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Summary
A
mericans have long recognized that investments in public education
contribute to the common good, enhancing national prosperity and
supporting stable families, neighborhoods, and communities. Edu-
cation is even more critical today, in the face of economic, environmental,
and social challenges. Today's children can meet future challenges if their
schooling and informal learning activities prepare them for adult roles as
citizens, employees, managers, parents, volunteers, and entrepreneurs. To
achieve their full potential as adults, young people need to develop a range
of skills and knowledge that facilitate mastery and application of English,
mathematics, and other school subjects. At the same time, business and
political leaders are increasingly asking schools to develop skills such as
problem solving, critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and self-
management--often referred to as "21st century skills."
Private foundations, policy makers, and education organizations use a
variety of names for the lists of broad skills seen as valuable. To help the
public understand the research related to the teaching and learning of such
skills, several foundations charged the National Research Council (NRC)
to:
· Define the set of key skills that are referenced by the labels "deeper
learning," "21st century skills," "college and career readiness," "stu-
dent centered learning," "next generation learning," "new basic skills,"
and "higher order thinking." These labels are typically used to in-
clude both cognitive and noncognitive skills--such as critical thinking,
problem solving, collaboration, effective communication, motivation,
1
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2 EDUCATION FOR LIFE AND WORK
persistence, and learning to learn that can be demonstrated within core
academic content areas and that are important to success in education,
work, and other areas of adult responsibility. The labels are also some-
times used to include other important capacities--such as creativity,
innovation, and ethics--that are important to later success and may
also be developed in formal or informal learning environments.
· Describe how these skills relate to each other and to more traditional
academic skills and content in the key disciplines of reading, mathemat-
ics, and science. In particular, consider these skills in the context of the
work of the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief
State School Officers in specifying Common Core State Standards for
English language arts and mathematics, and the work of the NRC in
specifying A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Cross-
cutting Concepts, and Core Ideas (hereafter referred to as the NRC
science framework).
· Summarize the findings of the research that investigates the importance
of such skills to success in education, work, and other areas of adult
responsibility and that demonstrates the importance of developing these
skills in K-16 education.
· Summarize what is known--and what research is needed--about how
these skills can be learned, taught, and assessed. This summary should
include both the cognitive foundations of these skills in learning theory
and research about effective approaches to teaching and learning these
skills, including approaches using digital media.
· Identify features of educational interventions that research suggests
could be used as indicators that an intervention is likely to develop the
key skills in a substantial and meaningful way. In particular, for learn-
ing in formal school-based environments, identify features related to
learning these skills in educational interventions in (a) teacher profes-
sional development, (b) curriculum, and (c) assessment. For learning
in informal environments, identify features related to learning these
skills in educational interventions in (d) after-school and out-of-school
programs and (e) exhibits, museums, and other informal learning cen-
ters. For learning in both formal and informal environments, identify
features related to learning these skills in education interventions in (f)
digital media.
In approaching this charge, the committee drew on a large research
base in cognitive, developmental, educational, organizational, and social
psychology and economics for purposes of clarifying and organizing con-
cepts and terms. However, we do not claim to provide precise, scientifically
credible definitions of all the various terms that have come to populate
this arena of concern and debate. This is due partly to the time constraints
of the project and partly to the lack of definitive research on the range of
skills and behaviors that have come to fall under the headings of "deeper
learning" and "21st century skills." That said, the committee took initial
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SUMMARY 3
steps toward clarifying the meaning of the term "deeper learning" and its
relationship to competency clusters that capture various terms associated
with the overarching label 21st century skills. In contrast to a view of 21st
century skills as general skills that can be applied to a range of different
tasks in various academic, civic, workplace, or family contexts, the com-
mittee views 21st century skills as dimensions of expertise that are specific
to--and intertwined with--knowledge within a particular domain of con-
tent and performance. To reflect our view that skills and knowledge are
intertwined, we use the term "competencies" rather than "skills."
CLARIFYING AND ORGANIZING CONCEPTS AND TERMS
The committee views the various sets of terms associated with the 21st
century skills label as reflecting important dimensions of human compe-
tence that have been valuable for many centuries, rather than skills that
are suddenly new, unique, and valuable today. The important difference
across time may lie in society's desire that all students attain levels of
mastery--across multiple areas of skill and knowledge--that were previ-
ously unnecessary for individual success in education and the workplace. At
the same time, the pervasive spread of digital technologies has increased the
pace at which individuals communicate and exchange information, requir-
ing competence in processing multiple forms of information to accomplish
tasks that may be distributed across contexts that include home, school, the
workplace, and social networks.
