NAISCOASchools

NAIS COMMISSION ON ACCREDITATION
A 21ST CENTURY IMPERATIVE
A Guide to
1 Becoming a School
of the Future
Robert Witt, Chair • Jean Orvis, Assistant Chair
A Guide to Becoming a School of the Future © 2010 National Association of Independent Schools
Table of Contents
Making the Case for Schools of the Future. . . . . . . . 3
Essential Capacities for the 21st Century . . . . . . . . 10
Model Projects, Programs, and
Schools with Unifying Themes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2 APPENDIX A
Guiding Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
APPENDIX B
Sample Process for Implementing a 21st
Century Curriculum: Prospect Sierra School . . . . . 37
APPENDIX C
Accreditation Implications, New Model
Core Standard, New Criterion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
About the NAIS Commission
on Accreditation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
3
Making the
Case for
Schools of
the Future
T
he Society for the Preservation of already successful 20th century models,
Independent Schools As We Have reminds us of conversations we are hearing
Always Known Them does not really from school leaders all across the country.
exist, but, if it did, its steadfast members
We have a perfectly excellent 20th century
would maintain that “the more things
school; it works well, our college lists never
change, the more they stay the same.”
looked better, our recent capital campaign
Preservation advocates would argue went right over the top, and the trustees
vehemently that the enduring cultural and are reminding me that continuity and
academic values of independent schools stability have been my strongest and most
have stood the test of time, are immune appreciated leadership traits. In fact, they
to the latest “reform du jour,” and best of just offered me a new five year contract
all, present an immutable view of human with a deferred compensation package that
nature and the development of human is golden. The notion of “transformative
capacity, which is the best antidote available leadership” simply does not fit into the
to calm the agitated currents and norms of vocabulary at this highly acclaimed school,
4 21st century lifestyles and a dysfunctional nor am I comfortable with NAIS urging
society. me constantly to become a “school of the
future.”
Certainly we all would need to pause and
reflect on our own lives these days, and One of the goals of the NAIS Commission
we might agree that the frenetic pace, the on Accreditation’s Committee on Schools
multi-tasking, the “anytime, anywhere” of the Future has been to reconcile what
race for expediency, makes us all a little the literature suggests about the need for
crazy and may even qualify some of us for educational change and what heads of
a new classification in the Physician’s Desk school are saying about the success of
Reference list of maladies. schools without change. The committee took
into account the tension between tradition
And, of course, the disheartening partisan
and innovation by engaging at the outset
politics, the geopolitical unrest, the economic
in an extensive research project involving
crises that plague all of us, and the lack
a study of perspectives on all sides of the
of civil discourse and reflective thought
question.
gradually accumulate into a dreadful mixture
of social and cultural pathology sufficient to We believe that everyone has an obligation
induce an existential crisis and make us wish to examine the research, ask for themselves
for a simpler, earlier time. what schools must do to prepare students
for the future, and to adapt accordingly in
The case the “society” would make for
ways that are consistent with the school’s
preserving tradition, for framing 21st century
mission.
teaching and learning as a continuation of
What Students Need to • Using statistics, assess whether or
Know and Be Able to Do not a statement by a public figure is
in the 21st Century demonstrably true.
• Assess media coverage of a global
NAIS President Pat Bassett, in the Fall
event from various cultural/national
2009 Independent School Magazine
perspectives.
“Independent Perspective” article,
describes what he calls “Demonstrations • Describe a breakthrough for a team on
of Learning for 21st Century Schools,” which you served and to which you
articulating, among other things, his contributed in overcoming a human-
discourse over the past year with a created obstacle so that the team could
“handful of college presidents and school succeed in its task.
heads” now known as “The New Vision • Demonstrate a commitment to creating a
Collaborative.” more sustainable future with means that
are practical and feasible.
Participants in this dialogue explored
high quality options for a redesigned K-16
5 educational process capable of preparing
Many schools have asked, “but what about
the SAT?” There are now over 800 colleges
graduates for the rigors of life in this new in the United States that no longer require
century, equipped with what appears to be applicants to take the SAT. The New York
an entirely new set of skills and capacities. Times recently quoted William Fitzsimmons,
the dean of admissions and financial aid at
Their group has already composed the
Harvard, saying, “It would be much better
following first draft list of “demonstrations
for the country to have students focusing
of learning:”
on high school courses that, based on
• Conduct a fluent conversation in a foreign evidence, will prepare them well for college
language about a piece of writing in that and also prepare them well for the real
language. world beyond college instead of spending
• Write a cogent and persuasive opinion enormous amounts of time trying to game
piece on a matter of public importance. the SAT.”
• Declaim with passion and from memory a Additionally, there is now sufficient evidence
passage that is meaningful—of one’s own from the corporate, philanthropic, and
or from the culture’s literature or history. military sectors to reinforce our argument.
• Produce or perform a work of art. Tony Wagner from the Harvard Graduate
School of Education interviewed over 600
• Construct and program a robot capable of
CEOs, asking them the same essential
performing a difficult physical task.
question: “Which qualities will our graduates
• Exercise leadership. need in the 21st century for success in
college, careers, and citizenship?”
Wagner’s list of Seven Survival Skills is The Committee on Schools of the Future
a distillation of the outcomes of these researched this more thoroughly, including
hundreds of interviews and adds validity to Mark Milliron’s analysis that throughout
the case we are making. They are: history, technologies have had a dramatic
impact on how we live and work and, yes,
• Critical Thinking and Problem-solving
on how we learn. Milliron encouraged
• Collaboration Across Networks and us to think of the tremendous changes
Leading By Influence attributed to the invention of the printing
• Agility and Adaptability press. It revolutionized education. Today,
• Initiative and Entrepreneurship new technologies are again having an
unprecedented impact on education. We are
• Effective Oral and Written Communication
still conducting many of the same tasks, but
• Accessing and Analyzing Information new technologies are shifting our approach
• Curiosity and Imagination to those tasks. For sharing information
and communicating with peers, we use
The World Has Changed such social media as Facebook, blogs,
6 and Twitter. For creating, we use Flash,
In The Global Achievement Gap: Why
Flikr, and Mashups. We conduct meetings
Even Our Best Schools Don’t Teach The
using webinars. We search using Google.
New Survival Skills Our Children Need
We research with Wiki, and the list just
– and What We Can Do About It, Tony
goes on until we realize our students have
Wagner argues that “in today’s competitive
even created environments in Second Life
global ‘knowledge economy,’ all students
to support social learning networks in an
need new skills for college, careers, and
imaginative futuristic setting.
citizenship. The failure to give all students
these new skills leaves today’s youth – and
our country – at an alarming competitive Our Students Have Changed
disadvantage. Schools haven’t changed; Our students are growing up in a digital age
the world has. And so our schools are not that is changing rapidly. Very rapidly. These
failing. Rather, they are obsolete – even the students are different because of that fact.
ones that score best on standardized tests. The research on cultural migration teaches
This is a very different problem requiring an us that those born in a new culture learn the
altogether different solution.” language easily and resist using the old.
Wagner’s notion that “not even the best John Palfry and Urs Gasser explain in Born
schools” are immune from his diagnosis is Digital: Understanding the First Generation
quite shocking, along with his argument that of Digital Natives that the children in our
advanced technologies are, in part, driving schools today are digital natives – born
a social and economic change of dramatic into a new culture. Those of us who are
proportions.
digital immigrants, coming later in life into not based on age and often composed
this new world, have two choices. We can of small, cumulative contributions (think
choose to adapt, accepting that we do not Wikipedia). For them, knowledge is open,
know this world as well as our children and collaborative, accessible, often from the
look to them to help us learn. Or, we can be bottom up, and frequently presented
inflexible immigrants, focusing on how good in multimedia. For older generations,
things used to be. If we are to reach our knowledge is individually controlled, owned,
children and help them learn, we must adapt, comes from the top down (experts), and
we must face the fact that our students are generally is presented in text-based form.
no longer the people our educational system
Those of us raised in a different era want to
was designed to teach.
release information slowly and only after it
There is evidence that an increasing has been vetted by experts; today’s digital
number of students today are different natives want to receive information quickly
from the generations that preceded them. and from multiple sources. Older people
They learn differently, they are motivated want to do things step-by-step, one thing at a
7 differently, and they are not inclined to time; younger people want to multi-task and
respond enthusiastically to a ‘business-as- use parallel processing. Digital immigrants
usual’ approach to learning. In a July 5, 2009 want independent work with a focus on the
essay published in the Sunday edition of the individual student; digital natives want to
Honolulu Advertiser entitled “Students Need use simultaneous networks and collaborate.
Education for the Real World,” Commission We want learning to be serious; they want
Chair Robert Witt noted that our students learning to be fun. (Milliron)
are learning all the time, in what they call
We think information should be accessed
‘real time,’ using resources that many older
in a linear and sequential fashion; they
people are uncomfortable and/or unfamiliar
prefer random access. Text is our primary
with: podcasting, blogging, social learning
mechanism for disseminating information
networks, video games, virtual worlds,
and assessing knowledge; they prefer
Skype, mobile media such as cell phones—
visuals, sound, and multimedia. We rely on
students nowadays process information and
curriculum guides and tests and focus on
communicate with one another 24/7 with
deferred rewards (it will help you later); they
advanced technological platforms that are
want “just-in-time” learning that is relevant
inexpensive and provide worldwide access.”
and useful and provides instant rewards. We
The issue is not about the technology itself, see schools as the place to learn; they see
but about the new mindset of students. They the world as the place to learn. Independent
are connected, mobile, social, instantaneous, schools today reflect our preferences and
and entertainment-oriented. They have world-view, not theirs.
redefined expertise as collective knowledge
Perhaps it is time for us to rethink our models the necessity of teaching in such a way that
and our assumptions about school and we nurture the inventiveness and curiosity
about teaching and learning. What should of our students.
future learning environments look like? How
Using a “business-as-usual” approach
should we organize time to learn? What
to school improvement, relying on our
types of relationships and communities
current accreditation protocols, we might
will nurture our students? What tools do
“slouch” toward the future (Yeats) blending
they need? The schools based on industrial
old with new pedagogy, or we might
and agrarian models that have existed for
catalyze transformation in our schools. As
centuries may not be the schools that we
Christopher Dede notes from his perspective
need for tomorrow. What might we imagine
at the Harvard Graduate School of Education,
as a different model? And how might the
“You can’t just sprinkle 21st century skills
accreditation process serve to mobilize
on the 20th century doughnut. It requires a
schools to create a new model or models?
fundamental re-conception of what swe’re
doing.”
