A new organization called the Partnership for 21st Century Skills has issued a report and a free planning guide to help educators incorporate specific "21st-century" skills—such as problem solving, critical thinking, and communication—into the core curriculum of schools to better prepare students for today's technology-infused workplaces.

The report, "Learning for the 21st Century," and its companion, "Milestones for Improving Learning and Education (MILE) Guide for 21st Century Skills," were released June 30 at the National Education Computing Conference in Seattle.

The Partnership for 21st Century Skills is a public-private organization whose members include the AOL Time Warner Foundation, Apple Computer, Cable in the Classroom, Cisco Systems, Dell, Microsoft, the National Education Association, and SAP. Its efforts are supported by the U.S. Department of Education (ED).

"The partnership's leaders are calling on communities to take advantage of the window of opportunity provided by No Child Left Behind to put into place a long-term vision to better prepare students for the workplace and society of the 21st century," said Terry Crane, partnership co-chair and vice president for education at America Online Inc.

"Our doctors don't treat patients using 19th-century medicines, and our teachers shouldn't educate students using 19th-century learning models," Crane continued. "Today's students need to demonstrate knowledge of core subjects such as reading, math, and science—but they also must learn additional skills, including critical thinking, decision making, problem solving and communication, and the ability to adapt to a changing world."

A survey released June 25 by the AOL Time Warner Foundation underscores the need for schools to retool their existing curricula to incorporate the teaching of these new skills.

Ninety-two percent of respondents said they think young people need different skills today than they did 10 to 20 years ago, but only 42 percent said they think schools are doing a good job of teaching young people the 21st-century literacy skills they need.

Two-thirds of those surveyed said it is "realistic to expect schools to integrate these new literacy skills into learning even when so many young people don't heave adequate basic skills." And, less than a fifth of respondents said America's youth are more prepared for the 21st century than are youth in other developed countries.

The survey of 1,000 adults was conducted by the national research firms Lake, Snell, Perry and Associates and Market Strategies.

The AOL Time Warner Foundation also announced that it is dedicating its resources to developing the 21st-century skills young people need to succeed in school, in work, and in their communities. To do this, the foundation will make $3 million in new grants in 2003.

Although states and school districts are facing constrained resources and tight budgets nationwide, "these are the times people have to innovate the most," said Karen Bruett, K-12 marketing director for Dell Corp.