As a way to organize the various terms for 21st century skills and
provide a starting point for further research as to their meaning and value,
the committee identified three broad domains of competence--cognitive,
intrapersonal, and interpersonal. The cognitive domain involves reasoning
and memory; the intrapersonal domain involves the capacity to manage
one's behavior and emotions to achieve one's goals (including learning
goals); and the interpersonal domain involves expressing ideas, and in-
terpreting and responding to messages from others. We then conducted a
content analysis, aligning several lists of 21st century skills proposed by
various groups and individuals with the skills included in existing research-
based taxonomies of cognitive, intrapersonal, and interpersonal skills and
abilities.1 Through this process, we assigned the various 21st century skills
to clusters of competencies within each domain. Recognizing that there
are areas of overlap between and among the individual 21st century skills
1The committee views the abilities included in these taxonomies as malleable dimensions of
human behavior that can change in response to educational interventions and life experiences,
in contrast to the common view of them as fixed traits.
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4 EDUCATION FOR LIFE AND WORK
and the larger competency clusters, the committee developed the following
initial classification scheme (see Chapter 2):
· The Cognitive Domain includes three clusters of competencies:
cognitive processes and strategies, knowledge, and creativity. These
clusters include competencies, such as critical thinking, information
literacy, reasoning and argumentation, and innovation.
· The Intrapersonal Domain includes three clusters of competencies:
intellectual openness, work ethic and conscientiousness, and posi-
tive core self-evaluation. These clusters include competencies, such
as flexibility, initiative, appreciation for diversity, and metacogni-
tion (the ability to reflect on one's own learning and make adjust-
ments accordingly).
· The Interpersonal Domain includes two clusters of competencies:
teamwork and collaboration and leadership. These clusters include
competencies, such as communication, collaboration, responsibil-
ity, and conflict resolution.
IMPORTANCE OF 21ST CENTURY COMPETENCIES
The committee examined evidence of the importance of various types of
competencies for success in education, work, health, and other life contexts
(see Chapter 3) and concluded:
· Conclusion: The available research evidence is limited and primar-
ily correlational in nature; to date, only a few studies have dem-
onstrated a causal relationship between one or more 21st century
competencies and adult outcomes. The research has examined a
wide range of different competencies that are not always clearly
defined or distinguished from related competencies.
Despite the limitations of the research evidence, the committee was able
to reach three conclusions about the importance of various competencies:
· Conclusion: Cognitive competencies have been more extensively
studied than have intrapersonal and interpersonal competencies,
showing consistent, positive correlations (of modest size) with de-
sirable educational, career, and health outcomes. Early academic
competencies are also positively correlated with these outcomes.
· Conclusion: Among intrapersonal and interpersonal competencies,
conscientiousness (staying organized, responsible, and hardwork-
ing) is most highly correlated with desirable educational, career,
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SUMMARY 5
and health outcomes. Antisocial behavior, which has both intra-
personal and interpersonal dimensions, is negatively correlated
with these outcomes.
· Conclusion: Educational attainment--the number of years a per-
son spends in school--strongly predicts adult earnings and also
predicts health and civic engagement. Moreover, individuals with
higher levels of education appear to gain more knowledge and
skills on the job than do those with lower levels of education,
and to be able, to some extent, to transfer what they learn across
occupations. Since it is not known what mixture of cognitive, in-
trapersonal, and interpersonal competencies accounts for the labor
market benefits of additional schooling, promoting educational at-
tainment itself may constitute a useful complementary strategy for
developing 21st century competencies.
At a time when educational and business leaders are increasingly in-
terested in promoting deeper learning and development of 21st century
skills, and in light of limitations of the available empirical evidence linking
such competencies with desirable adult outcomes, we recommend further
research:
· Recommendation 1: Foundations and federal agencies should sup-
port further research designed to increase our understanding of
the relationships between 21st century competencies and success-
ful adult outcomes. To provide stronger causal evidence about
such relationships, the programs of research should move beyond
simple correlational studies to include more longitudinal studies
with controls for differences in individuals' family backgrounds
and more studies using statistical methods that are designed to ap-
proximate experiments. Such research would benefit from efforts
to achieve common definitions of 21st century competencies and
an associated set of activities designed to produce valid and reliable
assessments of the various individual competencies.