Exploration, Discovery, and
8 Experimentation in Schools Similarly, in Disrupting Class, Harvard’s
of the Future Clayton Christensen defines the new “best
practice” for our schools as “educational
Our schools can continue to educate
disruption,” occurring “when new tools,
students for a world they don’t live in using
processes, or ideas cause pressure on
teaching strategies they cannot comprehend,
traditional school organizational practice
or we might embark on designing “Schools
to change.” Areas ripe for “disruption,”
of the Future” by re-thinking the very way
according to Christensen, include
we conceive of “the purpose and experience
instructional practice, curriculum, student
of schooling and what we expect our high
learning, assessment, structures like
school graduates to know and be able
traditional school schedules, infrastructure
to do.” (Wagner)
such as building design, and more.
At the 2008 NAIS Annual Conference in New
York City, we learned from Daniel Pink that Momentum Exists and
“the era of ‘left brain’ dominance, and the Models are Available
Information Age it engendered, is giving
There is a growing body of evidence that
way to a new world in which ‘right brain’
early adopters with the independent school
qualities — inventiveness, empathy, meaning
community are embracing innovation and
— predominate.” At that same conference,
discovery as their primary strategy for
the NAIS Schools of the Future initiative put
school improvement.
on display “classrooms of the future,” and
everyone heard from Sir Ken Robinson about
The Commission on Accreditation into how to think about “schools of the
has developed this Guide for the early future.”
adopters in independent schools and
• Our Changing World
associations. It includes a compendium of
projects and programs already underway • Leading and Managing Change
that convincingly make the case for us. • 21st Century Skills and Capacities
Noteworthy Projects, Programs, and Schools, • Curricular and Pedagogical Resources
with Unifying Themes can serve as a useful
• Teaching and Learning in the Digital Age
resource as it provides both a roadmap for
the design of successful projects as a first • Measuring 21st Century Skills
step as well as blueprints for school-wide
Each of the above categories represents a
implementation of 21st century skills.
body of research that can guide schools in
The “Annotated Bibliography” contains the examining their programs and practice.
sources and literature that provided the key
elements of this conversation. The six major
9 headings may be useful in providing insights
Essential
Capacities
for the 21st
Century*
*These "Essential Capacities for the 21st Century" were distilled by the
Committee on Schools of the Future from current literature.
1. Analytical and 3. Leadership and Teamwork
Creative Thinking • Initiate new ideas
and Problem-solving • Lead through influence
• Identify, manage, and address complex • Build trust, resolve conflicts, and
problems provide support for others
• Detect bias and distinguish between • Facilitate group discussions, forge
reliable and unsound information consensus, and negotiate outcomes
• Control information overload • Teach, coach, and counsel others
• Formulate meaningful questions • Enlist help
• Analyze and create ideas and • Collaborate sensitively and
knowledge productively with people of varied
• Use trial and error; devise and test backgrounds
solutions to problems • Coordinate tasks, manage groups, and
• Imagine alternatives delegate responsibilities
11 • Develop cross-disciplinary knowledge

and perspectives
• Implement decisions and meet goals
• Share the credit
• Engage in sustained reasoning
• Synthesize and adapt
4. Digital and Quantitative
• Solve new problems that don’t have
Literacy
rule-based solutions • Understand, use, and apply digital
• Use knowledge and creativity to solve technologies
complex “real-world” problems • Create digital knowledge and media
• Use multimedia resources to
2. Complex Communication communicate ideas effectively in a
—Oral and Written variety of formats
• Understand and express ideas in two • Master and use higher-level
or more languages mathematics
• Communicate clearly to diverse • Understand traditional and emerging
audiences topics in math, science, and
• Listen attentively technology—environmental sciences,
• Speak effectively robotics, fractals, cellular automata,
nanotechnology, and biotechnology
• Write clearly and concisely—for a
variety of audiences
5. Global Perspective
• Explain information and compellingly
• Develop open-mindedness,
persuade others of its implications
particularly regarding the values and
traditions of others
• Study and understand non-western • Cultivate an independence of spirit
history, politics, religion, and culture to explore new roles, ideas, and
• Develop facility with one or more strategies
international language • Develop entrepreneurial literacy
• Use technology to connect with people • Use creativity and innovation to
and events globally produce things that are unique and that
• Develop social and intellectual skills to have value and meaning
navigate effectively across cultures
7. Integrity and Ethical
• Use 21st century skills to understand
and address global issues
Decision-Making
• Learn from, and work collaboratively • Sustain an empathetic and
with, individuals from diverse cultures, compassionate outlook
religions, and lifestyles in a spirit of • Foster integrity, honesty, fairness, and
mutual respect and open dialogue respect
• Leverage social and cultural • Exhibit moral courage in confronting
12 differences to create new ideas and unjust situations
achieve success • Act responsibly, with the interests and
well-being of the larger community in
6. Adaptability, Initiative, mind
and Risk-Taking • Develop a fundamental understanding
• Develop flexibility, agility, and of emerging ethical issues and
adaptability dilemmas regarding new media and
• Bring a sense of courage to unfamiliar technologies
situations • Make reasoned and ethical decisions in
• Explore and experiment response to complex problems
• Work effectively in a climate of
ambiguity and changing priorities
• View failure as an opportunity to learn,
and acknowledge that innovation
involves small successes and frequent
mistakes
Projects,
Programs,
and Schools
with Unifying
Themes
I
n a Time Magazine article published in past perfect verb tenses by using Facebook,
2006 on the deep disconnect between videoconferencing with people in France,
what American schools are teaching and applying modern forensic tools to
and what students will need to thrive in solve a “murder mystery”; six teenagers
our era, author Claudia Wallis joked about from Egypt, Malaysia, the United States,
what would happen if Rip Van Winkle awoke and The Netherlands forming a team and
today after 100 years in a deep sleep. Rip collaborating on-line across four continents
would stumble out of bed into a world and multiple time zones to create an award-
he cannot recognize: people everywhere winning website to educate their peers
talking into small devices hooked to their about the SARS virus; and classrooms
ears; young people sitting on sofas moving where students are active questioners rather
only their fingers to manipulate life-size than passive listeners. Rip might again be
action figures on electronic screens; workers baffled by what he sees, but at least he
seated in cubicles collaborating in real would recognize congruence between the
time with colleagues thousands of miles or strange new world he has entered and the
even continents away; elderly individuals education that strives to prepare young
14 vigorously running marathon races thanks people for that world.
to artificial devices planted in their chests,
These pockets of educational innovation
hips, and knees; offices, airports, hospitals,
and creativity should serve as beacons,
and shopping malls—every place Rip
guiding and inspiring others to ride the
goes confuses him. Then he walks into a
tsunami of change toward innovation and
schoolroom and, at last, recognizes where
transformation of our schools. We have a
he is! The only thing that has changed is the
responsibility to assure that the children
color of the chalkboards.
of this century will not leave our schools
During Rip’s long snooze, every aspect only to arrive on the threshold of adulthood
of life experienced exponential change feeling like Rip Van Winkle, dazed, and
while schools largely remained static. Yet lacking the tools and experience to engage
had Rip awakened near one of a growing fully and successfully in the new world
number of schools that are retooling for before them.
the modern era, he would have been
equally amazed at the transformation in Goals and Intent
education: fifth graders using thermo- The Commission on Accreditation seeks to
graphic cameras to detect and plot heat ensure that the graduates of independent
loss on their campus, in the community at schools will be prepared for college, work,
large, and in their own homes, and then and citizenship with the knowledge and
offering solutions for energy conservation; capacities necessary to lead productive
French students learning the imperfect and and purposeful lives in an uncertain and
ever-changing future. Working from the leaders currently working in member
perspective of accreditation, the commission schools. These individuals will help NAIS
approaches school improvement by develop a new online community for
proposing questions and offering independent school teachers.
information to inspire reflection, innovation,
The program provides valuable networking
and planning within individual schools.
opportunities for teachers who wish to
The intention is not to provide a formulaic connect with others to mine ideas and to
approach to the challenges of teaching and solve problems encountered in the process
learning in our times but rather to encourage of infusing 21st century skills into an
exploration, innovation, and transformation established curriculum.
within each school in a manner that is
Throughout the year, each selected
consistent with the school’s mission and the
teacher is asked to lead an NAIS online
needs of its students.
educational discussion forum and create a
As schools and educators, we are walking demonstration teaching unit video (three to
this path together. Experimentation and 10 minutes in length) to be posted on NAIS’s
15 communication of the results of those online independent school community
endeavors, successful or not, will support all and TeacherTube. The program provides
schools in the adaptive and transformative recognition and leadership opportunities for
processes necessary to deliver a world selected teachers while spurring discussion
class education for students in independent about innovation in teaching and learning.
schools. To that end, the commission
provides schools with helpful resources that Schools of the Future
can serve as a guide for implementing the A Learning Community Focused on
“Essential Capacities for the 21st Century.” Transforming Schools in Hawaii
http://futureschools.ning.com
The following projects and programs are
intended as illustrative blueprints for similar One of the most progressive independent
projects or, better yet, as a springboard for school associations in the nation, the
additional creative and innovative ideas. Hawaii Association of Independent Schools
received grant money from the Hawaii
Projects and Programs Community Foundation to transform
Hawaii’s independent schools into schools
NAIS Teachers of the Future of the future. This document contains
http://www.nais.org/about/index.
myriad innovative and exciting project
cfm?ItemNumber=150570
proposals from an array of schools. The
With funding from the E.E. Ford Foundation, various projects could serve both as an
NAIS established the NAIS Teachers of the idea-generator and as a blueprint for project
Future program whereby NAIS selects and design and implementation.
supports a cadre of innovative teacher-
The website is a treasure trove of serve as vivid examples of implementation
information and ideas, including a chat of “The Essential Capacities” within the
forum, videos, and notes from professional traditional academic curriculum.
development conferences.
