Common Core State Standards- 21st Century Skills-Democratic Education!!??

[Mike]

Hi All... hope this finds everyone well as many of us move closer to the start of another school year... some thoughts and notes.........

This Common Core State Standards Initiative is a significant and historic opportunity for states to collectively accelerate and drive education reform toward the ultimate goal of all children graduating from high school ready for college, work, and success in the global economy.......

Washington, DC, July 27, 2009 – The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) applauds the Administration’s effort to use the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, including the Race to the Top fund (RTTT), to support a coordinated and deep-seeded reform agenda.

The Council welcomes President Obama's strong endorsement of the Common Core State Standards Initiative, as he called upon the 46 states already involved to complete their work and encouraged the four remaining states to join the initiative being spearheaded by CCSSO and the NGA Center for Best Practices. The Secretary’s $350 million set aside of RTTT funds to develop improved assessments aligned to the common core is the necessary next step in the initiative.

for more info go here:
http://www.corestandards.org/FAQ.htm

Framework for 21st Century Learning


The framework presents a holistic view of 21st century teaching and learning that combines a discrete focus on 21st century student outcomes (a blending of specific skills, content knowledge, expertise and literacies) with innovative support systems to help students master the multi-dimensional abilities required of them in the 21st century.

Why do students need 21st century skills?

Every child in American needs 21st century knowledge and skills to succeed as effective citizens, workers and leaders in the 21st century. There is a profound gap between the knowledge and skills most students learn in school and the knowledge and skills they need in typical 21st century communities and workplaces. To successfully face rigorous higher education coursework, career challenges and a globally competitive workforce, U.S. schools must align classroom environments with real world environments by infusing 21st century skills into their teaching and learning.



Are 21st Century Skills a key to a strong economy for the US?

Yes, most definitely. Twenty first century skills are key to improving our nation’s competitiveness a knowledge driven economy. Twenty first century skills are the lifeblood of a productive workforce in today's global, knowledge-based economy. As more of our economic competitors move to foster 21st century skills development within their educational systems, the United States faces a critical challenge to keep pace in preparing our students to meet the demands of global community and tomorrow’s workforce.
go here for more info.
http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/index.php?option=com_content&t...

hmmm....

Democratic Education.....

“A democratic education should enable all people to find out and act on who they are, what their passions, gifts, and talents may be, what they care about, and how they want to make a contribution to each other and the world.”
(Darling-Hammond in The Public Purposes of Education and Schooling 45)

One does not here much about democratic education in America.

Wondering why?

Wondering as you look at the Common Core Standards movement and the 21st century skills site.....

whats missing?

As you read Darling-Hammond's quote what comes to mind for you?

be well...... mike

[Vincent Mespoulet]

Dear Mike, thank you for this discussion about CCSSO... my opinion about a democratic education: This is an old and essential question, since the beginning of modern school in 19th century. My opinion: Schools are not democratic places, and it's not easy for teachers to teach the value of democracy inside a non-democratic place :) . So you can add and use high tech skills inside our schools in US or in Europe, nothing will change if you don"t change IN THE SAME TIME structures of the schools to give a decisionnal responsability to kids inside schools...

[Connie Weber]

Hi Mike,

Thank you for constantly keeping us informed about what's going on in US education's political front. From my studies of eras in education--and from living through many of the eras, it seems to me that this time, this NCLB-era, is the most constricted and narrow of all. There's a rigidity in how people are perceiving the purpose of education. The goal seems to be passing on boxed-up "knowledge bits" to students. That might not be so bad if there weren't so many (way too many to allow for real depth). There's too much teaching for the tests, too little engagement on the part of students (not surprising in the climate), and too many dropouts. There seems to be an underlying emphasis as well on not trusting the teachers to choose well and wisely how to move learning forth in their own particular contexts. There's a piling-on of teacher-proof and context-independent programs: recipe-learning.