PERSPECTIVES ON DEEPER LEARNING
We define "deeper learning" as the process through which an individual
becomes capable of taking what was learned in one situation and applying
it to new situations (i.e., transfer). Through deeper learning (which often
involves shared learning and interactions with others in a community), the
individual develops expertise in a particular domain of knowledge and/
or performance (see Chapters 4 and 5). The product of deeper learning
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6 EDUCATION FOR LIFE AND WORK
is transferable knowledge, including content knowledge in a domain and
knowledge of how, why, and when to apply this knowledge to answer
questions and solve problems. We refer to this blend of both knowledge
and skills as "21st century competencies." The competencies are structured
around fundamental principles of the content area and their relationships
rather than disparate, superficial facts or procedures. It is the way in which
the individual and community structures and organizes the intertwined
knowledge and skills--rather than the separate facts or procedures per
se--that supports transfer. While other types of learning may allow an in-
dividual to recall facts, concepts, or procedures, deeper learning allows the
individual to transfer what was learned to solve new problems.
The new Common Core State Standards in English language arts and
mathematics and the NRC science framework are likely to strongly influ-
ence educational policy and practice in the coming decades. The committee
reviewed these documents and compared them with our definition of deeper
learning and with recent lists of 21st century skills, revealing important
areas of overlap. The goals included in the new standards and the NRC
science framework reflect each discipline's desire to promote deeper learn-
ing and develop transferable knowledge and skills within that discipline.
For example, both the mathematics standards and the science framework
include a "practices" dimension, calling for students to actively use and
apply--i.e., to transfer--knowledge, and the English language arts stan-
dards call on students to synthesize and apply evidence to create and ef-
fectively communicate an argument. Our review leads to three conclusions
(see Chapter 5):
· Conclusion: Goals for deeper learning and some 21st century com-
petencies are found in standards documents, indicating that disci-
plinary goals have expanded beyond their traditional focus on basic
academic content. A cluster of cognitive competencies--including
critical thinking, nonroutine problem solving, and constructing and
evaluating evidence-based arguments--is strongly supported across
all three disciplines.
· Conclusion: Coverage of other competencies--particularly those
in the intrapersonal and interpersonal domains--is uneven. For
example, standards documents across all three disciplines include
discourse and argumentation (which includes both cognitive and
interpersonal facets), but the disciplines differ in their view of what
counts as evidence and the rules of argumentation. This uneven
coverage could potentially lead to learning environments for dif-
ferent subjects that vary in their support for development of 21st
century competencies.
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SUMMARY 7
· Conclusion: Development of the full range of 21st century com-
petencies within the disciplines will require systematic instruction
and sustained practice. It will be necessary to devote additional
instructional time and resources to advance these sophisticated dis-
ciplinary learning goals over what is common in current practice.
The standards and framework documents demonstrate each discipline's
desire to develop skills and knowledge that will transfer beyond the class-
room. However, the goals for transfer are specific to each discipline. For
example, the NRC science framework aims to prepare high school gradu-
ates to engage in public discussions on science-related issues and to be
critical consumers of scientific information. Research is lacking on how to
help learners transfer competencies learned in one discipline or topic area
outside the discipline or topic area:
· Conclusion: Teaching for transfer within each discipline aims to
increase transfer within that discipline. Research to date provides
little guidance about how to help learners aggregate transferable
competencies across disciplines. This may be a shortcoming in the
research or a reflection of the domain-specific nature of transfer.
To fill this gap, we recommend further research:
· Recommendation 2: Foundations and federal agencies should sup-
port programs of research designed to illuminate whether, and to
what extent, teaching for transfer within an academic discipline
can facilitate transfer across disciplines.
Deeper learning can be supported through teaching practices that create
a positive learning community in which students gain content knowledge
and also develop intrapersonal and interpersonal competencies. For exam-
ple, an integrated science-literacy curriculum was tested in 94 fourth-grade
classrooms in one southern state. The curriculum combined collaborative,
hands-on science inquiry activities with reading text, writing notes and
reports, and small group discussions. When teachers were randomly as-
signed to either implement the integrated curriculum or to teach science
and literacy separately (using their regular materials), students exposed
to the integrated curriculum demonstrated significantly greater gains on
measures of science understanding, science vocabulary, and science writ-
ing. At the same time, the students developed the intrapersonal compe-
tencies of oral communication and discourse, as well as the interpersonal
competencies of metacognition and positive dispositions toward learning
(see Chapter 5). Other research also illuminates how intrapersonal and
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8 EDUCATION FOR LIFE AND WORK
interpersonal competencies support deeper learning of school subjects. For
example, the process of deeper learning to develop expertise in a domain of
knowledge and performance requires months, or even years, of sustained,
deliberate practice; such sustained effort is supported by the intrapersonal
competency of conscientiousness. Development of expertise also requires
feedback to guide and optimize practice activities and an individual with
strong interpersonal skills will best understand and apply such feedback.