21st Century Skills
Stories of Excellence Learning for Life in Our Times (DVD)
Case Studies of Exemplary Teaching The 2009 book, 21st Century Skills, by
and Learning with Technology Bernie Trilling and Charles Fadel comes
http://admin.nais.org/files/PDFS/NAIS_ with a DVD featuring nine video segments
excellence_final2.pdf on various projects and schools. Each
NAIS’s 21st Century Curriculum/Technology segment highlights a different aspect of the
Task Force collected 20 case studies as challenge: 21st century assessment, school-
outstanding examples of technology, wide infusion of 21st century skills, project
teaching, and learning. The projects span design, and the Project Learning Institute,
a wide range of curricular areas and grade a professional development program
for teachers seeking to develop the skills
16 levels.
necessary to design and implement project-
According to Jenifer Fox, former head of based learning.
Purnell School (NJ), in her introduction to
Stories of Excellence, “These stories should
Schools
encourage independent school teachers and
administrators to get online and begin to While there are undoubtedly many
discover in earnest the plethora of creative, noteworthy schools that are “walking the
project-centered, collaborative curricular schools of the future talk,” the following
initiatives taking place all over the world. schools were identified for two reasons:
Once you do that, you will see that the first, each school incorporates the Essential
stories in this report are not simply models; Capacities throughout the entire school
they represent imperatives for student program; and second, each school tackled
success.” the challenge of innovation in a different
way.
Each vignette describes the project in detail,
including the resources and equipment The schools include two public magnet
required and furnishes the contact schools, a public charter school, three
information of the lead teacher for anyone independent schools, and two international
who desires further elaboration. Although schools. High Tech High and Seattle
the impetus for “The Excellence Challenge” Academy for the Arts and Sciences were
was a focus on innovative use of digital founded with missions that encompass
technologies in the classroom, the projects the concepts of a 21st century education.
Brimmer and May transformed a long- Dr. Theodore Sizer, then dean of the
standing traditional program. Prospect Graduate School of Education at Brown
Sierra, in the hands of a dynamic and University, inspired Reenstierna. A founder
visionary head of school, is building upon of the Coalition of Essential Schools
the foundation laid by forward-thinking (www.essentialschools.org), and a strong
founders. Morton Middle School, Benson proponent of systemic school reform, Dr.
High School, and the Riverstone School Sizer and his associates proposed a set of
adopted outside programs to fast track Common Principles designed to engage
institutional change with a unifying concept students more fully in their own learning.
to assure consistency across the curriculum. The principles include teaching students to
And the International School of Brussels use their minds well, emphasizing depth of
built upon its firmly established and highly material over breadth; personalizing teaching
respected International Baccalaureate and learning; inspiring students to learn how
Program to infuse 21st century capacities, to learn; incorporating public demonstrations
focusing especially upon digital of mastery of learning; providing dedicated
technologies. professional development and teacher
17 planning time; and the modeling of values of
Transforming a Traditional trust, decency, fairness, and generosity.
Independent School Reenstierna writes, “While these seem like
Brimmer and May School, Chestnut rather simple, common sense ideas for
Hill, Massachusetts educators to implement, at my school in
www.brimmerandmay.org 1985, they were radical and required a great
Over one hundred years old, Brimmer and deal of change in the way teachers thought
May School is a coeducational, college about their jobs and in the way parents
preparatory day school for over 400 viewed education.”
students in pre-kindergarten through grade
From Reenstierna’s perspective, a number
12. Anne Reenstierna has served as head of
of factors contributed to successful
school since 1985.
transformation of the school. First, she
Fueled by a desire to recapture in high credits an entrepreneurial, risk-taking board
school students the same enthusiasm chair who supported her desire to move the
and love of learning that she observed in school in a new direction. Next, she had the
younger children, Reenstierna embarked on good fortune to hire some young teachers
a journey to transform Brimmer and May trained by Sizer. The enthusiasm and
from a traditional school with a classical excitement that these teachers created in the
curriculum to a progressive school with classrooms proved contagious; soon other
a global curriculum teaching 21st century teachers and parents were on board.
skills.
At that point, Reenstierna made exactly the Starting from Scratch
right decision, taking a step that is too often High Tech High, San Diego, CA
ignored by visionaries and entrepreneurs: www.hightechhigh.org
Over the next several years, she and her
associate head of school, Judy Guild, A teacher recently said, “If all schools could
worked relentlessly to provide the time, start over and create the quintessential
resources, and professional development school of the future, that school would
required to turn a promising start into a probably look like High Tech High.” The
dynamic, sustainable, and ever-improving goal from the outset was to create a place
school. where, when one first enters the space, it
is impossible to distinguish whether it is a
The curriculum features a global focus that technical school or a college prep school.
balances traditional academic subjects and
rigor with innovative practices, experiential Founded in 2000 as a single charter high
learning, and project-based learning. The school by a coalition of San Diego business
products of these endeavors are featured leaders and educators, the flagship, High
18 during an “Exhibition Week” that follows a Tech High (HTH), serves 490 students in
grades nine through 12. The consortium
traditional week of formal exams. Students
work both independently and collaboratively now consists of five high schools, three
on research assignments that require them middle schools, and one elementary school.
to think critically and write with clarity, The program is multidisciplinary, project-
to synthesize information from various based, and incorporates the latest digital
disciplines, and to share their ideas in public technologies. Each year, the school hosts
forums. AP classes are taught, but the visits from more than 2,000 educators,
offerings are carefully selected, with close architects, and school planners from
attention to whether the tests will allow around the world who come to see a highly
in-depth teaching as opposed to broad, successful model school in action.
superficial coverage of content. According to Rob Riordan, “Emperor of
There are those who believe that mission Rigor” and a founder of the school, “There
precedes action. In fact, as the story are three axioms of public education in
of Brimmer and May demonstrates, this country: separate students from each
occasionally, action precedes mission. The other based on perceived academic ability;
school’s current statements of mission, separate minds from hands; and separate
philosophy, and core principles that schools from the world beyond. We seek to
emerged as the result of the hard work integrate students, integrate technical and
and success of the initiative now permeate academic disciplines, and connect students
everything the school does and read like a with the community.”
primer of 21st century education.
Admission is determined by lottery, and or a presenter in the HTH institutes and
once admitted, students are not tracked residencies. In 2004, the state approved HTH
according to ability. Teams of students to certify its own teachers in partnership
and teachers work collaboratively to solve with the University of San Diego. Then in
problems and create projects that integrate 2007, HTH received state approval to open
material across disciplines. The school’s the HTH Graduate School of Education
website provides examples of student offering Masters’ programs in Teacher
projects. Leadership and School Leadership.
Assessment includes presentations of

Integrating Tradition
learning before panels of faculty and peers.
and Innovation
Although students sit for and do well on
The International School of Brussels
all of the traditional tests such as SATs,
the school measures its success in terms
www.isb.be
of whether students are prepared to go to The International School of Brussels (ISB)
college, and whether once in college, they was founded in 1951 and for much of its
19 stay there. To date, 100 percent matriculate history, it has been considered among the
to college and 88 percent of HTH alumni foremost international schools in Europe.
have graduated from college or are still At the present time, it serves about 1,400
attending. students from nursery through high school
at its beautiful site on the outskirts of
“Transparency” is the key word for the
Brussels, where the landscaped campus
school. All walls are glass; no one can
borders a lake and a wooded preserve.
hide. The physical openness is reflected in
relationships, student-to-student, teacher- ISB has a strong reputation for stability and
to-teacher, and most important, teacher-to- for being a school that has been capably
student. There is collaboration across all governed and well led over a substantial
disciplines. period of time. This reputation is more than
justified in terms of some objective features,
Faculty development is an ongoing feature
such as board continuity, head of school
of the school and includes eight days of
leadership, and enrollment trends. Indeed,
intensive work for all teachers in August
in the competitive educational market in
before the opening of school, with an
Brussels, the school has shown considerable
additional five days for teachers new to
resilience and consistency over time.
the school. Teachers must arrive at school
at least one hour early to prepare for the The school’s guiding principles include a
day and /or to collaborate with colleagues. mission statement that highlights inclusion
Almost every teacher is involved in the as a key element. The mission statement is
adult learning programs of the school as supported by another key concept named
a mentor, a mentee, a graduate student,
“Our Enduring Goals.” These are: Everyone • Technology creates new teaching and
Included! Everyone Challenged! Everyone learning opportunities that improve
Successful! student understanding
The school’s ‘common ground curriculum’ • Technology encourages fundamentally

is based around thematic learning. At every different forms of interaction between
grade level and in all subjects, teachers students, teachers, and the community.
