Measuring 21st-century skills
To remain competitive in an increasingly global, knowledge-based economy, today’s employers need graduates who are adept at so-called “21st-century skills” such as using information and communications technology (ICT) to gather and assess information, collaborate, innovate, think critically, and solve problems. Yet, in meeting this need, educators face a few key challenges: How can they teach these skills to students in the context of the core curriculum? And, how can they measure students’ attainment of these skills?
With the generous support of Learning.com, the editors of eSchool News have compiled this collection of stories from our archives, along with other relevant resources from around the web, to help you and your staff best answer these questions in your own schools.
–The Editors
ED releases final version of National Ed-Tech Plan
The final version of the new National Educational Technology Plan (NETP) includes a focus on individualized instruction and connectivity, and U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said meeting…
Putting our ideas of assessment to the test
Here’s a pop quiz: What are the skills that today’s students will need to be successful in tomorrow’s workplace? The answer to this question has enormous implications for…
On the way: Nation’s first tech-literacy exam
For the first time ever, technological literacy will become part of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also known as the Nation's Report Card, the test's governing…
Arizona raising students’ technology literacy
Mention No Child Left Behind (NCLB) in any setting, and you're certain to excite a lively conversation. It seems everyone has an opinion, reaction, or thought about the…
School libraries try to do more with less
This fall, school libraries across the country will be working to implement new standards for learning in the 21st century--but many will be doing so with fewer resources…
Report: Retool instruction, or U.S. will fail
Creating a 21st-century education system that prepares students, workers, and citizens to triumph in the global skills race is the central economic competitiveness issue currently facing the United…
New resource helps teach 21st-century skills
Social studies teachers now have a new resource to help them integrate 21st-century skills into their lessons: a free online document that maps various social studies projects, tasks,…
NECC highlights tech’s ‘transformative’ power
Transformation and collaboration were the central ideas of the 2008 National Educational Computing Conference (NECC) in San Antonio, which kicked off June 29 with a call to fundamentally…
ISTE unveils new tech standards for teachers
Schools looking for a framework to help guide their teachers' use of technology in the classroom have a new resource at their disposal: The International Society for Technology…
States struggle with assessing tech literacy
The No Child Left Behind Act stipulates that all students should be technologically literate by the end of the eighth grade. But how to assess technological literacy has…
Technology Literacy Resources
Special Report
Do Our Students
Measure Up?
How to define and assess technology proficiency and get accurate student data.
Read the report (pdf).
STEM Report
Science, Technology, Engineering & Math.
SETDA discusses the importance of
STEM education, the current state of STEM education, barriers to implementing STEM
education, and recommends what stakeholders and policymakers can do to support
STEM education. Read the SETDA report (pdf).
Case Study
You’ve Got the Technology — Now What?
Read how this Pennsylvania school district improved technology proficiency scores by maximizing its technology resources.
Case Study
Supporting ELL Students
“The amount of learning I see taking place in my classroom is four-score of any other demonstration-style program. EasyTech allows each child to observe the lesson from his or her own point of view.”
– Gordon Graham
Educational Technology Specialist, New York City
Read the case study.
21st Century Skills Assessment - How to get valid data
Porfolio Assessment for 21st Century Skills
See product sheet (pdf).