Metacognition--the ability to reflect on one's own learning and make ad-
justments accordingly--also enhances deeper learning. We conclude (see
Chapter 4):
· Conclusion: The process of deeper learning is essential for the
development of transferable 21st century competencies (including
both knowledge and skills), and the application of 21st century
competencies in turn supports the process of deeper learning, in a
recursive, mutually reinforcing cycle.
INSTRUCTIONAL FEATURES FOR DEEPER LEARNING
The committee's review of the evidence on teaching and learning of
cognitive, intrapersonal, and interpersonal competencies supported the fol-
lowing conclusion (see Chapter 6):
· Conclusion: Although the absence of common definitions and qual-
ity measures poses a challenge to research, emerging evidence indi-
cates that cognitive, intrapersonal, and interpersonal competencies
can be taught and learned in ways that promote transfer.
The most extensive and rigorous research related to deeper learn-
ing comes from the learning sciences. Although this research has focused
on acquisition of cognitive knowledge and skills, it indicates that deeper
learning and complex problem solving involves the interplay of cognitive,
intrapersonal, and interpersonal competencies. Over a century of research
on transfer has yielded little evidence that teaching can develop general
cognitive competencies that are transferable to any new discipline, prob-
lem, or context, in or out of school. Nevertheless, it has identified features
of instruction that are likely to substantially support deeper learning and
development of 21st century competencies within a topic area or disci-
pline. For example, we now know that transfer is supported when learners
understand the general principles underlying their original learning and
the transfer situation or problem involves the same general principles--a
finding reflected in the new Common Core State Standards and the NRC
science framework, which highlight learning of general principles. Similarly,
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SUMMARY 9
in solving problems, transfer is facilitated by instruction that helps learners
develop deep understanding of the structure of a problem domain and ap-
plicable solution methods, but is not supported by rote learning of solutions
to specific problems or problem-solving procedures. This kind of deep, well-
integrated learning develops gradually and takes time, but it can be started
early: recent evidence indicates that even preschool and early elementary
students can make meaningful progress in conceptual organization, reason-
ing, problem solving, representation, and communication in well-chosen
topic areas in science, mathematics, and language arts. In addition, teaching
that emphasizes the conditions for applying a body of factual or procedural
knowledge also facilitates transfer.
For instruction focused on development of cognitive competencies,
whether delivered within or outside of school, and irrespective of support
by digital media, the committee recommends (see Chapter 6):
· Recommendation 3: Designers and developers of instruction tar-
geted at deeper learning and development of transferable 21st
century competencies should begin with clearly delineated learning
goals and a model of how learning is expected to develop, along
with assessments to measure student progress toward and attain-
ment of the goals. Such instruction can and should begin with the
earliest grades and be sustained throughout students' K-12 careers.
· Recommendation 4: Funding agencies should support the devel-
opment of curriculum and instructional programs that include
research-based teaching methods, such as:
o Using multiple and varied representations of concepts and
tasks, such as diagrams, numerical and mathematical repre-
sentations, and simulations, combined with activities and guid-
ance that support mapping across the varied representations.
o Encouraging elaboration, questioning, and explanation--for
example, prompting students who are reading a history text
to think about the author's intent and/or to explain specific
information and arguments as they read--either silently to
themselves or to others.
o Engaging learners in challenging tasks, while also support-
ing them with guidance, feedback, and encouragement to re-
flect on their own learning processes and the status of their
understanding.
o Teaching with examples and cases, such as modeling step-by-
step how students can carry out a procedure to solve a problem
and using sets of worked examples.
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10 EDUCATION FOR LIFE AND WORK
o Priming student motivation by connecting topics to students'
personal lives and interests, engaging students in collaborative
problem solving, and drawing attention to the knowledge and
skills students are developing, rather than grades or scores.
o Using formative assessment to: (a) make learning goals clear
to students; (b) continuously monitor, provide feedback, and
respond to students' learning progress; and (c) involve students
in self- and peer assessment.