collaborate on the development of Units of It contributes to a learner-centered,
Learning that explore an aspect of the theme, collaborative, engaging learning
and in which standards are embedded. This environment
structure of themes, subjects, units and • Technology provides the means for
standards provides students with a curricular students to explain, interpret, and apply
framework that is flexible enough for an their knowledge
international school but structured enough • Technology allows teachers to meet the
to ensure that children learn the basics. At diverse learning needs of students by
the secondary level, students may select adapting to individual goals and learning
20 the International Baccalaureate diploma, the styles
Advanced Placement diploma, or the ISB
diploma. Adopting an Outside
ISB provides a technology-rich learning Program as a Unifying Concept
environment through a comprehensive Decision Education at Morton
approach called Teaching and Learning with Middle School and Benson High
Technology. Every child, from ages two School, Omaha, Nebraska, and the
and a half to 19, is provided with access to International Baccalaureate Program
age-appropriate technologies. Technology, at Riverstone School, Boise, Idaho
used as a tool for learning rather than a www.decisioneducation.org
subject in itself, is fully integrated into the www.ops.org
curriculum. Every ISB student, from grade www.riverstoneschool.org
three through six has access to a “Tablet The prospect of school transformation can
PC.” These student tablets reside in the be daunting, especially for large schools
classroom for daily use and are charged or for any school with a faculty or parent
overnight. Personal tablets are provided to body resistant to change. These schools
students in grades seven through 12 for use might want to consider adopting, as a
in school and at home. Key components of first step, an outside program or model.
the program include: Decision Education and the International
Baccalaureate Program are two options that
• Appropriate technology use is an
have worked successfully in a number of
essential component of optimal learning
schools.
environments
Morton Middle School and Benson concepts into practice in other subject areas.
High School in Omaha, Nebraska, serve As ninth graders, Benson students take an
approximately 700 students in grades six, introductory class in decision science. The
seven and eight, and 1,500 students in concepts are then reinforced and applied
grades nine through 12, respectively. The throughout the curriculum for the next three
schools were seeking ways to become years.
more rigorous, strengthen their curricula,
Both schools involve students in a number
and develop a magnet concept. The answer
of research, project, and team-based
came in a partnership formed with The
opportunities with a heavy technology
Decision Education Foundation (DEF).
component. The projects often involve
Both schools implemented the Whole working with outside organizations to solve
Institution Decision Education (WIDE) a community problem or dilemma. For
program developed by the DEF (http:// example, a group of students researched the
www.decisioneducation.org) and taught best use of vacant, city-owned property. The
in partnership with Stanford University. team generated several options based on
21 Decision education, also known as decision community needs and priorities, explored
science, involves the integration of analytical possible constraints of budget and city
and creative thinking and problem-solving codes, and assessed environmental impacts.
skills through a defined model of decision- Their recommendation, supported by
making that can be applied to any academic research and analysis, was presented to the
or personal problem or decision. DEF’s city fathers in a formal presentation.
mission is to bring to younger students
A number of independent schools have
the fundamentals of decision science,
also explored and/or have adopted decision
concepts and skills that are traditionally not
education, most notably Haverford School
encountered outside of graduate schools
in Haverford, PA, (www.haverford.org) as
in the sciences, medicine, engineering,
a means to develop in students mission
statistics, or business.
goals to think critically and communicate
DEF provided intensive initial training effectively.
followed by ongoing workshops and support
Dr. Nancy Golden, superintendant of schools
for the faculty who then incorporated the
in Springfield, Oregon, has implemented
concepts into the existing curriculum and
decision education in Thurston High School
designed projects to provide opportunities
and is currently working with outside
for integrating and applying skills.
analysts to create appropriate assessment
Students at Morton in grades five through measures to determine the effectiveness of
eight take a semester-long class each year the program (www.decisioneducation.org/
focused on decision science and then put the making-a-difference/what-educators-are-
saying-about-DEF).
Another program that garners considerable education is not widely known; next, the
interest from schools seeking to infuse school wished to bring to the area proven
21st century capacities is the International methods of teaching and learning that
Baccalaureate Organization (IBO) (www.ibo. produce innovation, independence, and
org). A number of public and independent community-minded students and graduates.
schools have adopted the IB program as it
When Andrew Derry became head of school
has considerable credibility with colleges,
in 2008, he perceived Riverstone as a ship
and the IB learner profile and mission
flying the flag of an international school but
statement translate into a set of learning
still needing a course setting. A veteran of a
outcomes for the 21st century. The schools
number of international schools from Europe
that are considering becoming IB schools
to Southeast Asia, Derry was excited by the
believe the program offers a set of ideals
prospect of heading a young school with a
that can inspire, motivate, and focus the
“blank canvas” that afforded an opportunity
work of the school and the teachers, uniting
to incorporate within the IB context the
them in a common purpose. The IB website
essential capacities students will need for the
offers video examples of the program in
22 action, blogs, curricular materials, and other
future.
classroom resources. He began with a focus on Collaborative

Learning. For example, an eighth grade unit
Riverstone School in Boise, Idaho, chose
joins pairs of students from Riverstone with
to create an international school in the
students from Bogota, Columbia, to study
foothills of the Rocky Mountains
the interdependence of humanity and the
(www.riverstoneschool.org). Riverstone
environment using the wolf and the condor
opened its doors in 1997 as the Hidden
as metaphors. Teachers in the two countries
Springs Community School in an area of
collaborate through videoconferencing
the country unfamiliar with independent
and use the IB framework to structure the
education. The initial population of just 57
project. Students must work together as a
students in kindergarten through eighth
team across barriers of space, time, culture,
grade gradually grew to 316 students in K-12.
and language to produce an outcome. The
In 2001, the school approached the IBO to
culmination involves a videoconference
begin the rigorous authorization process
presentation to the families of the teams
that would permit the school to offer the IB
and requires conversing both in English and
Diploma.
Spanish to present and explain the results of
The impetus for adopting the IB program the project. To date, several grades, including
was two-fold; first, the school was seeking pre-school, have defined collaborative
to distinguish itself clearly from other projects with students in other parts of
schools in a location where independent world.
Collaborative teaching and learning Dinh began the 21st century skills project
challenged teachers to develop new skills. in a faculty meeting where she invited
Professional development includes IB interested teachers to apply for membership
program protocols but extends to sending on a team that would ultimately lead the
teachers abroad to visit and work on-site school-wide project. She provided a list of
with partner schools to develop the projects. qualifications required for individual team
Teachers also work in-house together to members, a timeline and deadlines, and a
plan, structure, and debrief learning units. list of questions applicants should address
in their application letters (See Appendix B).
Implementing Strategic Vision
Beginning with a required reading list as
Prospect Sierra School,
well as several suggested selections (see
El Cerrito, California
Appendix B), the team will engage teachers
www.prospectsierra.org
throughout the school in discussions, then
Prospect Sierra School is a kindergarten by the fall of 2010, present to faculty and
through eighth grade independent, co-ed staff a synthesis of those conversations in
23 day school enrolling 450 students on two the form of a written document with the
campuses in the San Francisco Bay area. descriptions of the 21st century skills, values,
The school strives to develop in students and attributes the Prospect Sierra faculty
a passion for learning, to build strong and staff have identified as essential for their
academic and creative skills, and to cultivate graduates.
values of compassion, fairness, respect, and
During 2010-11, the team will continue
individuality.
to work with the faculty to develop a
Guided by a bold and visionary strategic curriculum map of the 21st century program,
plan, the school seeks to become a regional connecting the list of skills, values, and
leader in middle school education with well attributes to current programs. The final
researched, progressive, and innovative product of the team’s collaboration will
approaches to teaching and learning. Head be a list of ways in which graduates can
of school Katherine Dinh has engaged the demonstrate mastery of those skills and
entire faculty across disciplines, grades, and attributes.
campuses in research and discussion around
Prospect Sierra’s process for transformative
21st century skills. The goal is to define for
change can serve as a blueprint for other
the school those skills, values, and attributes
schools seeking to inspire widespread
the faculty believes will allow their graduates
faculty engagement in the design and
to thrive in the future.
implementation of a 21st century curriculum.
Living the Mission for survival, today as a well-resourced
Seattle Academy of Arts and institution, the school maintains established
Sciences (SAAS), Seattle, WA community/global partnerships and
www.seattleacademy.org experiential practices to provide students
with learning opportunities that include
Seattle Academy of Arts and Sciences joint projects, service learning, cultural
(SAAS) is an independent, college immersion programs, and internships.
preparatory school serving students in
grades six through 12. Founded in 1983 In terms of program, the school offers a
with 75 students, the school now has 620 traditional, demanding college preparatory
students. The school’s mission is to prepare curriculum with extensive arts, athletic, and
students for college and life. The “and outdoor/global travel programs. Central to
life” portion of the mission continuously an SAAS education, and infusing all core
drives the school to adapt its program and programs, is a “Culture of Performance.
practices to provide learning opportunities “ Joe Puggelli, head of school writes,
that will prepare students for the future. “The culture of performance is based on a
24 Examples include the infusion of global simple belief that learning is not necessarily
perspectives throughout the curriculum, thinking, but doing is thinking, because
an ongoing commitment to attracting and doing forces one to assess, adjust, and try
retaining a diverse student body and faculty, again. Whether in a math class, a science
and fearless exploration of the use of digital class, or a history class; whether on stage or
technologies in teaching and learning. on the dance floor; whether on the field or
on the court; whether in Zambia or Alaska,
For small, under-resourced schools that feel our students have to take the traditional
overwhelmed by the challenges of delivering skills that every school teaches and use
21st century skills, Seattle Academy can these skills to do things.”
provide a blueprint. At its founding, SAAS
occupied only a few cramped and rundown In practice, most classes involve projects
classrooms in a perceived high crime, high that require student teams to tackle a
violence urban neighborhood. Lacking challenging problem or issue, utilizing cross-
facilities and resources, an intrepid and disciplinary skills and knowledge to arrive
creative faculty “made necessity a virtue” at a solution. Each project culminates in a
and utilized city resources to expand the public presentation and defense of the work.
