Ken Kay

Many of us have been talking about 21^st century education for over a decade. We’ve been talking about the changes in society that necessitate a new model of education. We’ve also been talking about the need for 21^st century outcomes like the 4C’s (critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity).

Recently, local education leaders have been asking us how best to implement 21^st century skills in their schools and districts. In order to help education leaders move 21^st century education forward we’ve developed two tools that may be helpful:

• The 7 Steps For Becoming a 21^st Century School or District
• EdLeader21, a professional learning community for 21^st century education leaders

The 7 Steps

In the “7 Steps,” we’ve identified common steps that are observed in schools and districts throughout the country that are implementing 21^st century education strategy.

Step 1 – Your Vision of 21^st Century Education: Embrace the 4C’s and More

We urge you to develop your own personal vision of 21^st century education.  Determine the role you want the 4C’s—critical thinking, communication, collaboration and creativity—to play in your school or district.  How important are the 4C’s to your notion of a 21^st century model of education?

What skills beyond the 4C’s do you personally believe need to be prioritized (e.g. global competence or self-direction)?

Is your school or district currently intentional or purposeful about these outcomes? This process will allow you to come to closure on your own personal vision for your 21^st century school or district.

Step 2 – Create a Community Consensus Around the 4C’s

In Step 2 focus on your communications and collaboration skills as a leader.  Reach out to students, parents, business leaders and community groups build ownership in the vision. Inside your school or district find “early adopters” and generate broad support for the initiative.

Step 2 is critical.  If done right, the key stakeholders in your community will have a shared vision of your school or district’s strategic direction for 21^st century education.

Step 3 – Align Your System to the 4C’s

In Step 3, determine whether the educational systems in your school or district are in “alignment” with your vision. You may realize that the current structures of teaching and learning do not support the outcomes you have embraced.

In this context, a self-assessment of where the parts of your system currently stand relative to your vision is most useful. We recommend you use the Partnership for 21^st Century Skills MILE Guide to conduct such a self-assessment, determine where you are today and develop a plan for moving forward.

Step 4 – Use the 4C’s to Build Professional Capacity Around the 4C’s

Today PD is in a major state of disrepair. You need to “re-charge” it by challenging your educators to critically think, collaborate, communicate and be innovative while they are engaging in their professional development. Second, you need to make sure that your PD doesn’t just focus on content mastery but focuses on how teachers can teach and assess the 4C’s.

Step 5 – Embed 4C’s in Curriculum and Assessments

In Step 5 focus on what direction you need to take both your curricula and your assessments. How can curricula and assessments focus on content and the 4 Cs?  This step encourages you to:

• Evaluate the level of 4C’s integration in current curricula and make necessary design changes.
• Ensure that you are measuring and tracking the 4C’s in student performance, in classroom, school, and district assessments.
• Collect and share best practices for classroom rubrics, school evaluation, and district reporting that conform to your vision for 21st century education.

Step 6 – Support Every Teacher in Their Teaching of the 4C’s
The work of 21^st century education cannot happen without the strong support of teachers and teachers need support to make it happen. This step encourages you to consider questions such as:

• Do we have effective professional learning communities in place?
• Do we have learning environments that truly support educators in this work?
• Do teachers have the flexibility they need to engage students in project based learning and multidisciplinary content?
• Are educators given timely, constructive feedback about the work they are doing?

Step 7 – Improve and Innovate a 4C’s Continuous Improvement Culture

Step 7 challenges you to bring a continuous improvement culture to your schools and districts.  We ask the following questions:

• Do you have a culture that supports continuous improvement of students, teachers and leaders?
• Do your professional learning communities embrace continuous improvement of the 4C’s in their work?
• Has your leadership team identified organization processes, such as human resources policies, where the 4C’s can be embedded in the work of the district?

In Step 7 we ask you to reflect on whether you have created a new 21^st century continuous improvement culture that truly aligns with the new outcomes that you have established.

We hope the 7 Steps will help you as you move toward becoming a 21^st century school or district.

EdLeader21

EdLeader21 is a professional learning community devoted to education leaders who are committed to 21^st century education.

Currently, we are:

• Building a master set of rubrics for each of the 4C’s.
• Defining the criteria for a 21^st century school or district.
• Piloting innovative assessments to help our districts measure the 4C’s.

We have built tools and resources that focus on:

• The 7 Steps for implementation;
• Outreach tools for stakeholder groups;
• Resource tools on 21^st century outcomes (e.g. critical thinking)

We have also created a social network for hundreds of education leaders to stay connected and work together on issues and projects of common interest around implementation of 21^st century education.

Please visit us on our website at www.edleader21.com, and request a virtual tour of our community website. We’d love to have you join us in this ongoing collaboration focused on 21^st century education.

Also, come to our session at the Celebration of Learning on Friday, March 16, 11:30 a.m.-12:45 p.m. and learn more about how the “7 Steps” and EdLeader 21 can help your schools and districts prepare our students for the challenges of the 21^st century.

Ken Kay is CEO of EdLeader21, a professional learning community for district and school leaders committed to 21st century education. He resides in Tucson, Arizona.