For instruction focused on development of problem-solving and meta-
cognitive competencies, the committee recommends (see Chapter 6):
· Recommendation 5: Designers and developers of curriculum, in-
struction, and assessment in problem solving and metacognition
should use modeling and feedback techniques that highlight the
processes of thinking rather than focusing exclusively on the prod-
ucts of thinking. Problem-solving and metacognitive competencies
should be taught and assessed within a specific discipline or topic
area rather than as a stand-alone course. Teaching and learning of
problem-solving and metacognitive competencies need not wait un-
til all of the related component competencies have achieved fluency.
Finally, sustained instruction and effort are necessary to develop
expertise in problem solving and metacognition; there is no simple
way to achieve competence without time, effort, motivation, and
informative feedback.
Research on teaching and learning of competencies in the intrapersonal
and interpersonal domains is less extensive and less rigorous than the re-
search on deeper learning of cognitive knowledge and skills. Our review
of the emerging research on these domains, as well as the more extensive
cognitive research, suggests that the instructional features supporting de-
velopment of transferable competencies in the cognitive domain may also
support transfer in these domains (see Chapter 6):
· Conclusion: The instructional features listed above, shown by re-
search to support the acquisition of cognitive competencies that
transfer, could plausibly be applied to the design and implementa-
tion of instruction that would support the acquisition of transfer-
able intrapersonal and interpersonal competencies.
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SUMMARY 11
To test this hypothesis, the committee recommends further research:
· Recommendation 6: Foundations and federal agencies should sup-
port research programs designed to fill gaps in the evidence base
on teaching and assessment for deeper learning and transfer. One
important target for future research is how to design instruction
and assessment for transfer in the intrapersonal and interpersonal
domains. Investigators should examine whether, and to what ex-
tent, instructional design principles and methods shown to increase
transfer in the cognitive domain, are applicable to instruction tar-
geted to the development of intrapersonal and interpersonal com-
petencies. Such programs of research would benefit from efforts
to specify more uniform, clearly defined constructs and produce
associated measures of cognitive, intrapersonal, and interpersonal
competencies.
OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES
Current educational policies and associated accountability systems rely
on assessments that focus primarily on recall of facts and procedures, pos-
ing a challenge to wider teaching and learning of transferable 21st century
competencies. However, recent policy developments offer opportunities to
address this challenge (see Chapter 7). In particular, as noted above, the
Common Core State Standards and the NRC science framework provide a
deeper conceptualization of the knowledge and skills to be mastered in each
discipline, including various facets of 21st century competencies.
While new national goals that encompass 21st century competencies
have been articulated in the standards and the NRC science framework,
the extent to which these goals are realized in educational settings will be
strongly influenced by the nature of their inclusion in district, state, and
national assessments. Because educational policy emphasizes the results of
summative assessments within accountability systems, teachers and admin-
istrators will focus instruction on what is included in state assessments.
Thus, as new assessment systems are developed to reflect the new standards
in English language arts, mathematics, and science, significant attention will
need to be given to the design of tasks and situations that call on students
to apply a range of 21st century competencies that are relevant to each
discipline.
Although improved assessments would facilitate wider uptake of in-
terventions that support the process of deeper learning, developing such
assessments faces several challenges. First, research to date has focused
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12 EDUCATION FOR LIFE AND WORK
on a plethora of different constructs in the cognitive, intrapersonal, and
interpersonal domains. Our taxonomy offers a useful starting point, but
further research is needed to more carefully organize, align, and define these
constructs. Second, there are psychometric challenges. Progress has been
made in assessing a range of simple and complex cognitive competencies,
yet much further research is needed to develop assessments of intrapersonal
and interpersonal competencies. Such research should initially focus on
developing assessments for research purposes, and later on assessments
for formative purposes. If these efforts are successful, then summative as-
sessments of intrapersonal and interpersonal competencies could possibly
be developed for later use in educational settings. Experiences during the
1980s and 1990s in the development and implementation of performance
assessments and assessments with open-ended tasks offer valuable insights,
but assessments must be reliable, valid, and fair if they are to be widely
used in formal and informal learning environments.
