Mike Kozak

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21st Century Skills for our Classrooms
Mike Kozak Donlynn Rice Nebraska Department of
Education Lincoln, Nebraska August 1, 2007
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Overview

• Why are 21st Century Skills so important?
• What is the framework for 21st Century Skills?
• What does this mean for Nebraska?

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Overview
As educators we face a great dilemma of
preparing our students for their future not our
past. Predicting the future needs is very
difficult especially with the ever-changing fast
paced world we live in today. Through the work of
the Partnership for 21st Century Skills educators
have access to a well-designed framework and
tools to assist them in preparing, planning and
implementing processes to facilitate change to
prepare students for their future in the 21st
Century.
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Overview
21st Century Learning is about creating learning
environments that are conducive to inquiry-based
or problem-based teaching and learning that
facilitate learning opportunities. These
opportunities focus on the relationships of key
educational concepts and the potential for
students to become change agents as they learn.
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Overview

• Critical Thinking
• Problem Solving
• Innovation Skills
• Communication Skills
• Collaboration Skills
• Global Awareness
• Self-Direction
• Should become the new design specs for 21st
  Century education in Nebraska

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Why are 21st Century Skills so Important?
5 Reasons
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Why 21st Century Skills?

• Nebraska students are now competing in the new
  global economy.
• (They are already in a flat world.)

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Why 21st Century Skills?
This is a story about the big public
conversation the nation is not having about
education whether an entire generation of kids
will fail to make the grade in the global economy
because they cant think their way through
abstract problems, work in teams, distinguish
good information from bad, or speak a language
other than English. How to Build a Student for
the 21st Century, TIME Magazine, December 18, 2006
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Why 21st Century Skills?
2. The U.S. is falling behind.
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Why 21st Century Skills?
OECD Ranking
Ranking of G8 countries 10th grade math
problem solving
Problem Solving
Math
Science
Reading
14th
15th
15th
18th
18th
24th
24th
2000
2000
2000
2003
2003
2003
2003
Source PISA, 2000, 2003
Courtesy of Cisco
Systems
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Why 21st Century Skills?
3. The nature of work is changing.
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Why 21st Century Skills?
How many of your Parents Grandparents had only
one or two jobs in their lifetimes?
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Why 21st Century Skills?
How many jobs will a young person have today
between age 18-38?
10.2 jobs
SOURCE Number of Jobs Held, Labor Market
Activity, and Earnings Growth Among Younger Baby
Boomers Recent Results From a Longitudinal
Survey Summary, US Dept. of Labor, 2004
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Why 21st Century Skills?
21st Century
20th Century
1 2 Jobs
10 15 Jobs
Number of Jobs
Critical Thinking across Disciplines
Mastery of One Field
Job Requirement
Integration of 21st Century Skills into Subject
Matter Mastery
Subject Matter Mastery
Teaching Model
Subject Matter Mastery
Integration of 21st Century Skills into Subject
Matter Mastery
Assessment Model
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Why 21st Century Skills?
4. Requirements of the workforce are changing.
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Why 21st Century Skills?
Workforce Survey Are They Really Ready to Work?
Released October 2, 2006, by The Conference
Board, Corporate Voices for Working Families,
Partnership for 21st Century Skills, and the
Society for Human Resource Management groups.
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Why 21st Century Skills?

• What skills are most important for job success
  when hiring a High School graduate?

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Why 21st Century Skills?

• Of the High School Students that you recently
  hired, what were their deficiencies?

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Why 21st Century Skills?

• What skills and content areas will be growing in
  importance in the next five years?

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Why 21st Century Skills?
5. We need to prepare our students to be
effective 21st Century citizens.
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What is the Framework for 21st Century Skills?
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21st Century Skills Framework
20th Century Education Model
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21st Century Skills Framework
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21st Century Skills Framework
Core Subjects

• - English
• Reading or Language Arts
• Mathematics
• Science
• Foreign Languages
• Civics

• Government
• Economics
• Arts
• History
• Geography

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21st Century Skills Framework

• Thinking and Learning Skills
• Critical Thinking Problem Solving Skills
• Creativity Innovation Skills
• Communication Information Skills
• Collaboration Skills
• Contextual Learning
• Information and Media Literacy
• (These skills are critical in a flat world.)

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21st Century Skills Framework

• ICT Literacy
• Information and communications technology (ICT)
  literacy is the ability to use technology to
  accomplish thinking and learning skills
• Critical Thinking Problem Solving Skills
• Creativity Innovation Skills
• Communication Information Skills
• Collaboration Skills
• Contextual Learning
• Information and Media Literacy

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21st Century Skills Framework

• Life Skills
• Leadership
• Ethics
• Accountability
• Adaptability
• Personal Productivity
• Personal Responsibility
• People Skills
• Self Direction
• Social Responsibility

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21st Century Skills Framework

• 21st Century Content
• Global Awareness
• Financial, Economic, Business and
  Entrepreneurship Literacy
• Civic Literacy
• Health Wellness Awareness

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21st Century Skills Framework

• Core Subjects
• Thinking and Learning Skills
• ICT Literacy
• 21st Century Content
• Life Skills
• All need to become the new design specs for
  21st Century education in Nebraska.

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What Does this look like in some Nebraska Schools?
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What Does This Mean for Nebraska?
1. Focus on 21st Century Skill outcomes.
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What Does This Mean for Nebraska?
2. Develop a Consensus
Develop a consensus among the key stakeholders on
the 21st Century Skills needed by Nebraska
students.
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Imbed 21st Century into .
Rethinking the high school initiative

• Focus on the results
• that matter in the
• 21st Century.
• Redefine rigor to
• include 21st Century
• Skills.

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Imbed 21st Century into.
Standards Revision
Create Standards geared for 21st Century Teaching
and Learning
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What Can Nebraska Do?
Collaborate with the Business Community
Agree on the 21st Century Skill outcomes with
business leaders and ask them to provide career
awareness and internships that offer
opportunities to learn beyond the classroom.
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What Can Nebraska Do?
School Leader Development Building 21st Century
Schools Microsofts Partners in Learning Program
- http//www.microsoft.com/education/partnersinlea
rning.mspx A unique set of videos, challenge
questions, discussion starters, and resources on
an interactive CD Chad Dumas, ESU 10 or Mike
Kozak, NDE
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Conclusion

• Every student in Nebraska must be
• A critical thinker
• A problem solver
• An innovator
• An effective communicator
• An effective collaborator
• A self-directed learner
• Information and media literate
• Globally aware
• Civically engaged
• Financially and economically literate

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Conclusion
These skills should become the design specs of
a 21st Century education in Nebraska.
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Contact Us

Let us know how we can help. Donlynn and
Mike Donlynn Rice donlynn.rice_at_nde.ne.gov Mike
Kozak mike.kozak_at_nde.ne.gov