Guest Opinion: Schools must foster new kind of thinking

Everyone agrees that Arizona children need to graduate prepared to succeed in postsecondary education, the work force and society.

But what does that demand of school systems, especially when capabilities required today are so different than those just a generation ago?

In a recent national poll, Americans overwhelmingly agreed that today's students need more than basic skills to compete in the new global marketplace.

They need to be effective communicators, creative thinkers, problem solvers and innovators, and they must have global awareness.

In 2006, Arizona ranked 17th among the 50 states for total exports but sixth for high-tech exports.

Our future clearly is embedded in the increasingly global economy.

It's critical that Arizonans understand the additional skills and knowledge today's students need so they will support policies and provide resources to produce them.

That's why more than 250 notable Arizonans participated in the first Arizona Summit on 21st Century Skills, held in October at the University of Arizona.

The summit was convened by Gov. Janet Napolitano's P-20 Council, which works to align preschool through postsecondary education; UA's College of Education; and the Tucson-based Partnership for 21st Century Skills, the nation's leading advocacy organization for infusing such skills into education.

The diverse public policy, education, business and community stakeholders agreed that core subjects such as English, mathematics, science, history and the arts are vitally important.

But they also agreed that new types of knowledge and skills are increasingly critical in higher education, businesses and communities.

Our students need to be self-directed and motivated, capable of learning on their own once they leave school. And they need to acquire new literacies, such as health, financial and media literacy.

The Partnership's Framework for 21st Century Learning outlines the skills, knowledge and expertise that must be mastered to compete globally and become successful 21st century citizens.

It also cites the support systems that schools need to produce 21st century teaching and learning.

The Partnership's Framework outlines the need for standards, assessments, curriculum, instruction, professional development and learning environments, all aligned to ensure 21st century outcomes.

The summit resulted in a report highlighting elements of an effective, 21st century education system, with recommendations for producing graduates with the right skills.

The skills must be embedded into professional development, integrated into assessments and infused into youth development.

Teacher preparation, likewise, must be aligned.

Recommendations will be to:

• Develop regional professional development centers or partnerships to build 21st century knowledge and skills for Arizona's educators and school administrators.

• Collaborate with state, schools, districts, higher education and community groups to create and implement assessments that measure 21st century skills, including problem solving, critical thinking, work ethic, communication and collaboration.

• Make critical thinking and problem solving a focus of teacher preparation.

• Ensure that 21st century skills are a core component of youth development activities statewide.

But the summit was not all theory and policy. The ground-breaking work of the Catalina Foothills School District served as a model of how to produce these outcomes.

Catalina Foothills has made a broad commitment to 21st century teaching and learning by revising curriculum, developing new rubrics for assessment and using a teacher compensation package tied to such skills.

The Arizona Summit signals a new awareness and dedication to incorporating 21st century skills and content into our state's education system.

So where do we go from here? It's our goal that the summit report and recommendations be embraced by the governor and her P-20 Council and guide their education policy recommendations.

We urge the P-20 Council to act decisively and with haste.