Assessment: A 21st Century Skills Implementation Guide Produced by To succeed in college, career and life inthe 21stcentury,studentsmustbesupportedinmasteringbothcontentandskills. ThisImplementationGuidepresentsstateleaders,policymakersand/ordistrict andschoolleaderswithassessmenttacticsandexamplestoassistinstatewide 21stcenturyskillsinitiatives.ThePartnershipfor21stCenturySkillshasissued fivebrief,user-friendlyguides,oneforeachoftheP21supportsystems: 1.Standards 2.Assessment 3.ProfessionalDevelopment 4.Curriculum&Instruction 5.LearningEnvironments Itisworthnotingthatthesesupportsystemsarenotmerelyends,butmeanstoagreatergoal—tohelpchildren developthecognitive,academic,emotionalandphysicalcompetenciestheyneedtosucceedin21stcenturylife. ThePartnershiprecognizesthattakinganaligned,comprehensiveapproachacrossallfivesupportsystemsisa significantchallengeforalleducators.TheImplementationGuideshavebeendevelopedtohelpsupportthis difficultwork.Whilenoteveryrecommendationandexamplewillapplytoeverystate,wehopetheresources willhelpjumpstarteffortstoproducemorecapable,successful21stcenturystudentsandcitizens. All 21st century skills initiatives must focus on: 1:CoreAcademicSubjectMastery Itisimportanttonotethatno21stcenturyskillsimplementationcanbesuccessfulwithoutdeveloping coreacademicsubjectknowledgeandunderstandingamongallstudents.Studentswhocanthink criticallyandcommunicateeffectivelymustbuildonabaseofcoreacademicsubjectknowledge.For thisreason,coreacademicsubjectsareabedrockcomponentoftheP21Frameworkfor21stCentury Learning.All21stcenturyskillscanandshouldbetaughtinthecontextofcoreacademicsubjects. 2:21stCenturySkillsOutcomes Inadditiontocoresubjectmastery,thePartnershipaskseverystate,districtandschoolthefollowing question:areschoolshelpingstudentsbecome... •Criticalthinkers? •Problemsolvers? •Goodcommunicators? •Goodcollaborators? •Informationandtechnologyliterate? •Flexibleandadaptable? •Innovativeandcreative? •Globallycompetent? •Financiallyliterate? TolearnmoreaboutthePartnership’sstateinitiatives,theFrameworkortheImplementationGuides, pleasevisitwww.21stcenturyskills.org. Partnership for 21st Century Skills • 177 N. Church Avenue, Suite 305 • Tucson,AZ 85701 • (520) 623-2466 Rationale Ournationfacesseriousquestionsinregardstooureducationalsystem.Thepurposeofthisdocumentisto provideyouwithperspectiveonthekeyissuestoconsider—asapolicymaker,asstateleader,asadistrictor schooladministrator—toensurethatyouareplanningforthefutureandbuildingstrategiesthatwillsolidify thesuccessofourstudents,notonlyinschoolandwork,butinlife. MostK-12assessmentsinwidespreadusetoday—whetherof21stcenturyskillsandcontentoroftraditional coresubjectareas—measureknowledgeofdiscretefacts,nottheabilitytoapplyknowledgeincomplex situations.Highstakesassessmentsalonedonotgenerateevidenceoftheskillsetsthatthebusinessand educationcommunitiesbelievewillensuresuccessinthe21stcentury. Vision Twenty-firstcenturyaccountabilitysystems—includingallformsofmeasurement—mustassessthekey dimensionsof21stcenturylearning;theymustmeasurethoseskillsnowprizedinacomplexglobal environment.Thereisgrowingconsensusthatoureducationsystemsshouldpursuemeasurementofstudent outcomesthatare: •Performance-based •Embeddedincurriculum •Basedonacommonevidentiarymodelofcognitionandlearning Eachoftheseapproachesinherentlysupportsthemeasurementof21stcenturyskills. Wemustimplement assessmentsthat appropriatelymeasure studentskillsandcontent knowledge.Such assessmentsmustbe meaningful,relevantand supportiveoflong-term successinthe21st century. Partnership for 21st Century Skills • 177 N. Church Avenue, Suite 305 • Tucson,AZ 85701 • (520) 623-2466 Guiding Recommendations,Promising Directions Thefollowingactionstepscanbetakentomovestates,districtsandschoolstowardsensuringthatournation’s studentswillbepreparedforsuccessinthe21stcentury. Guiding Recommendations Promising Directions #1:Buildmeasurementof21stcenturyskills •Migratesummativeassessmentsfromtherotememorizationto intolarge-scalesummativeassessments. higherlevelsofemphasisonhigher-orderskillslikecritical Assessmentsshouldincorporatebroaderuseof thinking. PromisingPractice:WestVirginiaisrevampingitssummative performance-basedmeasuresthatfocuson assessmentstoincorporatehigher-orderthinkingskills. higher-orderthinkingandmeasureskillssuchas: •Explorehowinformationtechnologycanbeincorporatedintothe •Criticalthinking country’s“goldstandard”forassessment. PromisingPractice: •Problemsolving ProblemSolvinginTechnology-RichEnvironments(TRE)project.The •Communicationskills NationalAssessmentofEducationalProgress(NAEP)testedscientific •ICTliteracy inquiryskills,suchastheabilitytofindinformationaboutagiventopic, •Informationliteracy judgewhatinformationisrelevant,planandconductexperiments, •Medialiteracy monitorone’sefforts,organizeandinterpretresults,andcommunicate acoherentinterpretation.1 Theassessmentdevelopmentprocessshouldbe collaborative,involvingnotonlyassessment •Engagestudentsinproblem-solvingtasksthatalignwithcore experts,butpractitioners,educationleadersand, subjectstandards.PromisingPractice:CalipersProject(NSF).Witha whereappropriate,outsidevendorswhoprovide focusonphysicalsciencestandardsrelatedtoforcesandmotionand assessment-relatedservicesandproducts. lifesciencesstandardsrelatedtopopulationsandecosystems,Calipers engagesstudentsinproblem-solvingtasks,suchasdeterminingthe properangleandspeedtorescueaninjuredskieronanicymountain.2 •Developstandards-based,balancedapproachestoassessmentthat allowstudentstodemonstratetheirknowledgethroughreal-world tasksandbuildingportfolios. PromisingPractice:TheOhioPerformance AssessmentPilotProjectisdesignedtosupporttheinitialresearch, developmentandpilottestingofastandards-based,balancedassessment approach,allowingstudentstodemonstratetheirknowledgeandskills throughvariousreal-worldtasksandactivities,thebuildingofportfolios andotherexercises.Thepilotprogramusesmultiplemeasurestoevaluate students.Bymonitoringeachschool’sprogramandreceivingfeedback fromteachersandadministrators,Ohiowillbegintodevelopmeasures thatofferamorecomprehensiveassessmentofacademicprogress.3 •Developevidentiarybasedassessmentsof21stcenturyskillsthat leverageperformancedataforcontinuouslyimprovedlearning. •PromisingPractice:theCollegeandWorkReadinessAssessment (CWRA)measureshowstudentsperformonconstructedresponse tasksthatrequireanintegratedsetofcriticalthinking,analytic reasoning,problemsolvingandwrittencommunicationskills. •PromisingPractice:UCLA’sIMMEX(InteractiveMulti-Media EXercises)http://www.immex.ucla.edu/ 1Tucker,Bill.BeyondtheBubble.Rep.Feb.2009.EducationSectorReports.http://www.educationsector.org/usr_doc/Beyond_the_Bubble.pdf. 2Ibid. 3OhioPerformanceAssessmentPilotProject."OhioDepartmentofEducation.30Dec.2008.19Feb.2009http://www.ode.state.oh.us. Partnership for 21st Century Skills • 177 N. Church Avenue, Suite 305 • Tucson,AZ 85701 • (520) 623-2466 Guiding Recommendations Promising Directions #2:Globallybenchmarksummative Althoughtheyarenotfullyinclusiveof21stcenturyskillsinallcases, assessments.WemustensurethatU.S.students PISAandTIMMSarethebestexamplesofthisasofthepublicationof arebeingmeasuredfortheirmasteryof21st thisdocument. centuryskillsinwaysthatallowcomparisonswith •ProgramforInternationalStudentAssessment(PISA)assesseshigh studentsfromothercountries.Tocompeteina schoolstudentsICTliteracythroughestablishingcurrentskilland globaleconomy,ourstudentsmustdemonstrate testingthroughvariousactivities.Performanceisassessedbasednot excellenceonaglobalscale,notjustalocalor onlyontheabilitytocompletetasks,butalsothemannerinwhich nationalscale. tasksarecompleted.http://www.pisa.oecd.org •TrendsinInternationalMathematicsandScienceStudy(TIMSS) providesreliableandtimelydataonthemathematicsandscience achievementofU.S.4th-and8th-gradestudentscomparedtothatof studentsinothercountries.http://nces.ed.gov/timss/ #3:Build21stcenturyskillsintoformative •Userubricstoevaluate21stcenturyskills. assessmentstrategies.Statesanddistricts •PromisingPractice:CatalinaFoothillsSchoolDistrictinArizona shouldprovideteacherswithrubricsand hasaseriesofrubricsusedtoassessstudentsinrealtime.Rubrics checklists—alongwiththenecessaryprofessional evaluate21stcenturyskillssuchascriticalthinking,productivity, development—toassessstudentmasteryof21st andself-direction. centuryskillsinwaysthatimpact,informand improvelearninginrealtime. •PromisingPractice:LawrenceTownshipofIndianacurrentlyuses rubricstoevaluateinteractivecommunicationandself-direction. •PromisingPractice:NewTechnologyHighSchoolhasimplemented rubricsforevaluatingpeercollaborationandteamwork,work ethicandwrittencommunication. •Developinnovativeperformance-basedmeasurements.Promising Practice:TheNorthCarolinaBusinessCommitteeforEducationandthe Centerfor21stCenturySkillsarecurrentlyenteringthesecondyearof workwiththeN.C.Science,MathematicsandTechnologyCenterand Dr.JohnBransfordoftheUniversityofWashingtontodevelopandpilot amultimediaonlineinteractivescenario-basedbiologyassessment. #4:Createanalignedaccountabilitysystem; Developvalid,reliableassessmentsalignedto21stcenturyskills allassessmentstrategiesshouldalignwith whoseresultscanbeusedtoinforminstructionandensure 21stcenturyskillsstandards,professional accountability.PromisingPractice:WestVirginiaisdevelopinganew developmentandcurriculumandinstruction. assessmentprogramtocreatevalidandreliableassessmentsthat1)are Thegoalhereistocreateanalignedsystemthat alignedtothe21stcenturyskilldescriptorsandstatecontentstandards enhancesstudentlearningandsatisfies andobjectives,2)informinstruction,3)promoteschoolimprovement accountabilityrequirements;forexample, and4)produceresultsthatcanbeusedtocalculateschool,countyand combininglarge-scaleandclassroomassessments stateaccountability. usingcurriculumembeddedperformancetasks allowseducatorsateveryleveltounderstandhow studentsareprogressingandwhy,andtousethis informationtoenhancestudentlearninginreal time.4 Assessmentstrategiesthatmeasure21st centuryskillsmustbedevelopedinconcertwith standards,curriculum,instructionandprofessional developmentapproaches. 4Darling-Hammond,Linda.PowerfulLearning:WhatWeKnowAboutTeachingforUnderstanding.SanFrancisco:JohnWiley&Sons,Inc.,2008.pps210-2-11. Partnership for 21st Century Skills • 177 N. Church Avenue, Suite 305 • Tucson,AZ 85701 • (520) 623-2466 Guiding Recommendations Promising Directions #5:ConsiderICTliteracyassessmentasa Assessstudentabilitiestonavigate,criticallyevaluateandmake startingpoint.ICTliteracyassessment,both senseofinformationavailablethroughdigitaltechnology.Promising formativeandsummative,providesaneffective Practices: startingpointformanystatesduetothefactthat •ETSiSkillsAssessmenthttp://www.ets.org/ictliteracy/ commercialtestingproductsarealreadyavailable. •[U.K.specific:]KeyStage3ICTLiteracyAssessment,GreatBritain •Learning.com’sTechLiteracyAssessment •PISAICTLiteracyAssessment #6:Encourageandfundresearchand PromisingPractice:AssessmentandTeachingof21stCenturySkillsisan developmentaround21stcenturyskills international,collaborativeeffortsponsoredbyCisco,Inteland assessment.Statedepartmentsofeducation, Microsoftintendedtoprovide:clear,operationaldefinitionsof21st stateuniversities,collegesofeducationandlike Centuryskills,solutionstotechnicalpsychometricproblemsthat institutionsshouldfocuseffortsonarigorous confrontthoseseekingtodeveloptestsoftheseskills,strategiesfor agendatoworkonandhavemajorcore deliveringassessmentsusingICT,andclassroom-basedstrategiesfor competenceinassessmentof21stcenturyskills. helpingstudentsdeveloptheskills.http://www.atc21s.org/ Theyshouldstrivetobuildfundamentalcenters ofexcellencearoundtheassessmentof21st PromisingPractice:TheEducationalTestingService’sCognitivelyBased centuryskills,includingnewitemtypesanduses Assessmentof,forandasLearning(CBAL)isatechnology-based