Archive for February, 2009

Common Core Event: What is the Proper Role of Skills in the Curriculum

Thursday, February 26th, 2009

On February 24, Common Core held a panel discussion to critique the idea of 21st century skills. Discussants included Diane Ravitch, E.D. Hirsch Jr., Daniel Willingham, and Ken Kay. Remarks from panelists can found be here.

We knew that this topic is a contentious one that would pique lots of interest. It did: with more than 100 people in attendance, there was not an empty spot in the room (many attendees found semi-comfortable spots on the floor).

Ravitch, Hirsch, and Willingham all challenged Kay’s belief that learning skills is more important than understanding the content that allows skills to be used.

Hirsch argued that “the error at the heart of P21 [the Partnership for 21st Century Skills] is the idea that skills are all-purpose muscles that, once developed, can be applied to new and unforeseen domains of experience.” More quotes from panelists on Flypaper.

Which is the point that many critics of the 21st century skills movement have made: knowledge is the foundation for learning.

Kay asserted that he believes P21 is driving the content and skills movement. If that were actually the case then that’s what he would’ve called it: the Partnership for 21st Century Skills and Content. Ravitch challenged him to rebrand.

But it’s important to remember that P21 is focused more on business interests than on student learning interests. Yes, all kids need to learn how to be good critical thinkers, communicators, and collaborators. They need to be tech savvy, globally aware, and financially intelligent, too. But do these skills need to be assessed by schools? Should they become a part of state standards? Ken Kay’s make the case for their inclusion.

Robert Pondiscio over at the Core Knowledge Blog says:

A broad, solid knowledge-based curriculum is square one for developing “21st Century Skills.” Inspired, creative teaching–not wish fulfillment codified by squishy, ill-defined standards–gets us the rest of the way. That might not fit on a bumper sticker, but it might work.

Common Core agrees. More event commentary to come. Also keep an eye out for the event video; it will be posted soon.

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Event: What is the Proper Role of Skills in the Curriculum? A Critique of the Idea of 21st Century Skills.

Tuesday, February 17th, 2009

February 24, 2009

1:30p.m. – 3:00p.m.

1016 16th St. NW, 7th Floor

Washington, D.C. 20036

The teaching of skills is taking an increasingly prominent role in our classrooms. Numerous states are integrating skills such as critical thinking, global awareness, and media and business literacy into their standards and tests. But is the idea of orienting education around skills either sound or new?

Come hear the opinions of a historian, an educator, a cognitive scientist, and an advocate for 21st century skills.

Panelists:

DIANE RAVITCH

Research Professor of

Education, New York University

E. D. HIRSCH, JR.

Founder and Chairman, Core

Knowledge Foundation

DANIEL WILLINGHAM

Professor of Psychology,

University of Virginia

KEN KAY

President, Partnership for

21st Century Skills

Moderator:

ANTONIA CORTESE

Secretary-Treasurer, American

Federation of Teachers

RSVP to: info@commoncore.org

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New Jersey Adds Skills

Tuesday, February 10th, 2009

New Jersey joined the Partnership for 21st Century Skills in December 2008, and the timing couldn’t have aligned better with the state’s required five-year standards review.

On February 6th, New Jersey Education Commissioner Lucille E. Davy announced revisions and the proposed infusion of the P21 framework into the state’s Core Curriculum Content Standards.  According to a New Jersey Department of Education news release, “the revised standards are designed to infuse real-world skills into the state’s existing curriculum models in the nine content areas – Language Arts Literacy, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, World Languages, Technological Literacy, Visual and Performing Arts, Comprehensive Health and Physical Education, Career Education and Consumer, Family and Life Skills.”

Commissioner Davy says that “all New Jersey children deserve the opportunity to enter the workforce or college already equipped with the knowledge and skills they need to thrive.” Agreed.  But is adding new standards on “life and career skills and personal financial literacy” the best way to go about attaining college readiness for all students?

Standards should serve as a guide to what content needs to be taught, not how it is taught.  A rich comprehensive curriculum taught via engaging, thought-provoking lessons is the best way to develop the skills students need to be successful in post-secondary education and in life.  With the narrowing of the curriculum, meaningful learning in science, social studies, foreign languages, the arts, etc is well on its way to becoming a luxury or solely an after-school program.  Why?  Because of the misguided assumption that simply teaching more math and reading-and teaching these subjects purely as skills–will improve student achievement.  Many states aren’t getting the results they want on NCLB assessments, so they have latched onto the 21st century skills fad, instead of focusing on content.

Not all of what New Jersey proposes is bad. The new math standards will include best practices from other states and countries where student performance is high.  Common Core agrees that much can be learned from looking at the high standards set by other countries. Check out New Jersey’s proposed standards yourself, and let us know what you think.

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Keep the Arts

Thursday, February 5th, 2009

When school budgets are in danger of being cut, the subjects that suffer the most are typically the arts. I remember my high school experience in the early 90′s when budget deficits loomed; the arts were on the chopping block then, too. Fortunately, I attended a performing arts magnet high school, so my programs were safe. But, that wasn’t true for many other students then, and it’s certainly not true for students now- even those attending special schools.

An example from Orange County, Florida (reported in the Orlando Sentinel):

Students at Orange County’s poorer elementary schools are less likely to be taught art or music than those at schools that are better off, a new countywide study shows.

The fear is that such a discrepancy will grow as school budgets are slashed.

Another from South Washington County, Minnesota (reported in the Star Tribune):

Under Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s budget proposal, state funding for the Golden Valley arts school and arts education center would be drastically cut, then eliminated. The school would be downscaled from a state agency to a much less ambitious charter school, which could save the state $4.5 million a year.

And in Los Angeles, California (reported in the LA Times):

The Los Angeles school district has suspended a key arts program because of a spending freeze, a sign of what may be ahead for the state’s largest district, which is facing a serious budget shortfall.

Eliminating arts education should not be a viable option when districts face tough times. They are an integral part of a well-rounded education. According to an Education Week article about the report Transforming Education through the Arts Challenge, “making the arts a central part of the curriculum, and teaching the subject with the same rigor as math or science, not only can improve arts learning, but also can bolster other efforts to improve schools, an evaluation of a major arts pilot program concludes.”

I sincerely hope that districts and states reassess their priorities, and rethink fixing their budget challenges by eliminating the arts.  The arts are not superfluous.

Laura

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Confusion in Ohio

Monday, February 2nd, 2009

Ohio 21st Century Student-Centered Learning Environment

The figure displayed above is from Ohio Governor Ted Strickland’s 2009 budget proposal.

We thought former Illinois Governor Blagojevich was the most confused state leader in the Midwest.  But this chart, which lumps the idea of core knowledge in with 21st century skills, clearly illustrates that the Ohio Governor and the folks who advise him on education are at best deeply confused themselves–about the content of education.  No one who knows a lick about curriculum would put these two ideas together.

The organizations that represent these approaches-namely the Core Knowledge Foundation (CK) and the Partnership for 21st Century Skills (P21)-could not have values that are more opposed.  CK promotes, and  helps to deliver to thousands of students every year, a comprehensive knowledge-based curriculum.  CK believes that acquiring knowledge is the purpose of education.  P21, on the other hand, promotes the idea that schooling should primarily focus on the acquisition of certain skills-such as ingenuity and media savvy–and that those skills are best learned when they are divorced from content.

For the sake of Ohio’s students we hope the Governor and his advisors learn the difference between knowledge and skills.

Lynne Munson

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