classrooms to incorporate surrounding The culture of performance encourages
libraries, laboratories, theaters, galleries, the development of all 21st century skills,
museums, and parks. including the ability to analyze an issue, take
a position on this issue, explain and defend
Project-based learning supplemented the position clearly, both in writing and in
the lack of other materials. While in the oral presentation.
early years, this approach was necessary
One of the first laptop schools in the • Classrooms extend beyond the school
nation, SAAS makes extensive use of walls, actively engaging students in the
digital technologies as teaching, learning, world around them
and creative tools, and to assure that • Digital technologies and a global
students will be comfortable, effective, and perspective infuse all aspects of the
productive with technology. curriculum
Like Brimmer and May and High Tech High, • Vibrant arts programs help promote
professional development is a keystone of creativity, self-expression, self-discipline,
Seattle Academy’s philosophy; teachers new and flexibility
to the school are provided with an extensive • The adults are actively engaged with one
orientation and ongoing mentoring. Faculty another and with the students in a process
meetings are devoted nearly exclusively to of continuous learning
faculty development. Annual departmental
• A culture of engagement and support
retreats provide planning and collaboration
invites participation, innovation, and a
time, and stipends are available for summer
“growth mindset” on the part of teachers
25 work for individuals and faculty who
and students
choose to collaborate in project or curricular
planning. • Transformational leadership challenges the
status quo, draws out the issues, navigates
through conflict, and mobilizes people
Unifying Themes
and resources to do the adaptive work
These innovative schools differ from necessary to create and sustain effective
one another in location, style, structure, change
organization, and resources. The individual
evolution of each school demonstrates Academically Demanding
the range of approaches possible and the A focus on the Essential Capacities need not
opportunity to innovate and try things entail a diminishment of academic integrity
that are appropriate for a particular and scholarship, nor sound a death knell for
school community. That said, eight core knowledge.
commonalities exist among the schools that
are successfully delivering a 21st century In order to think analytically and creatively,
education. They are: in order to communicate effectively, one
has to have something worthwhile to
• The schools are academically demanding think and communicate about. The best
• Project-based learning, as an integral learning takes place when the Essential
part of the school’s program, is woven Capacities are taught within the context
throughout all grade levels and disciplines of a knowledge base and are practiced
over time. Students in these noteworthy
schools still study advanced literature and Even with selective choice of content,
chemistry, world languages, history, and teachers feel pressed for time. The
calculus. The difference is that they must go model schools have examined use of the
beyond the traditional passive capstone of a daily schedule and annual calendar, in some
written examination to active application of cases, questioning the traditional six- or
knowledge in a new situation. seven- period day to arrive at schedule
configurations that provide longer blocks
Teachers reasonably ask, “If we add these
of class time, or even extending the school
capacities to our teaching, what goes away?”
year. In all cases, strategic re-visioning of
It is an important question, and every
co-curricular and extra-curricular programs
school, department, and division will need
provides additional vehicles for the delivery
to examine three things: selection of content,
of 21st century skills.
use of time, and the ratio of knowledge
acquisition to conceptual understanding as Project-based Learning
demonstrated through application.
Some schools, like High Tech High, have
The model schools emphasize depth over dispensed with departmental divisions;
26 breadth, adopting in spirit the motto of the others, like Seattle Academy and Brimmer
Singapore Schools, “Teach Less. Learn and May, maintain traditional departmental
More.” Like those who annually “purge” their structures. But regardless of school
closets of outdated, rarely worn garments, structure, project-based learning becomes
these schools systematically scour the one of the most important educational
curriculum to eliminate non-essential and delivery systems.
redundant content. Although all of the
For some educators and parents, the
schools have students who perform well
concept of “projects” conjures up visions of
on AP exams, most choose not to teach AP
“busy work” such as hastily drawn posters,
classes, or like Brimmer and May, selectively
or maps filled in with colored markers.
offer only those AP classes that are what
As demonstrated by the model projects
Anne Reenstierna calls “more than a mile
and programs above, effective projects
wide and an inch deep.”
involve most, if not all, of the following
With less emphasis on the acquisition of characteristics:
factual knowledge, departments can focus
• A high level of learning challenge
on conceptual, or systems, thinking. For
example, when asked how he scored so well • A focus on real and relevant problems
on an AP biology exam without having taken or issues
an AP biology class, a young man reported • Collaboration within a team
that his teacher’s emphasis on the Laws • Integration of skills and knowledge across
of Thermodynamics provided a basis for different disciplines
reasoning his way to correct answers.
• Public presentation and defense of the community projects ranging from cleaning
final project before an audience of peers, parks, to working with homeless populations,
faculty, or even outside experts in the field to providing relief for victims of disaster.
Partnerships with outside organizations
The benefits of project-based learning
offer opportunities to enrich the curriculum,
extend beyond a deeper understanding of
whether by incorporating the latest advances
core curriculum concepts. During the course
in biotechnology, collaborating with local
of project design, execution, presentation,
organizations to produce public works of art,
and defense, students are utilizing most
or placing students in significant internships.
of the Essential Capacities. Successful
projects incorporate analytical and creative Technology provides the means for
thinking, problem-solving, collaboration collaboration across barriers of time, age,
and teamwork, leadership, complex and geography. In the award-winning
communication, and digital skills. SARS project cited earlier, six teenagers
from four countries worked together for
Classrooms Extend Beyond the several months to research SARS and
27 School Walls, Engaging Students
in the World Around Them
create a website designed to educate their
peers about the virus. The group only met
As the growing presence of on-line schools face-to-face at the awards ceremony. Such
attests, formal education is no longer bound opportunities prepare students for the global
or constrained by four walls. Rather than interaction and changing nature of work that
campuses somewhat isolated from the real will define their futures.
world, the 21st century school embraces
the challenges of an increasingly complex Digital Technologies and
world and calls upon faculty and students to a Global Perspective
wrestle with and solve adaptive problems Student engagement is the key to effective
with immediate application to everyday life. learning. With the advent of digital
technologies, the ways in which students
All of the schools cited make extensive
learn, communicate, interact, and create
use of the world around us. Depending on
have changed. While some teachers
the age of the student population and the
might begrudgingly accept and adapt to
school’s resources, students move beyond
technology as a learning tool, today’s digital
the classroom into the immediate school
natives view technologies as a basic element
neighborhood, the broader community, or
of their environment. Research shows
even across the globe.
that appropriate use of technology can
Science projects often involve the gathering improve instructional practice and students’
and analysis of data through field research. engagement in learning.
Service learning engages students in
The noteworthy schools embrace technology such an endeavor, all of the example schools
and are intrepid explorers of its potential as a seek ways to engage students globally, either
learning tool. However, these schools do not through digital connectivity, or through travel
see technology as an end in itself, but rather and study in other countries.
as a means for either doing more effectively
what they were already doing, or doing that Vibrant Arts Programs
which they could not have done before. In At first glance, it seems surprising that the
the words of Seattle Academy head Joe arts play such an integral role in schools of
Puggelli, “We do not allow the technology the future. But on second thought, it makes
tail to wag the academic dog.” perfect sense.
When all students and teachers have access Clearly, the arts promote creative thinking,
to full-time use of wireless technologies, an teach flexibility and adaptability, and
opportunity exists to reshape learning and encourage risk-taking. The arts also develop
instruction. For example, some high school self-expression and communication skills.
teachers are uploading lectures to the web, Perhaps most important, at a time when
28 thus freeing class time for more in-depth students are developing a sense of personal
discussion and for projects. Conversely, identity, the arts provide a safe environment
other teachers hold some on-line discussions for students to “try-on” different identities
in the evening, finding that the online format and roles.
inspires certain students to participate far
more actively. Public performance is the most terrifying
thing most of us ever face. Perhaps for this
Hand in hand with digital literacy, a global reason, the intensity of the arts, especially
perspective is a new basic skill for our the performing arts, fosters discipline, a
times. Every issue of sustainability— work ethic, and the realization that practice
environmental, economic, political, cultural, trumps talent.
and organizational—depends on our ability
to operate effectively in a global capacity. Similar to good athletic programs, well-
Model schools infuse a global perspective managed arts programs focus on developing
throughout the curriculum with studies of individual competence while simultaneously
global cultures, international languages, fostering an esprit de corps that aspires to
and the inclusion of non-western literature the highest levels of teamwork.
and perspectives. In an extraordinary Finally, these noteworthy schools support
commitment to global education, Brimmer the investment in arts programs because
and May routinely sends teachers abroad to the arts provide moments of beauty and
study first-hand the regions whose histories fulfillment that relieve stress and fill young
and cultures will be studied in the classroom. hearts with hope and joy.
While most schools lack the resources for
Learning Communities time when the knowledge base is changing
so rapidly, especially in technical fields,
If we are to develop young people who
deep domain knowledge is more than ever a
are imaginative, curious, creative, flexible,
prerequisite to effective teaching. A teacher
and adaptable, who are team players with
must be able to keep abreast of complex
a moral compass, and who have what
developments in his or her field, sort through
Stanford University Professor Carol Dweck
extensive bodies of information to select
calls “a growth mindset,” then we must
the foundational concepts and knowledge
create adult learning cultures in our schools
to teach, and adapt curriculum quickly and
that model those qualities.
effectively to assure students are prepared
The most visible commonality among for college and careers.
these schools is that they are learning
The example programs avoid the insularity
communities. Of course, schools are
that so often characterizes the teacher-
by nature learning communities, but in
culture of schools. Professional development
the model schools, there is an ethic of
is hard-wired into the schools’ systems.
continuous growth on the part of the adults
29 as well as the students. Recognizing the Most schools offer summer stipends or mini-
dynamic nature of our world, the teachers grants to encourage teams to work together
collaborate in a process of ongoing in the summer to research relevant topics,
reflection, education, and adaptation. develop curriculum, and/or design shared
projects or activities. Several schools provide
Teachers are the key to school
release time for departmental retreats or
transformation. When asked to describe “the
for teams of teachers, often from different
teacher of the future,” i.e., that individual
departments or divisions, to visit other
who can deliver an education for our times,
schools or attend conferences together.
each head of school focused on the same
Faculty meetings are used for presentation
qualities:
and discussion of what was gleaned from
• Deep domain knowledge these opportunities, for sharing insights
• A commitment to ongoing professional about a particularly successful or disastrous
development project, and for exploring new ideas
together.
