Partnership for 21st Century Skills is a great organization that provides a platform of information on introducing and including skills necessary for our students to learn. The framework for Learning in the 21st Century is setup nicely. The focus is on core subjects, 21st Century Content, Learning and Thinking Skills, ICT Literacy, Life Skills,and 21st Century Assessments. I am happy to say that my state, Ohio, has this implemented into the curriculum. I am a strong advocate for eTech as well as ITSCO. These are funded programs through the state to help advocate 21st Century Skills in education.
I agree with the majority of what Partnership for 21st Century Skills represents. I have an issue when it comes to the 21st Century Assessments. I wholeheartedly believe that students should be tested, but not by standardized tests or even state/national mandated tests. I think students should be assessed by their performance and in class assignments - projects, papers, portfolio, notebook, etc. I think that students feel pressured by standardized test or the mandated tests because if they do not do well, there are consequences like not graduating. Now I am not saying school should be a breeze and students should get passed through the system. There are lots of factors that can cause a student not to do well on a standardized test.
My students have a better understanding of the 21st Century Skills because my state is involved with this organization. However, I do feel that there should be brought to the attention of educators. In some schools this does not seem to be a priority and the resources are being wasted away. As an educator, I need to do a better job of staying up to date on the 21st Century Skills and making sure that I implement them in my classroom.
Laura,
ReplyDeleteI could not agree with you more about the standardize testing. I do not like how a lot of funding is tied up with how students perform on a test. What you suggested for their assessments is what I think should be done also, a portfolio is a great way to show student growth and improvement.
Yes, I too agree that so many factors effect student's testing scores and are not a very accurate measure of what the student has learned. I, myself was a horrible test taker and would always do extra credit and never miss a homework or class assignment in order to make up my low testing scores. Once I began college I improved a lot more in this area, but many tests I crammed information and would not be able to tell you the information I had to learn for that test. It is the experiences that help us learn, and as discussed on 21st Centuries website, integrating real life situations and problems into the classroom is important. Students will learn various problem solving and communication skills.
ReplyDeleteLaura
ReplyDeleteBeing a Technology Education teacher who relies on performance based instruction I like your notion of no standardized tests (state or national). I feel every test we give is one less day of instruction. I guess the question is can we have standards projects or portfolios
CW
I completely agree with you about the standardized testing. There is too much accountability placed on one test!
ReplyDeleteLaura,
ReplyDeleteI am fully on-board with you when it comes to standardized testing. I understand the ideas and beliefs behind them, but in all honesty, we all know that some students just aren't "test takers". When in my class, I feel that it is very important to assess, like you say, in many different ways. I like to have discussions with my students to see the knowledge they have developed and weigh their input. I use my projects, assignments, and overall effort as ways to determine the students abilities and capabilities. I think that it is wrong to determine how intelligent a student is by one exam. It's much like the SAT process(which I am, and have never been very fond of), a student can be the top student in their class, and because of one single test, they can jeopardize their college of choice. I think what you're doing in your classroom is a great way to assess your students and I think that in turn, you will see much higher levels of learning.
-Danny Cleveland
Laura,
ReplyDeleteMy school and district as of now are way behind in the use of technology in the classroom. A few years ago, when our new superintendent came aboard, he stated that technology was his main thrust. Every classroom got three computers. One for a teachers station and two for student use but the teachers were never given any training on how to use two computers in a class with 38 students. Since that time we now don't even have a computer lab in the school and very few teachers use the student computers. Of course the districts claim is lack of funds but they manage to support other programs. I do not know how common my situation is but it seems that Partnership for 21st Century Skills has a long way to go in convincing people about the importance of technology in the classroom. I think it would be more important for this organization to concentrate on a few key issues instead of trying to address so many things at one time.