oftechnology. researchprojectinPortland,Maine.Inschoolswithone-to-onelaptop programs,theprojectfocusesontheresearchanddevelopmentofa cognitivemodelforhowstudentsreadanddevelopreadingskills. #7:Createopenrepositoriesforassessment •Alignskillassessmentrubricswithbusinessexpectationsfor itemsandrubricsthathelpmeasure21st workplacereadiness.PromisingPractice:NewJerseyisincorporating centuryskills.Statedepartmentsofeducation 21stCenturyKnowledgeandSkillsintotheprotocolestablishedbythe shouldbecomerecognizedascentersof NJPerformanceAssessmentAllianceProject. excellenceformeasuring21stcenturyskills, •Collectandreviewexistingassessmenttoolstoformulatestate creatingopenrepositoriesforsharingassessment bestpractices. items,rubricsandpromisingpractices. •PromisingPractice:Massachusettsisreviewingrubricsforevaluating highschoolgraduationprojectsfromseveralotherstateswiththe goalofdevelopingtheirownrubricsbasedonstatestandardsand frameworks.Thesewillbesharedwithschoolsinordertoensure thateventhesefirst-stageassessmentsmeethighstandards. •PromisingPractice:in2004theECSNationalCenterforLearning andCitizenshipstartedcollecting,judgingandcodingexisting assessmentinstrumentsforciviceducation.TheCampaignforthe CivicMissionofSchoolsandtheCenterforCivicEducationhave contributedresourcestosupportthecreationofthisdraft database.http://www.ecs.org/Qna/splash_new.asp •Develophigh-qualityrubricsforself-direction,criticalthinking, informationliteracyandotherskillareas. •PromisingPractice:CatalinaFoothillsSchoolDistrict(Tucson,AZ) andLawrenceTownshipISD(IN)havedevelopedanumberofhigh- qualityrubricsfocusedonspecific21stcenturyskillareas.These canbelocatedonRoute21 (http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/route21/). Partnership for 21st Century Skills • 177 N. Church Avenue, Suite 305 • Tucson,AZ 85701 • (520) 623-2466 Resources Inadditiontothelistingsabove,ThePartnershipfor21stCenturySkillshascompiledthefollowinglistof resourcestoprovideyouwithbackgroundknowledge,modelsandpromisingpracticesinthevariousareasof assessment,aswellasalistofkeyexpertcontacts. EducationSector BillTuckerandElenaSilva http://www.educationsector.org Microsoft/Cisco/IntelAssessmentof21stCenturySkillsProject BobKozma http://www.atc21s.org TheNewTechnologyFoundation JamesPopham,DirectorofStrategicPlanninghttp://www.newtechfoundation.org BobPearlman,StrategyConsultantforEducationReformhttp://www.bobpearlman.org/ Route21:P21’sonlinedatabasethatincludesdistrict-createdrubricsforassessing21stcenturyskills. http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/route21/ TheSchoolRedesignNetwork RayPecheone,Director http://www.srnleads.org/ TheUniversityofWashington JohnBransford,ProfessorofEducationhttp://education.washington.edu Acompleteupdatedlistofavailablereferences,includingreports,stateinitiatives,whitepapersandmoreare availableatwww.21stcenturyskills.org. FreeWhitePaperon21stCenturySkillsAssessment Download“21stCenturySkillsAssessment”fromthePartnershipfor21stCenturySkillswebsiteat http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/documents/21st_century_skills_assessment.pdf. About the Partnership for 21st Century Skills ThePartnershipfor21stCenturySkillshasemergedastheleadingadvocacyorganizationfocusedoninfusing 21stcenturyskillsintoeducation.Theorganizationbringstogetherthebusinesscommunity,educationleaders andpolicymakerstodefineapowerfulvisionfor21stcenturyeducationtoensureeverychild'ssuccessas citizensandworkersinthe21stcentury.ThePartnershipencouragesschools,districtsandstatestoadvocatefor theinfusionof21stcenturyskillsintoeducationandprovidestoolsandresourcestohelpfacilitateanddrive change. Tolearnmoreabout21stcenturylearningandstateactionstodate,visitwww.21stcenturyskills.org. Copyright©2009.ThePartnershipfor21stCenturySkills.Allrightsreserved. Partnership for 21st Century Skills • 177 N. Church Avenue, Suite 305 • Tucson,AZ 85701 • (520) 623-2466