• Significant career and life experience
outside of education Increasingly, schools are hiring individuals
• A greater interest in what is learned than in with extensive career and life experience
what is taught outside of education, incorporating into
the faculty a mix of research scientists
• An ability to work as part of a team
and engineers, software developers,
Schools have always valued teachers who published authors and professional artists,
are deeply and broadly educated. Yet at a attorneys and retired military officers. These
individuals bring ideas for challenging and and keep the world at bay. They must be
engaging projects because they understand comfortable working with a team and being
how what they teach is applied in a real observed by peers.”
world setting. In turn, the schools recognize
The days are gone when an experienced
the responsibility to train and develop these
teacher can simply pull an oft-used lesson
new hires in the art and science of teaching.
plan out of the file cabinet. Noteworthy
High Tech High, as noted above, received
schools inspire teachers to remain current,
approval from the state of California in 2004
to continuously reinvent teaching methods
to certify its own teachers, and in 2007, the
informed by research and changing
school received state approval to open the
times, and to work together in ways that
HTH Graduate School of Education offering
challenge and fulfill one both personally and
Master’s Programs in Teacher Leadership
professionally.
and School Leadership.
Active mentoring is a part of professional A Culture of Engagement

development. In some schools, nearly every and Support
30 teacher is a mentor, a mentee, or both. To create change in our schools, we must
For example, an experienced department buck powerful forces of resistance at work
head may be a mentor to a new member in all dimensions of school culture from
of the department, but at the same time, trustees, to school heads, to teachers and
be mentored by another teacher on some staff, and then to students.
aspect of technology integration.
In A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age
While content knowledge and pedagogical of the Quick Fix, Edwin Friedman notes
expertise are integral to effective teaching, that as the speed and extent of change
model schools hire individuals who are increase, anxiety also increases, from the
more interested in the students they teach cellular level to the individual, to the family,
than the curriculum they teach, and whose to the school, and to society. Within this
interests lie more in what is learned than in context of continuous change and chronic
what is taught. As Joe Puggelli said, “We uncertainty, it is natural to yearn for and cling
seek teachers who want the students, not the to the certainty of the status quo. Parents
teacher, to be the star of the classroom.” want for their children an education that
resembles what they experienced; alumni
Teachers who thrive in the model schools
want their alma maters to be the idyllic
enjoy working and collaborating with others
environments they remember nostalgically;
on ideas and projects. High Tech High’s Rob
and teachers, already bombarded on all
Riordan said, “Our teachers must play well
sides with increasing demands and cynical
with others. They are not the kinds of people
about “yet another educational fad,” are
who enter the classroom, shut the door,
loathe to undertake one more challenge,
especially when it involves changing the conceptual framework. But the teachers are
core of how they teach. Students, overly active designers of the program, working
scheduled and anxious about maintaining collaboratively with one another and their
perfect transcripts, often lack a tolerance students to achieve the mission. Riverstone
for assignments requiring trial and error school head Andrew Derry says, “At the
approaches, sustained thought, and work. very heart of this process, we want teachers
to take ownership and leadership, just as
The call to action by NAIS at its 2010 Annual
we are asking students to do.” Prospect
Conference to “thessuperpowers: adapt,
Sierra head Katherine Dinh has designed
survive, and thrive” is more than a remedy
an inclusive structure easily adaptable to
for the current economic crisis. These few
any school for creating faculty leadership,
words describe a mindset that has the
momentum, and eventually full-scale buy-in.
potential to transform both the adult and the
student cultures in our schools. Relationships are the key to any well-
functioning organization. And, to a
Experts in the area of organizational
large extent, the nature and quality of
change are unanimous about the depth of
31 the challenge: changing the culture of any
relationships determine culture. Nowhere
is that fact more evident than in schools.
organization is a highly complex process,
Because of the involvement of so many
and the cultures of schools are especially
constituencies—students, faculty, parents,
resistant to change. That fact is precisely
trustees, administrators, staff, alumni,
why Rip Van Winkle can recognize a
donors, neighbors—who all have a strong,
schoolroom when everything else is beyond
vested interest, school cultures are
his ken.
especially complex. Rob Riordan notes that
Successful transformation of schools how individuals and constituencies interact
requires commitment-building and buy-in will determine whether or not a school can
from those who must deliver the program build a common culture of learning and
day in and day out. Just as engagement is questioning where one can comfortably
the key to effective learning, participation articulate observations and analysis.
and engagement on the part of the teachers
Without question, the most important
are the keys to effective implementation of a
relationship is that between student and
21st century education.
teacher. The Hamilton Project, funded
In the noteworthy schools, school by the Brookings Institution, studied the
leadership defines the mission, vision, and qualities effective teachers manifest and
broad strategic outlines. Administrators found that paper credentials, educational
establish the communication channels standards, high stakes testing, class size,
required to develop what Joe Puggelli etc., are only background noise compared
calls “Same-Paged-Ness” around the to what really matters in the delivery of a
quality education: the crucial interactions leadership today has been likened to the
between students and teachers. difference between a symphony orchestra
and a jazz ensemble.
The cultures and programs of noteworthy
schools are designed to strengthen the In the past, leaders operated in a manner
relationship between student and teacher. characterized by a command-control
This bond builds a foundation of trust, structure, much like the conductor of a
respect, and empowerment that encourages symphony orchestra: the conductor chooses
students to stretch themselves, break previously composed music, determines
through self-imposed limitations, and how he or she wants the piece to be played,
develop the confidence and competencies and conducts the musicians accordingly.
they will need in their future lives. The individual musicians play the prescribed
music as directed.
Transformational Leadership
But today, like a jazz ensemble, the groups
Transformative change begins with a vision.
are smaller; the starting point is a main
Sometimes, the vision is the inspiration of
theme, but the final piece is the product of
32 the leader, and sometimes, it is the result
improvisation and innovation by all of the
of brainstorming and conversations among
players. The leader is not the only star on the
colleagues. Not infrequently, the vision
stage, but moves to the background as each
is inspired by an idea or set of ideals that
player has a moment in the spotlight to add
the leader happens upon and can imagine
his or her own creativity and inspiration to
translated into practice within his or her
the development of the theme.
organization. And, once in a while, the
vision comes about by chance—an event, The essential work of the transformational
experience, or set of experiences suggest a leader is to create the theme and provide a
new philosophy or set of practices. work environment where the most inspired
improvisation and thematic development
Writing in the Harvard Business Review,
can take place. But it is easier said than
Ronald Heifetz notes that once a new
done. Every head of school must deal with
vision for the future is at work in a school
an endless barrage of “stuff,” including the
community, the challenge for the “change
traditional challenges of limited resources
leader” is to mobilize people to do adaptive
or the broken boiler, and the more modern
work.
challenges of highly anxious parents, ever-
The nature of leadership has changed, increasing expectations, and an explosion of
and the days are gone when a leader new reporting and legal requirements.
can dictate a new vision or program and
Ronald Heifetz, a world class cello player
expect everyone to fall in line. The contrast
and expert on leadership, notes that rather
between leadership in the past and
than protecting people from outside threats,
we should allow them “to feel the pinch Just as trust is the essential component
of reality in order to stimulate them to in the relationship between students and
adapt.” In the same way that “dissonance” teachers, trust is the most important link
plays a role in the jazz ensemble’s creative between school leaders and the faculty.
process, Heifetz recommends that “instead The players don’t always know where the
of orienting people to their current roles, development of a theme will lead them,
leaders must disorient them so that new but they trust one another enough to
relationships can develop. Instead of accept that when things don’t work out as
quelling conflict, leaders have to draw the planned, together they can achieve a course
issues out. Instead of maintaining norms, correction. Or, if necessary, their leader will
leaders have to challenge “the way we do guide them back to home key. Conversely,
business.” if the leader is the one who has set too
quick a tempo or too dissonant a theme, the
The oft-used saying that managers do things
trust level is such that others feel they can
right while leaders do the right things is
question and suggest other approaches. In
applicable to school transformation. The
short, we must create cultures that embrace
33 leaders of the noteworthy schools broke
missteps as readily as successes.
through the fragmentation of the daily nitty-
gritty to achieve clarity and focus regarding Heifetz would add that “adaptive work
their schools’ directions. For Brimmer and creates distress. Before putting people to
May, the theme was The Common Principles work on challenges for which there are
from the Coalition of Essential Schools, no ready solutions, a leader must realize
for Seattle Academy, the theme was the A that people can only learn so fast. Because
Culture of Performance, and for Prospect a leader must strike a delicate balance
Sierra, the theme was a laser focus on 21st between having people feel the need to
century skills. Each of the model schools change and having them feel overwhelmed
found a unifying principle or set of principles by change, leadership is a razor’s edge.”
that constituted or encompassed a vision for
the future. Conclusion
Ultimate success depends on After his encounter with the modern world,
empowerment, collegiality, and perhaps old Rip Van Winkle chose to return
participation. In each example, the to his comfortable pile of leaves under the
heads of school achieved broad, active log and go back to sleep. Certainly there are
endorsement of the direction and inspired those who would recommend that schools
ongoing participation of teachers who act should follow just such a course—embrace
purposefully to implement and extend the the status quo—and let the world roll over
vision. us. If we choose that course of action, one
thing is certain: our students, who are
smarter than that and, based on graduation These noteworthy projects, programs, and
and college attendance statistics, already schools have chosen to rise to the challenge.
question the relevance of schools, will seek And, they share another commonality that is
some more meaningful way to spend their perhaps the most useful lesson of all: there
youth. The choice is clear: become irrelevant is a refreshing humility about these schools.
and fade away, or embrace the complexities They revel in their successes, they laugh and
of our era and figure out how best to prepare pick themselves up after their failures, but
our young people to take the reins of the win or lose, they keep on chugging, and they
future. keep on learning.