What is happening to questioning, creativity, open-ended explorations, play, immersion in arts, mixed-age collaborations, student-driven learning? Why the emphasis on rigidity, on prescriptive learning? What's that going to do? Does that increase the professionalism, dedication, and engagement on the part of students or teachers?

And then there's what's happening in the ed schools. There's such a training going on, training for obedience, compliance, constant orienting around specified standards. It really troubles me to see that the youngest teachers of today are among the least innovative of all in recent decades. (This is not only my observation; many of these young teachers tell me they believe this too, and wonder that they're not being encouraged to develop their creative-innovative side, and in fact feel that that gets shut down in a lot of ed school classes and experiences.) How topsy-turvy is that, how strange? The young are supposed to be innovative; isn't that a natural inclination of the developmental age? Innovation in all sorts of primates, us included, most often gets generated by adolescents and young adults. But, huh... is that happening? I feel like an aberration, being an "old" innovator. And very much in the minority.

Ok, you got me going.

One suggestion, can you make it more clear when you're quoting an article--much of the above seems as if you wrote it, and I know you don't want people to think that... How about using quotes or italics for the words from an article?

I love Linda Darling-Hammond's quote you put in the forum. I love what Howard Gardner says, that education should be individualized and pluralized. I love Deb Meier's orientation, which is entirely around democracy in the schools--about empowering teachers and students to be the drivers in their own learning. (And check out that link to hear Deb Meier talk about common core standards...) The recent book by Ackoff and Greenberg, Turning Learning Right Side Up also speaks to me, I find that profoundly moving, even though Greenberg carries me out of my comfort zone.

You ask what's missing in common core standards, well, how much time do you have for an answer?

Oh, one more thing I have to add before I stop this rant for now: that term "21st-century skills," that term has been STOLEN and reworked in meaning... sneaky. In its origin as I understood it, it used to mean moving forth in futuristic, creative, collaborative ways, empowered by new tools and connectivity between learners. Now they're trying to get the phrase to convey something like economy-driven toolkits, skill-sets for workers for jobs. Not the kind of skills Wagner is talking about in The Global Achievement Gap (although we could argue about that) but the skills that lead to measurable, quantifiable numeric scores, simply couching the old as new. How sneaky, how misguided and misguiding.

I see a crash coming, do you? You know what the most common answer to "the sentence test" is? The test, given to students worldwide, is to finish this sentence: "School is__________________." The most common answer (by far) is "...boring." And so what do they do, the learners of this era? They do most of their important engaged learning OUTSIDE of school.

Instead of schooling becoming more open, inviting, engaging, lively, happy, collaborative, creative, and democratic in the digital, globalized world of today, it's becoming more rigid. Is it making itself obsolete? Will we find ways to bridge the increasingly sharp dichotomies between in-school and outside-of-school learning?

By the way, here's one of my next books, can't wait until it's out in September: Why School? by Mike Rose.

[Deborah Meier]

We are embarked on a radical change in our Constitutional divison of powers. There are a number of problems with our Constitution, but eliminating local controo over the education of minors is not one of them. As I suggested in an essay written for the Boston Review (and published with responses by Beacon as Will Standards Save Public Education?) there is a price t be paid every time we decide something is "too important" to be made by individuals or by those closest to the action, those most affected, etc. The price is almost always the healthy functioning of democracy. There are exceptions, of course. Plenty of them, but deciding on the inal one nd only TRUTH, is not one of them. There is no way for K-12 schooling not to be "political", not to be biased with regard to truth claims, as well as to moral claims. At best one hopes that there is sufficient balance between the biases of the family and school and society to allow room for each child's own point of view, distinct take on the world, and the possibility of change, growth and diversity. Th meaning of life, even the proper definition of what democracy means and requires cannot be "finally" settled. It's a continuous struggle, an endless exploration--because the idea is itself Utopian. Which does not mean we should give up on it--thus the wonderful Churchill quotation about the essential flawed nature of the concept of democracy--except when one considers the alternatives.

