21st Century teaching and learning v. our present system

2006-02-08T15:47:00.000-08:00

Well, I know this will be one of those documents that I will hope never surfaces if I am being considered for Secretary of Education and under the scrutiny of the United States Senate.

NCLB, which really reflects how we are teaching now, and 21st Century Skills may have some common motivations but not much more similarity than a dingy and an ocean liner. The motivation for NCLB is really hard to debate; it requires efforts to bring all 21st century children to 20th century standards. Children in our public and private schools are ALL expected to demonstrate mastery in the core areas. However, each state has been allowed to develop and justify its own definition of mastery. I know that any sort of national expectations would be considered dictatorial but it really does confuse me how states can set their own mastery cut off scores. I realize that the feds are watching, monitoring, and approving state plans but I still am suspect that the process is more one of appeasement than one of academic rigor. My own experience with the WESTEST brings me to the conclusion that the test is aligned to our standards (content) but is still low level in the skills tested.
21st century skills will lead 21st century students to the skills needed in the future. The workers of the mid 21st century will never survive in the work place with skills measured on WESTEST as demanded by NCLB. If the workers survive, they will only survive if the United States holds a position of inferiority in the world. We will have taken the place of what are now termed third world countries in the eyes and economies of the world if workers with current skill levels are sufficient to survive in our economy.

None of the 21st century skills are really related to the lowest levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy. The West Virginia Department of Education has re-grouped Bloom’s levels. In his original work there were six levels with two distinct groups of skills in each for a total of twelve possible descriptors for thinking skills. In the revised grouping, there are only four groups with three skill levels in each for the same total of twelve. Now a level one thinking skills could be among the bottom quarter of skills rather than the bottom sixth. Even with this reorganization, approximately 95% of the WESTEST questions fall in the level one distinction. Of the remaining 5% only a rare question is at level three or four.
A sample level one question is listed as “Who was the first president of the United States?” A sample level two question is “If Bill had 49 cents, how many 10 cent balloons could he buy?” I contend that neither of these will have a place in a real 21st century skills assessment. We might be on the right track with a level three question typified by “What evidence can you find to support the principle that air expands when heated?” Let me see…. How would I measure that on a standardized test with about 95% multiple choice questions? Level four has as its example, “Examine and evaluate the interdependence of global economies.” Now, that is a 21st Century Skill that just can’t be measured by traditional standardized testing methods.

I realize that I sound totally critical of the NCLB initiative, when I am, in fact, a supporter. I think that the American educational system has for far too long been about sorting and selecting children according to their abilities rather than ensuring that all students have a set of basic skills required of all the citizenry.
Over the last third of a century, I have seen many improvements in our systems but I must also acknowledge that we have a long way to go. It is a step in the right direction to raise expectations for all students, albeit a baby step. Many of the initiatives which have been used to prepare public schools for the increased pressure and visibility brought about by NCLB have been very positive. The clarification and prioritization of the curriculum at the national, state, and local levels has been very positive. It has just been the wrong curriculum. There is no doubt students need strong basic skills but they also need the opportunity to utilize the things learned in this ever changing world.

Blog for G Cart

21st Century teaching and learning v. our present system