34
Appendices
APPENDIX A
Guiding Questions
Questions originally designed for the Independent
School Association of the Southwest (ISAS)
by Jonathan Martin, head of St. Gregory College
Preparatory School (AZ), with Rhonda Durham,
ISAS Executive Director, to stimulate discourse
within your community about the changes we
face in our world and the implications of those
changes for education.
APPENDIX B
Sample process for implementing a 21st century
curriculum from Katherine Dinh, head of Prospect
Sierra School
APPENDIX C
Accreditation Implications: New Model Core
Standard and New Criterion
APPENDIX A 5. 21st Century Assessment: Does
traditional letter grading continue to
Guiding Questions be effective as a measurement and an
incentive for what we want students
Questions originally designed for the
to learn, or does 21st century learning
Independent School Association of the
require new-format assessments? If
Southwest (ISAS) by Jonathan Martin, head
so, what assessment techniques are
of St. Gregory College Preparatory School
required for 21st century learning?
(AZ), with Rhonda Durham, ISAS Executive
Director, to stimulate discourse within your 6. 21st Century Teachers: What are the
community about the changes we face in our characteristics of a 21st century teacher?
world and the implications of those changes What are the implications for our hiring
for education. practices? How do we best facilitate our
teachers’ evolution to contemporary
1. 21st Century Life: How has the world teaching and learning? What forms of
changed and what are the implications professional development are called for?
for education?
36 2. 21st Century Skills: Does the NAIS
7. 21st Century Curriculum: Does 21st
century learning demand a renewed
Commission on Accreditation Schools attention to inquiry, relevance, and/
of the Future Committee’s overview of or project/problem-based learning,
21st Century Capacities hit the mark? or are these alternate approaches too
Does a new/renewed emphasis on skills problematic to adopt wide-scale? Can
necessitate a decreased emphasis on the curriculum balance the teaching of
knowledge learning? core academics and 21st century skills? If
3. 21st Century Students: How are so, how?
students today the same as their 8. 21st Century Learning Technology: Does
predecessors and how are they contemporary learning require a large or
different? How do we respond to the larger role for laptops and other digital
differences? tools in the classroom and what are the
4. 21st Century Instruction: How must it pros and cons of wired classrooms?
change, and how can we accomplish
this? What do advances in brain research
and the cognitive sciences teach us
about the learning process that we
did not know before? What are the
implications for the classroom?
APPENDIX B of facilitated discussions with a desired
goal of coming up with a curriculum map
Prospect Sierra of the 21st C program. The team will lead
Project Design the faculty in taking the list of skills, values,
and attributes, and make connections to our
To: All Faculty/Staff, Prospect Sierra School
current programs. A list of ways in which
From: Katherine Dinh, Head of School
our graduates demonstrate mastery of
RE: 21st Century Skills Project
the skills/values/attributes will be the final
Date: January 25, 2010
product of the team’s collaboration.
Thanks for your attention at the division
Potential applicants should consider the
meetings when I presented the proposal
following requirements:
for us to engage in research and discussion
around 21st C. skills. I anticipate rich dialogue • A commitment to read research materials,
across disciplines, grades, and campuses including, but not limited to, the books
that will help Prospect Sierra define those that have been mentioned in previous
skills, values, and attributes we believe will presentations (see attached booklist)
37 allow our graduates to thrive in the future. • An ability to synthesize large amounts of
Since this was introduced, the project has information and to share the research with
taken on a little more structure (as outlined others
below), but the hope is that the team will still
• Ability to lead and facilitate discussion
have plenty of room to be creative with this
process and the product. • A strong collaborative sense
• Initiative and organization — once the
As we discussed, a team of individuals
team is decided upon, it will be your task
from both campuses will collaborate on
to come up with a work plan and detailed
this project; a limited budget has been set
time line
aside for this Strategic Plan initiative, to be
distributed by the end of the 2010-2011 year. • A willingness to complete the work
independently, and outside of school time
By the fall of 2010, the team will present as necessary
to the faculty and staff a synthesis of our
discussions and a written document with Timeline and Deadlines:
the descriptions of the 21st C skills, values, February 5, 2010: Applications due, Friday,
and attributes the Prospect Sierra faculty/ February 5, 2010
staff have identified as essential for our
graduates. March 15, 2010: Work plan for the project to
division heads and Katherine
In the 2010-2011 school year, the team will
continue to work with the faculty in a series
by May 30, 2010: Summary presentations of Prospect Sierra Reading List
each book in faculty meetings
Book List for 21st Century Skills Project
Summer 2010: Develop with faculty the list of Prospect Sierra School
21st C skills
Required:
August 25, 2010: Present summary and list of
1. Daniel Pink: A Whole New Mind
21st C skills to faculty and staff
2. Tony Wagner: The Global Achievement
Fall 2010: Develop with faculty a curriculum Gap
map that integrates 21st C skills
3. Howard Gardner: Five Minds
Winter 2011: Develop with faculty for the Future
demonstrations of mastery of 21st C skills 4. Clayton Christensen and Michael Horn:
Disrupting Class
If you’re interested in working on this, please
turn in to me a short application letter by 5. Bob Johansen: Leaders Make
February 5. Applicants will be notified by the Future
38 February 12. The application letter should
Suggested:
provide a short statement that explains your
interest in doing this work, and the ways in 1. Sir Ken Robinson: Out of Our Minds
which you believe you will add value to the 2. Daniel Pink: Drive
team.
3. Malcolm Gladwell: Outliers
Questions you may want to address in your 4. Dacher Keltner: Born to Be Good
application are below. 5. Thomas Friedman: The World is Flat
1. Why are you interested in being a part of 6. Thomas Friedman: Hot, Flat, and
the 21st C Project Team? Crowded
2. What specific skills do you possess that 7. Greg Mortensen and David Oliver Relin:
you believe will help the research team Three Cups of Tea
meet the objectives? 8. Atul Gawande: Better
Thanks in advance for your interest and for 9. Alfie Kohn: Punished by Rewards
taking the time to turn in an application. I 10. Carol Dweck: Mindsets
look forward to hearing from you. If you
11. Bernie Trilling and Charles Fadel:
have any questions, please don’t hesitate to
21st Century Skills
contact me.
Sincerely,
Katherine
APPENDIX C BIBLIOGRAPHY
T
he Committee on Schools of the
Implications for Future derived its list of “Essential
Accrediting Practices Capacities for the 21st Century”
New Commission on Accreditation Model from the sources cited in this bibliography.
Core Standard The committee hopes that the following
resources will be useful to schools as
The school demonstrates that its educational
they navigate the seas of change and
programs, institutional practices, and
seek to chart a course that will effectively
institutional culture are informed by relevant
prepare their students for the challenges
research regarding how students learn and
of the future. Although most of the works
the knowledge and capacities they will need
cited overlap more than one category, the
to lead purposeful and constructive lives.
bibliography is organized thematically under
New Commission on the following classifications:
Accreditation Criterion
39 The standards require a school to provide
• Our Changing World: perspectives on
global change, its impacts on nations,
evidence of a thoughtful process, respectful organizations and individuals, and
of its mission, for the collection and use the implications of those changes for
in school decision-making of data (both education, learning communities, and
external and internal) about student learning. school cultures;
• Leading and Managing Change and
Innovation: resources for those leading
organizations and communities during
times of change, both planned and
unplanned;
• 21st Century Skills and Capacities:
analysis of the kinds of skills and capacities
individuals will need to survive and thrive
in our changing world;
• Curricular and Pedagogical Resources:
current research on learning and
achievement; guidelines and resources
for creating and delivering a 21st century
education;
• Teaching and Learning in the Digital Age: A. Compton, Two Million Minutes takes its
insights into how emerging digital and title from the approximate length of time
media technologies are changing the ways between the start of ninth grade to high
children learn, communicate, and create, school graduation. The film highlights the
and how schools must adapt to remain lifestyles, academic habits, and personal
relevant to the modern learner; and aspirations of six top-tier high school
• Measuring 21st Century Skills: students from different parts of the world.
new trends and thoughts on school The principals, one boy and girl each from
accountability, including emergent models India, China, and the American heartland of
for institutional assessment, school Indiana, reveal in forthright interviews with
improvement, and measurement of 21st them and their parents and in short clips of
century skills. their daily lives, their efforts and attitudes
toward their college or university prospects
and subsequent lives as adults. The viewer
Our Changing World
perceives significant differences in the six
Carroll, Thomas G. "If We Didn’t Have students’ personal and cultural expectations,
40 the Schools We Have Today, Would We educational and study regimens, and non-
Create the Schools We Have Today?" academic experiences as they try to master
Contemporary Issues in Technology enough math, science, literature, and history
and Teacher Education 1, no. 1 (2000): pp. to succeed in an increasingly competitive
117–140.
world. Two Million Minutes has received
http://www.citejournal.org/vol1/iss1/
considerable praise for its evocative “wake-
currentissues/general/article1.htm
up call” to Americans, especially educators,
The author, now head of the National to reconsider the allocation of a typical
Council on Teaching and the Future of young American’s time among academic
America, argues that in spite of wanting and non-academic tasks and activities.
to change our schools to be more relevant Is it optimal when compared to practices
to the needs of today and the future, elsewhere in the world, especially China and
we continue to educate our teachers for India? Likewise, it has been criticized for an
industrial age schooling models. overly simplistic analysis of complex sets of
circumstances. The film is highly worthwhile
Compton, Robert. Two Million
for anyone interested in education if for no
Minutes. DVD. Directed by Chad
other reason than the provocative issues it
Heeter. Indianapolis: Broken Pencil
compels one to consider and, we may hope,
Productions. 2007.
fruitfully discuss with others.
http://www.2mminutes.com/
Conceived and funded by high-tech
entrepreneur and venture capitalist Robert
Gardner, Howard, Margaret Weigel, and Rischard, J. F. High Noon: 20 Global
Carrie James. “Learning: Peering Backward Problems, 20 Years to Solve Them. New
and Looking Forward in the Digital Era.” York: Perseus Book Groups, 2003.