It's not enough to provide only private education as an alternative to a lively, contentious public space for the complex job of raising a generation of democracy-addicts--wth the habits of mind--openness and empathy--to sustain the struggle itself.

Nothing in this argument suggests we don't need math, science, history or the arts--and that they are no longer 2lst century *skills"; it doesn't even settle the the role of "facts" versus "ideas. But it affects the rationale for "academic" disciplines--and how they serve to strengthen or weaken both the academy and democratic society.

None of the shortcomings of education will be solved by a nation-wide curriculum measured by a nation-wide exam wih stakes--:accountability"-- attached. 18th, 19th and 20th century skills did not serve their times well either--after all "they" produced was that make all current wars minor skirmishes, as well as genocides of unbelievable proportions, and have left us a heritage of on ging poverty and a gap between the "haves" and "have-nots" at least as get as has ever existed--even in our on prosperous USA.

What is needed is a open-ended debate about purposes, in which we learn from each other rather than dictate to each other. We need local communities who undertake the complexity they face--as it affects many generations. When we give up on that, for all the good reasons we have to d so, we will find the road ahead more and more dificult an the defense of democracy harder and harder to defend.

We are on the edge of making a decision far more critical to our health than the one over health care, and we are making it in secret.

Deborah

[Mike]

"What the best and wisest parent wants for his own child, that must the community want for all of its children. Any other ideal for our schools is narrow and unlovely; acted upon it destroys our democracy." -John Dewey

Hi Deb... hope this finds you well!

Really amazing that i find myself so easily able to communicate with so many people these days!!

I have read your book for years.... so this is really very special to be able to hear your vocie here at Fireside!

I certainly agree with your assessment of our current reality.... you are correct...this is being done very much under the radar of most folks.

What the heck can average citizens do about it?

What might we be able to do as educators in this environment to push back?

Also Deb... if you have time.... whats going on with this group?

http://www.boldapproach.org/

Thanks for being here.... be well...mike

[Mike]

Obama Administration Announces Historic Opportunity to Turn Around Nation's Lowest-Achieving Public Schools
Secretary Duncan Announces $3.5 Billion in Title I School Improvement Grants to Fund Transformational Changes Where Children Have Long Been Underserved

FOR RELEASE:
August 26, 2009

Today, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced draft requirements for $3.5 billion in Title I School Improvement grants to turn around the nation's lowest performing schools.

“If we are to put an end to stubborn cycles of poverty and social failure, and put our country on track for long-term economic prosperity, we must address the needs of children who have long been ignored and marginalized in chronically low-achieving schools,” said Duncan, who made the announcement with U.S. Sen. Harry Reid at Harley Harmon Elementary School in Las Vegas. “States and school districts have an opportunity to put unprecedented resources toward reforms that would increase graduation rates, reduce dropout rates and improve teacher quality for all students, and particularly for children who most need good teaching in order to catch up.”


In its application to the state, each school district would be required to demonstrate its commitment to raising student achievement by implementing, in each Tier I and Tier II school, one of the following rigorous interventions:

( Menu of Interventions )

Turnaround Model – This would include among other actions, replacing the principal and at least 50 percent of the school's staff, adopting a new governance structure and implementing a new or revised instructional program.

Restart Model – School districts would close failing schools and reopen them under the management of a charter school operator, a charter management organization or an educational management organization selected through a rigorous review process. A restart school would be required to admit, within the grades it serves, any former student who wishes to attend.

School Closure – The district would close a failing school and enroll the students who attended that school in other high-achieving schools in the district.

Transformational Model – Districts would address four specific areas: 1) developing teacher and school leader effectiveness, which includes replacing the principal who led the school prior to commencement of the transformational model, 2) implementing comprehensive instructional reform strategies, 3) extending learning and teacher planning time and creating community-oriented schools, and 4) providing operating flexibility and sustained support.

