By Bernie Trilling
We have reached a critical moment in California. Our state faces some of the most complex business, political, scientific, technological, health and environmental challenges in its history. At the very same time it is undergoing an unprecedented financial and governing crisis.
Successful states and economies are built on an adept citizenry that can learn quickly, devise creative solutions to problems, and rapidly innovate its way to a successful and prosperous future. California’s Silicon Valley and its creative film and media industry have been world pioneers in creating a culture of fast and deep learning, cutting-edge creativity and constant innovation.
Despite being absorbed in the largest economic crisis since the Great Depression, this is the right time to come together to apply what we’ve learned about being an innovation pioneer to the reshaping of our education system. “It’s all downhill from here,” could be the positive spin that will propel us into action!
The strategy of using a deep crisis to make deep changes appears to be the theme of our times. Now may be the best time to innovate our system of learning and teaching so we can secure a future for California where every citizen receives a world-class education and every student is well prepared for the realities of 21st century work and life.
One place to start is to take a hard look at the reasons for California’s high dropout and remedial rates.
Unfortunately, we do not know for sure the exact number of students who fail to graduate high school because California is still developing an accurate system to assess these numbers. Still, according to the California Dropout Research Project at the University of California, Santa Barbara, 349,191 California high school students graduated in 2005-06. However, four years earlier, 520,287 students were in the ninth grade. This indicates that approximately one-third of California students fail to graduate on time. This estimation is backed by the U.S. Department of Education, which finds a California high school graduation rate between 65 and 74 percent.
Clearly this is a serious problem for these students, their families and their communities. It is also a critical issue for everyone in our state. Dropouts earn significantly lower wages, pay less in taxes and are more likely to be involved in crimes and end up in prison (which, also due to our financial crisis, are over-full).
While this group earns much less and is incarcerated or on welfare much more, the total bill to our state is staggering – California is hit with $46.4 billion in losses every time 120,000 20-year olds fail to complete high school.
While the dropout rate is a major problem facing our education system, so is the need for remedial education – those students who graduate high school and enter college, but are required to retake high school courses. California’s Legislative Analyst’s Office analysis of the 2003-04 budget found that almost half of regularly admitted California State University students arrive unprepared for college writing and mathematics. The amount of money spent to provide these high school graduates with the education they should have received in high school is also staggering.
Why students drop out and need remedial education
A growing body of research has shown that one of the biggest factors for students both dropping out and needing remedial education is disengagement. Students simply don’t see a real-world connection to their studies and find school boring.
Not surprisingly, dropping out is the final stage in a cumulative process of withdrawal from school that can begin as early as elementary school. In fact, a high school student’s motivation is largely shaped by his or her early academic achievement and engagement, as students who are struggling in middle school are more likely to drop out of high school.
Schools are not the sole source of the problem. Dropping out may be the result of many challenging experiences students face in their lives – everything that impacts a student, from parents and teachers to civic and community groups to local businesses and youth programs that might not provide the help they need.
It is clear that we need to chart a new path for public education in California. We must go beyond the solutions that may have worked well in the past to new approaches that ensure students are engaged and active participants in their learning. Until we do so, students will drop out in much higher numbers, we will have to invest much more in costly social services, and our communities and businesses will be left without the full potential of their most valuable resources – the citizens and workers that live in California.
Toward a 21st century model
In 2003, the Partnership for 21st Century Skills (P21) concluded a two-year, broadly collaborative project to determine a vision for learning in today’s complex and connected world. The goal was to reach consensus with hundreds of educators; academics; and civic, community and business leaders on the definition of the skills and knowledge most needed in the 21st century, and to develop tools that aid communities in implementing an engaging learning model tuned to our times and the needs of our students.
The result: the Framework for 21st Century Learning, which describes the skills, knowledge and expertise that are key for students to succeed in life and work. Through in-depth discussions with diverse stakeholders, P21 – which has nearly 40 members that represent all sectors of American society (including the Oracle Education Foundation) – found that:
• Civic and community groups were in agreement on a set of 21st century skills and knowledge that citizens must possess in a participatory democracy;
• Business leaders identified these same skills and knowledge as essential for success in the workplace; and
• Educators recommended a combination of rigorous courses imparting both core content knowledge and many of these same skills in order to engage students and increase achievement.
Integrating 21st century skills deliberately and systematically into the teaching of core subjects appears to empower educators to make learning relevant and to help students be successful.
Twenty-first century skills include the intelligent reasoning, positive attitudes and practical skills that enable students to learn and achieve at higher levels. In addition, they provide a powerful framework for teaching and learning that motivates and engages students and builds their confidence as learners.
In middle schools, taking courses that pair core subjects with 21st century skills can prepare students to enter high school ready for a rigorous curriculum. If middle school students enter high school better prepared they are less likely to drop out and more likely to achieve at higher levels. If they graduate high school after taking rigorous courses that build these skills, they will also be less likely to need remedial courses in college.
