Partnership for 21st Century Skills Joins With 20 Organizations to Urge High School Reform Initiatives to Embrace 21st Century Learning Principles

NEW YORK, March 24 /PRNewswire/ -- The Partnership for 21st Century Skills and 20 leading advocacy groups, companies and education organizations released today a powerful set of principles for guiding high school redesign initiatives focused on a framework for 21st century learning. The "Principles for Connecting High School Reform and 21st Century Skills" outlines the beliefs that are critical to high school redesign that focuses on preparing students to be effective citizens in the new global economy.

The "Principles for Connecting High School Reform and 21st Century Skills" are:

  * Advocates of high school redesign and 21st century learning should work
    together to support each other's efforts.

  * High schools should prepare all students with 21st century knowledge and
    skills.

  * High schools students should demonstrate achievement of 21st century
    knowledge and skills.

  * High school designs should fully and strategically integrate 21st
    century knowledge, skills and assessments.

  * Professional development of 21st century skills is critical for success.

  * Advocates of high school redesign and 21st century learning should
    partner with the business community and community-based organizations.

These principles are included in a new national report released today by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, "Results That Matter: 21st Century Skills and High School Reform," that outlines a compelling framework for 21st century learning that focuses on the results that matter for today's high school graduates. According to the report, creating high schools that truly will improve learning, achievement and competencies demands a clear understanding of the knowledge, skills and attributes that are increasingly important for every high school student today.

U.S. students should be well prepared for citizenship, work and postsecondary education. Instead, nearly 40 percent of high school graduates feel inadequately prepared for college or the workplace, according to a 2004 report by the American Diploma Project and 84 percent of employers say K-12 schools are not doing a good job of preparing students for the workplace, according to a 2005 survey by the National Association of Manufacturers: 55 percent say schools are deficient in preparing students with basic employability skills (such as attendance, timeliness and work ethic); 51 percent cite math and science deficiencies; and 38 percent cite reading and comprehension deficiencies -- clear indications that our young people may struggle to thrive in an increasingly interdependent and competitive global economy.

"High schools must be designed, organized and managed with a relentless focus on the results that matter in the 21st century -- in addition to the traditional metrics of attendance, graduation and college matriculation rates -- or they risk missing the mark," said John Wilson, Chair, Partnership for 21st Century Skills and Executive Director of the National Education Association. "Traditional metrics are important, but they are no longer sufficient indicators of student preparedness."

The ultimate goals of advocates of high school reform and advocates of 21st century skills are the same: to prepare students to succeed and prosper in life, in school and on the job and to keep America competitive internationally.

"We believe that attaining 21st century knowledge and skills is an important new metric for judging students' success in high school," said Tom Houlihan, Executive Director, Council of Chief State School Officers. "Each of the organizations endorsing these principles is ready to work collaboratively with high school redesigners to help reach this expanded goal. We each have a unique and powerful set of resources to contribute. We believe that we cannot ignore the compelling need for 21st century learning, which has profound implications for the vision of tomorrow's high school."

The foundation of these principles was the outcome of the Partnership for 21st Century Skills' Third Annual Summit on 21st Century Skills in November where participants investigated and discussed how 21st century skills and high school reform intersect. Co-hosted by the Council of Chief State School Officers, Education Commission of the States, National Association of State Boards of Education, National School Board Association, Consortium for School Networking and U.S. Conference of Mayors, the Summit engaged 100 participants in meaningful dialogue and guided action plans to prepare students with the knowledge and skills that are valued in the world today.

The 20 leading organizations joining The Partnership for 21st Century Skills in endorsing the principles include: Consortium for School Networking (CoSN), Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), Council on Aid to Education, Education Commission of the States (ECS), Education Development Center, Inc., Forum for Youth Investment, National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE), National School Boards Association (NSBA), NetDay, New Technology Foundation, North American Council for Online Learning (NACOL), North Carolina Business Committee for Education, North Carolina New Schools Project, North Carolina State Board of Education, North Central Association, Southern Association for Colleges and Schools, Roads to Success, State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA), United States Conference of Mayors and the West Virginia Department of Education.

For a complete overview of the "Principles for Connecting High School Reform and 21st Century Skills" visit http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/.

About the Partnership for 21st Century Skills

The Partnership for 21st Century Skills has emerged as the leading advocacy organization focused on infusing 21st century skills into education. The organization brings together the business community, education leaders, and policymakers to define a powerful vision for 21st century education and to ensure that students emerge from our schools with the skills needed to be effective citizens, workers and leaders in the 21st century.

The Partnership for 21st Century skills is comprised of 26 member organizations including Adobe Systems Incorporated, Agilent Technologies Foundation, American Association of School Librarians, American Federation of Teachers, Apple, Bell South Foundation, Cable in the Classroom, Cisco Systems, Inc., Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Dell Inc., ETS, Ford Motor Company Fund, Intel Corporation, JA Worldwide, LeapFrog SchoolHouse, McGraw-Hill Education, Microsoft Corporation, National Education Association, Oracle Education, Pearson Education, SAP, SAS, Texas Instruments Incorporated, Thomson Gale, Time Warner, Inc. and Verizon. Corporations and institutions interested in joining the Partnership may contact info@21stcenturyskills.org or visit the Partnership's website at http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/.

Based in Washington, DC and Tucson, Arizona, the Partnership for 21st Century Skills is administered by Infotech Strategies. The Partnership for 21st Century Skills is a tax-exempt 501 (c) 3 organization.