Districts should choose the strategy that works best for each school. To ensure districts are choosing a variety of strategies, any district with nine or more schools in school improvement will not be allowed to use any single strategy in more than half of its schools.

Unbelievable really!!! These are the interventions that will turn it around.... yikes.

Just at a time when everyone is also in need of funds...perfect.

It is really dis-heartening that this is the Obama Plan.....

too bad...was hopeful of a very different approach to America's long standing problems of poverty, segregation and very un-equal playing fields....

takes me back here: http://firesidelearning.ning.com/forum/topics/1786468:Topic:32821

be well...mike

[Nathan Lowell]

Repainting the cat does nothing to improve his disposition.

[Vincent Mespoulet]

ok, Nathan, but can you give more details about your aphorism ?

[Nathan Lowell]

These aren't new things. They're rather disappointing old things.

Trying to improve the disposition of a painted cat is not served by repainting it - not even if you paint it a different color.

Trying to do the same things without actually accepting that what's wrong is not HOW you're doing it but WHAT you're doing leads to the same levels of disappointment.

[Vincent Mespoulet]

Dear Deborah, i like your text, it's great, i think i'll translate it in french as soon as possible :)

[Connie Weber]

This is a link to the essay Deborah referred to above:

"Educating a Democracy: Standards and the future of public education"

Here's a quote from Deborah Meier's essay:


"...the appeal to standards can mask and make way for other agendas: punishing kids, privatizing public education, giving up on equity.

I know how advocates of the movement to standardize standards will respond: 'Good reform ideas can always be misused. Our proposals are designed to help kids, save public education, and ensure equity.'

I disagree. Even in the hands of sincere allies of children, equity, and public education, the current push for far greater standardization than we’ve ever previously attempted is fundamentally misguided. It will not help to develop young minds, contribute to a robust democratic life, or aid the most vulnerable of our fellow citizens. By shifting the locus of authority to outside bodies, it undermines the capacity of schools to instruct by example in the qualities of mind that schools in a democracy should be fostering in kids–responsibility for one’s own ideas, tolerance for the ideas of others, and a capacity to negotiate differences. Standardization instead turns teachers and parents into the local instruments of externally imposed expert judgment. It thus decreases the chances that young people will grow up in the midst of adults who are making hard decisions and exercising mature judgment in the face of disagreements. And it squeezes out those schools and educators that seek to show alternate possibilities, to explore other paths.

The standardization movement is not based on a simple mistake. It rests on deep assumptions about the goals of education and the proper exercise of authority in the making of decisions– assumptions we ought to reject in favor of a different vision of a healthy democratic society. Drawing on my experience in schools in New York City and Boston, I show that this alternative vision isn’t utopian, even if it might be messy–as democracy is always messy."

Thank you Deborah, for joining in on the discussion here. We are thrilled to have your presence on Fireside. Thanks Mike, for starting and continuing the conversation, and nice to hear from Nathan and Vincent too.

[Vincent Mespoulet]

Here is a french translation/comment of the announcement:

déclaration d'Arne Duncan, secrétaire d'Etat à l'Education 26 août 2009/ School Revolution in US: the Annoucement of U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, August 26th

(english below)

On pourra dire ce que l'on voudra, mais il y a bien un mouvement de fond extrêmement impressionnant qui est en train de se passer sous nos yeux dans le monde de l'éducation aux Etats-Unis. Un au-delà de la réforme, un profond bouleversement structurel. J'en veux pour preuve les décisions prises par le ministère de l'éducation américain le 26 août 2009 pour moderniser l'école publique américaine avec une forte volonté politique d'éradiquer les disparités et les inégalités scolaires qui font passer pour une vraie plaisanterie les réformettes à répétitions que nous connaissons en France depuis 20 ans.

Quels sont les éléments essentiels de la déclaration du secrétaire d'Etat à l'éducation Arne Duncan ?