A third challenge is posed by political and economic forces that influ-
ence assessment development and use. Policy makers have favored stan-
dardized, on-demand, end-of-year tests that are easily scored and quantified
for accountability purposes. Composed largely of selected response items,
these tests are relatively cheap to implement but are not optimal for assess-
ing 21st century competencies (see Chapter 7). In the face of current fiscal
constraints at the federal and state levels, assessment systems may seek to
minimize costs by using these types of tests, rather than incorporating the
richer, performance- and curriculum-based assessments that can better sup-
port the development and assessment of 21st century competencies.
The fourth challenge is teacher capacity. The principles of instruction
we outline above are rarely reflected in the knowledge and practices of
teachers, students, and school administrators and in administrators' ex-
pectations of teachers and teacher evaluation rubrics. Teacher preparation
programs will need to help teacher candidates develop specific visions of
teaching and learning for transfer and also the knowledge and skills to put
these visions into practice. Both novice and experienced teachers will need
time to develop new understandings of the subjects they teach as well as
understanding of how to assess 21st century competencies in these subjects,
making ongoing professional learning opportunities a central facet of every
teacher's job. Certainly, teachers will need support from administrators as
they struggle with the complexity and uncertainty of revising their teaching
practice within the larger effort to institutionalize a focus on deeper learn-
ing and effective transfer.
· Recommendation 7: Foundations and federal agencies should sup-
port research to more clearly define and develop assessments of 21st
century competencies. In particular, they should provide sustained
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SUMMARY 13
support for the development of valid, reliable, and fair assess-
ments of intrapersonal and interpersonal competencies, initially
for research purposes, and later for formative assessment. Pending
the results of these efforts, foundations and agencies should con-
sider support for development of summative assessments of these
competencies.
Two large consortia of states, with support from the U.S. Depart-
ment of Education, are currently developing new assessment frameworks
and methods aligned with the Common Core State Standards in English
language arts and mathematics. If these assessment frameworks include
the facets of 21st century competencies represented in the Common Core
State Standards, they will provide a strong incentive for states, districts,
schools, and teachers to emphasize these competencies as part of disciplin-
ary instruction. Next Generation Science Standards based on the NRC
science framework are under development, and assessments aligned with
these standards have not yet been created. When new science assessments
are developed, inclusion of facets of 21st century competencies will pro-
vide a similarly strong incentive for states, districts, schools, and teachers
to emphasize those facets in classroom science instruction (see Chapter 7).
· Recommendation 8: As the state consortia develop new assessment
systems to reflect the Common Core State Standards in English
language arts and mathematics, they should devote significant at-
tention to the design of tasks and situations that call upon a range
of important 21st century competencies as applied in each of the
major content areas.
· Recommendation 9: As states and test developers begin to create
new assessment systems aligned with new science standards, they
should devote significant attention to designing measures of 21st
century competencies properly reflecting a blend of science prac-
tices, crosscutting concepts, and core ideas.
Because 21st century competencies support deeper learning of school
subjects, their widespread acquisition could potentially reduce disparities
in educational attainment, preparing a broader swathe of young people
for successful adult outcomes at work and in other life arenas. However,
important challenges remain. For educational interventions focused on
developing transferable competencies to move beyond isolated promising
examples and flourish more widely in K-12 schooling, larger systemic is-
sues and policies involving curriculum, instruction, assessment, and pro-
fessional development will need to be addressed. In particular, new types
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14 EDUCATION FOR LIFE AND WORK
of assessment systems, capable of accurately measuring and supporting
acquisition of these competencies, will be needed. A sustained program of
research and development will be required to create assessments that are
capable of measuring cognitive, intrapersonal, and interpersonal compe-
tencies. In addition, it will be important for researchers and publishers to
develop new curricula that incorporate the research-based design principles
and instructional methods we describe above. Finally, new approaches to
teacher preparation and professional development will be needed to help
current and prospective teachers understand these instructional principles
and methods, as well as the role of deeper learning and 21st century com-
petencies in mastering core academic content. If teachers are to not only
understand these ideas but also translate them into their daily instructional
practice, they will need support from school and district administrators,
including time for learning, shared lesson planning and review, and reflec-
tion (see Chapter 7).
· Recommendation 10: The states and the federal government should
establish policies and programs--in the areas of assessment, ac-
countability, curriculum and materials, and teacher education--to
support students' acquisition of transferable 21st century compe-
tencies. For example, when reauthorizing the Elementary and Sec-
ondary Education Act, the Congress should facilitate the systemic
development, implementation, and evaluation of educational inter-
ventions targeting deeper learning processes and the development
of transferable competencies.