Quite simply, if classes are compelling, students will be better motivated to learn, understand and retain more knowledge. If we can better engage students in their learning process, they will learn more and fail less.
According to Mary Jo Conery, assistant superintendent for 21st century learning in the Catalina Foothills School District in Tucson, Ariz., “Emphasis on 21st century skills promotes learning by doing, talking, and processing in teams … students are ripe for these kinds of experiences. They want and need engaging work that stimulates their curiosity, involves them in decision-making, provides some autonomy and choice in learning, improves self-regulation, and allows opportunities for creative expression. This kind of learning environment will not only motivate and challenge … students but aid them in discovering who they are, who they want to be.”
What are 21st century skills?
Learning and innovation skills
These skills ensure students are better prepared for increasingly complex life and work environments. In the 21st century, it has become essential for citizens to be:
• Creative and innovative;
• Critical thinkers and problem solvers; and
• Good communicators and collaborators.
Core subjects and 21st century themes
Schools must move beyond focusing solely on basic competency in core subjects (reading, mathematics, English, world languages, arts, economics, science, geography, history, government and civics) to promote the applied understanding of this content at much higher levels by weaving 21st century interdisciplinary themes into teaching and learning. Vital themes include:
• Global awareness;
• Environmental literacy;
• Financial, economic, business and entrepreneurial literacy;
• Civic literacy; and
• Health literacy.
Information, media and technology skills
People live in a technology- and media-driven world that can offer access to an abundance of information. It is becoming increasingly easier for people to collaborate and make individual contributions to a team effort on an unprecedented global scale. To effectively take advantage of these opportunities, citizens and workers must be able to use technology to be proficient in a range of truly 21st century skills, such as:
• Information literacy;
• Media literacy; and
• Information, communications and technology literacy.
Life and career skills
In today’s rapidly changing life and work environments, citizens and workers must be able to go beyond thinking skills and content knowledge to succeed. Navigating these complex environments requires students to develop adequate life and career skills, such as:
• Flexibility and adaptability;
• Initiative and self-direction;
• Social and cross-cultural skills;
• Productivity and accountability; and
• Leadership and responsibility.
Independently, each group involved in education – teachers, principals, administrators, community and civic leaders and business leaders – identified and confirmed the skills and knowledge that comprise the Framework, showing their overwhelming support for the need to ensure students develop deep content knowledge and the ability to apply that knowledge across disciplines.
Because educators will always be some of the busiest professionals in our country, the Framework was designed to refocus – not add to – the curriculum. The intent is to embed the learning of these skills into the courses and activities that are already occurring in our schools.
Imagine a 12th-grade social studies classroom that is working on the question, “Does our ballot initiative process in California make us a better state than those that don’t have these initiatives?” Through team research and interviews with legislators, business and community representatives – and through debates, role-plays, simulations and presentations to parents and community members – the result can be rigorous content, 21st century skills, and a high level of motivation and engagement.
Through real projects like this, students in pioneering schools across California are gaining valuable collaborative, communication and critical thinking skills and are being challenged to apply their creativity to come up with innovative solutions and positions on challenging issues. Students are also gaining valuable knowledge and insight into past and current events that previously might only have been remembered long enough to provide answers on a test.
To successfully face rigorous higher education coursework and a globally competitive work environment, schools, districts and states must align everyday classroom learning with an engaging combination of rigorous core content, the active use and practice of 21st century skills, and the application of understanding and skills proficiency to solving real-world problems.
By combining these learning methods, educators go beyond a 20th century model of education and ensure that students will stay engaged in school and have the expertise required for success in today’s world.
The innovation challenge
This is not to say that re-focusing our education system on the combination of relevant engagement, 21st century skills and core content understanding will instantly curb the dropout and remedial education rates. There is, of course, much more to be done on a number of educational fronts:
• State leaders – the governor, the chief state school officer, legislators, educators, business leaders and influential citizens – must all advocate for a 21st century education system.
• California must support educators with ongoing professional development in 21st century teaching and learning methods.
• California must adopt modern assessments that measure both content understanding and 21st century skills proficiency, adjust the accountability system, and collect and report current and useful data on a variety of critical indicators, including dropout and remedial rates.
• California needs to continue building an active coalition of business, education, non-profit and community organizations and parents to further develop consensus and a shared vision of the knowledge and skills they value for their children’s success.
• California should continue to work with schools and districts to engage their communities in helping to solve the dropout and remedial education problem. As President Obama has said, dropping out is not only letting yourself and your family down, it is letting your state and your country down.
At this critical juncture, California can recapture its reputation as a global innovation leader if, in this most challenging of times, we show the world that re-innovating education will recharge our economy, restore our hope, and re-ignite the curiosity and creativity our children will need for success in the 21st century.
Bernie Trilling, global director of the Oracle Education Foundation, also serves as a board member of the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, the nation’s leading advocacy organization focused on infusing education with 21st century skills. Trilling is the co-author of the forthcoming book, “21st Century Skills: Learning for Life and Our Times,” published by Jossey-Bass/Wiley.