group Project
Unit on protecting the environment:
Small groups research a specific environmental problem affecting the local region.
Develop a solution.
Design a marketing plan to enlist the public to participate. (TV script, pamphlet, flyer, radio ads, opinion editorials.)
Groups perform or present one element of their plan.

25. Mathematics Unit on Measurement:
Groups research prices in the area to rent or purchase different types of dwellings (homes, condos, apartments.
Calculate the price per square foot.
Prepare a cost comparison sheet on different options for housing in the area.
Write a newspaper article on the topic. Include interviews with realtors, builders, buyers, renters.

26. Professional Writing Examples
Create a city-wide program and write an action plan for...
Design a brochure
Design a performance review form
Prepare a persuasive oral presentation with visuals
Write a corporate philosophy
Write an employee handbook section with guidelines on...
Design and conduct a survey
Prepare a multimedia presentation
Write an observation report
Write customer service guidelines
Conduct interviews of community leaders and write a...
Write a feature article for the local paper
Design a newsletter
Design a calendar using art work that represents...
Design an employee or student handbook
Plan a community-wide clean-up day

27. How to Integrate Personal Skills? Choose a concept you teach:
Ask:
How is this concept applied outside the classroom?
What personal skills do you want to embed?
How will you re-design the lesson? What activities, outcomes?
What products will students develop? How will they present them?

28. The Bottom Line Research on Group Projects:
Student achievement and attitude toward the subject improves when they work together in heterogeneous groups.
Greater acceptance of peers = fewer discipline referrals
Students practice and learn skills:
goal setting
planning their time
effective follow-through
completing tasks efficiently.
(Slavin, 1995)

29. Employers Expect Leadership
Schools should involve more students in activities that expect them to lead as chairs of committees.
Schools need to develop materials to give students opportunities to practice leadership skills.
Students need more activities and experiences in group achievement and productivity.
(Carter and Spotanski).

30. Ways to Train Students in Leadership
Involve Students in:
Service Learning
Civic Literacy Projects
Financial Literacy Projects

31. Benefits of Service Learning
Increased personal and social responsibility.
Self-awareness and self-esteem
Fewer behavioral problems
More trusting and reliable attitudes; greater empathy
Higher grades on state tests of basic skills
Improved grade point averages
Better school attendance rates

32. NAEP 2006 Test in Civics Tests students’ knowledge:
Civic life, politics, and government
Foundations of the American political system
The constitutional government– democracy’s purposes, values, and principles
The relationship of the U.S. to other nations
Roles of citizens in American democracy

33. The Nation’s Civics Report Card
Results of NAEP 2006 Test in Civics
8th Grade
70 percent Basic
22 percent Proficient
2 percent Advanced
12th Grade
66 percent Basic
27 percent Proficient
5 percent Advanced

34. The National Conference of State Legislatures: 2003 Survey
Students who have participated in civic education are 2-3 times more likely:
-to vote
-to contact their leaders
-to be concerned about issues
-to follow the workings of the government.

35. Planning Civic Literacy Training
--Determine when and how long students will study civics
--Cannot be a one-shot effort
--Should start in elementary school and be progressive.
--Should be integrated into the whole-school curriculum.

36. Financial Literacy: Five Financial Tasks of Youth
Select and train for a career
Maintain a good credit record
Develop a personal financial plan
Consider insurance protection
Start savings and investment programs
Eastern Michigan University

37. Importance of Financial Literacy
Visa’s Poll of Parents:
Personal money management is second only
to writing as their children become adults.

38. Five Standards in Financial Literacy
Financial Responsibility and Decision Making
Income and Careers
Credit and Debt
Risk Management and Insurance
Saving and Investing

39. Free or Low-Cost Financial Literacy Programs
Family Economics and Financial Education
National Endowment for Financial Education High School Financial Planning Program
Hands-On Banking -- (Wells Fargo)
EconEdLink -- (Verizon)
Practical Money Skills for Life -- (Visa)
Financial Fitness for Life --(Bank of America)

40. It’s Up to All of Us Who teaches young people these skills?
How do the students in your school demonstrate these important personal skills?
How can we incorporate these skills into the curriculum?