"Si nous voulons mettre fin au cercle vicieux de la pauvreté et de la fracture sociale, et mettre notre pays sur les rails d'une prospérité économique à long terme, nous devons répondre aux besoins des enfants qui ont été longtemps ignorés et marginalisés dans des écoles chroniquement de bas niveau", a déclaré Duncan, qui a fait cette déclaration avec le sénateur Harry reid à l'Ecole élementaire Harley Harmon de Las Vegas. " Les Etats et les districts scolaires ont l'occasion de disposer de ressources sans précédent pour mettre en place des réformes visant à accroitre les taux de réussite aux examens, réduire les taux d'abandon scolaire et améliorer la qualité de l'enseignement pour tous les étudiants, et particulièrement pour les enfants qui ont le plus besoin d'un bon encadrement pour rattraper leur retard."

Ce ne sont pas que des voeux pieux et des déclarations d'intention, car 3,5 milliards de $ sont posés sur la table par l'Etat fédéral pour atteindre les objectifs requis, puisés dans le budget du Title I School Improvement Grants et du American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)

Citation: La stratégie de l'administration Obama inclut: identifier et abonder les écoles de bas niveau dans chaque Etat ; soutenir seulement les interventions les plus rigoureuse qui sont porteuses de l'engagement d'améliorer rapidement la réussite et la culture scolaires ; fournir des ressources suffisantes sur plusieurs années pour réaliser ces interventions ; évaluer les progrès réalisés.

Pour identifier les écoles qui bénéficieront de cette aide massive, les Etats distingueront trois catégories. Mais c'est l'éventail des méthodes suivies qui est très originale:

Citation:

Chaque district scolaire sera tenu de démontrer son engagement pour élever la réussite scolaire en suivant l'une des méthodes d'intervention suivantes:

- Le Modèle de Retournement, qui inclue, parmi d'autres actions, le remplacement du principal et d'au moins 50 % du personnel, en adoptant une nouvelle structure d'administration et en mettant en place un programme d'enseignement entièrement nouveau ou au moins révisé.

- Le Modèle de Redémarrage: les districts scolaire qui fermeront des écoles pour les réouvrir sous la direction d'un opérateur scolaire sous statut, d'un organisme de direction sous statut ou d'une organisation de direction éducative, sélectionnés suivant un processus de sélection rigoureux. Une école en redémarrage sera tenue d'admettre, pour tous les niveaux scolaires, n'importe quel ex-élève qui souhaite s'inscrire.

- La Fermeture d'Ecole: le district pourra fermer une école en échec et inscrire les élèves qui y suivaient leur scolarité dans d'autres écoles de haut niveau du district.

- Le Modèle de Transformation: les districts pourront aborder quatre champs d'actions spécifiques: 1) développer l'efficacité de l'enseignement et de l'encadrement, ce qui inclut le remplacement du principal qui dirigeait l'école avant le commencement de la mise en oeuvre du modèle de transformation, 2) mettre en place des stratégies de réforme éducative publique , 3) étendre le temps d'apprentissage et d'enseignement, et créer des écoles sous un angle communautaire, 4) donner de la flexibilité opérationnelle et des dispositifs de soutien


Les districts devront choisir la stratégie qui fonctionne le mieux pour chaque école. Pour s'assurer que les districts choisiront une panoplie de stratégies, ceux qui ont au moins 9 écoles répondant aux critères ne seront pas autorisées d'utiliser une stratégie unique dans plus de la moitié de ces écoles.

D'autres dispositions de détails sont aussi prévues mais ce qu'il faut retenir, c'est que cet effort sans précédent s'inscrit dans un plan de trois ans, jusqu'au 30 septembre 2011.

On trouvera aussi sur cette pages quelques exemples précis de réalisations pilotes,

Traduction et commentaires: Vincent Mespoulet, pour l'Ecole Hors les Murs


Pour mieux connaître Arne Duncan, cette vidéo officielle de la Maison Blanche...