International Journal of Learning and Media At the time of publication of this book,
1, no. 1 (winter 2009): 1–18. author Jean-Francois Rischard was the
Gardner and his colleagues at the Harvard World Bank’s vice-president for Europe. In
Graduate School of Education review what High Noon, Rischard identifies the 20 most
learning has been in the past — “traditional important and urgent global problems of the
learning” in all its variations from the “bush 21st century; argues that we lack the means
schools” of Paleolithic times to the “public to cope with the challenges to come in our
schools” of the modern era — and what it is congested, interconnected world because
likely to become in the digital environments our ways of dealing with problems belong
of future global society. to the past; and sets an agenda for the
future. Nobel prize-winning physicist Murray
Hoffer, Eric. The Ordeal of Change. Titusville, Gell-Man writes, “Rischard has supplied a
NJ: Hopewell Publications, 2006.
much-needed call for careful thought and for
41 The first sentence of this reissued book action. We can now build on his extremely
reads, “It is my impression that no one clear discussion of the major global issues
really likes the new.” This simple statement facing the world today, and of the linkages
belies the power of the author’s thinking among them, and of opportunities to do
and analysis as he explores the impact of something about them.” Teachers and
change and modernization on individuals, schools seeking meaningful, real-world
institutions and societies, reflecting that issues for their students to tackle should
when change comes too fast, those who start here.
grew up in very different times may actually
regress. Although the book was originally Witt, Robert M. “The Way Students Learn
published in 1963, Hoffer’s thinking clearly Has Changed,” HonoluluAdvertiser.com,
influenced subsequent work by Friedman March 1, 2009.
and others cited in this bibliography. The http://the.honoluluadvertiser.
concepts and ideas are directly applicable to com/article/2009/Mar/01/op/
our current era, helping to explain some of hawaii903010333.html
the difficult dynamics, particularly in parent (see below)
groups, that challenge teachers and school
leaders, and some of the global movements
that challenge our national leaders.
Considered one of the best American
thinkers and philosophers of the 20th
century, Eric Hoffer died in 1983.
Witt, Robert M. “Students Need in his analysis that the United States will
EducationFor the Real World,” no longer dominate the global economy,
HonoluluAdvertiser.com, July 5, 2009. orchestrate geopolitics, or overwhelm other
http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/ cultures, the tone of the book is optimistic in
article/2009/Jul/05/op/hawaii907050340. a relentlessly intelligent and reasonable way.
html
Zakaria’s command of economics, politics,
Executive Director of the Hawaii Association demographics, and education combine
of Independent Schools and Chair of to weave a fascinating tapestry of future
the NAIS Commission on Accreditation, possibility, pinpointing the opportunities
Robert Witt is a passionate and articulate that lie ahead if America deploys its unique
spokesperson for the necessity of change, strengths to prosper while the rest of the
innovation, and adaptation in the field world does as well.
of education. The Honolulu Advertiser
commentaries are part of a series of articles Leading and Managing
prepared by Voices of Educators, a nonprofit Change and Innovation
coalition composed of some of Hawaii’s
42 top educational experts, and designed in Christensen, Clayton, Michael B. Horn, and
partnership with the Honolulu Advertiser Curtis W. Johnson. Disrupting Class: How
Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way
to foster debate and public policy change
the World Learns. New York: McGraw-Hill,
within Hawaii’s public education system.
2008.
The articles cited provide a cogent and
Hailed by Business Week as one of the “Best
compelling case for change in the way we
Books on Innovation, 2008,” Disrupting
educate our young people if we truly hope
Class advocates the use of technology to
to prepare them for life and success in the
move education beyond standardization
future.
to customized learning and student-centric
Zakaria, Fareed. The Post-American World. classrooms as central to our efforts to
New York: W.W. Norton and Co., 2008. educate students capable of competing in a
The editor of Newsweek International and global economy. Inspired by recent studies
the host of CNN’s “Fareed Zakaria GPS,” in neuroscience and building on the concept
Fareed Zakaria has been praised consistently of “disruptive innovation,” a principle first
for the insight and depth of analysis he introduced by Harvard Business Professor
brings to world affairs. His latest book, The Christensen in “The Innovator’s Dilemma,”
Post-American World, makes the case that the authors provide provocative case studies,
today’s major movement is “the rise of the compelling scientific findings, and interesting
rest.” By this he means not that America insights on how to manage innovation.
is in decline but rather that everyone else Perhaps a bit idealistic in scope and both
is advancing. While Zakaria is unequivocal
costly and difficult to implement, the Collins, Jim. How The Mighty Fall: And Why
directions advocated in the book nonetheless Some Companies Never Give In. New York:
provide valuable insights into future potential Harper Collins, 2009.
directions and possibilities. Jim Collins’s latest book on management
focuses on how great organizations that
Collins, Jim. Good to Great: Why Some seem on an inevitable success trajectory
Companies Make the Leap… and Others can stumble, and in some cases, even fall
Don’t. New York: Harper Collins, Harper into oblivion. As Collins has said, every
Business, 2001.
organization, no matter how great, is
One of the best-selling books of all time, vulnerable to decline: “Whether you prevail
Good to Great seeks to answer questions or fail, endure or die, depends more on what
about how good companies became you do to yourself than on what the world
great companies. Collins examines 11 does to you.” The author identifies five
companies over a 15-year period whose stages of decline, catalogues the behaviors
returns exceeded three-fold those of the that tend to show up in each phase, and
stock markets for that period, identifies contrasts how different companies have
43 commonalities among those companies, navigated through those periods either to
and compares them to competitors in the success or failure. Critics have noted that
same field who failed to achieve the same How the Mighty Fall fails to have the same
success. The result is a set of principles for rigor of research that characterized Good
organizational success. An accompanying to Great, with its carefully matched pairs of
“Monograph for the Social Sector” applies companies. Collins, however, quotes Tolstoy,
those same principles to the not-for-profit “All happy families are alike; each unhappy
world. Good to Great critics attribute family is unhappy in its own way.” The
the book’s success and popularity to the phases of decline, as Collins describes them,
“Barnam Effect,” i.e., that it has “something certainly ring all-too-familiar bells in light of
for everyone,” providing a prescription the recent economic downturn. An excellent
that is vague and generic enough for broad reading assignment for not-for-profit boards
appeal rather than delivering specific, new of trustees as well as for corporate boards,
research. On the other hand, legions of the section on succession planning alone
CEOs, entrepreneurs, and leaders of not- makes the book worth the price.
for-profit organizations have found the book
inspiring and motivating to the extent that Evans, Robert. The Human Side of School
many of Collins’ concepts (e.g. “Face the Change: Reform, Resistance, and the Real-
brutal facts.”) have entered the business Life Problems of Innovation. San Francisco,
vocabulary. Jossey-Bass, 1996.
Innovation, school reform, and institutional
transformation are exciting discussion topics
but difficult to implement. As its title implies, for those in schools and social service
Rob Evans’s first book offers a thorough organizations. In addition to providing
grounding in the realities of how people paradigms for shifting thinking from “finding
and school reform mix. His approach is answers” to “changing the questions,” the
deeply practical. He covers human behavior, book offers invaluable guidelines for leading
organizational functioning, and common effectively in times of turbulence.
sources of resistance to school reform. He
offers management strategies for solving Gladwell, Malcolm. The Tipping Point: How
problems, improving communication, Little Things Can Make A Big Difference.
and motivating staff. He makes the case New York: Little, Brown and Co., 2002.
for realistic expectations of how quickly “Tipping points” are “the levels at
reform can take place and how leaders will which momentum for change becomes
perform. He also suggests a conceptual unstoppable.” In this best seller about the
framework for school improvement that puzzling shifts that can lead to everything
involves understanding the process of from a craze for Hush Puppy shoes to
change, educators as people, and the craft plummeting crime in New York City, Gladwell
44 of leadership. Ultimately, The Human Side claims that ideas, products, messages,
of School Change encourages cooperation and behaviors spread in much the same
between those who lead changes those who way as viruses. He describes the three
must implement it. “agents of change:” “The Law of the Few,”
those whose participation are critical to the
Friedman, Edwin. A Failure of Nerve: success of an endeavor; “The Stickiness
Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix. New Factor,” the specific content of the message
York: Church Publishing, 2007. that makes its impact memorable; and “The
Especially engaging for leaders who Power of Context,” the extent to which
want to think and move in new directions, human behavior is sensitive to and strongly
A Failure of Nerve takes a close look at influenced by its environment. Gladwell’s
common emotional and intellectual fallacies analysis as to why “tipping points” occur
and roadblocks that can cause problems has been challenged by Duncan Watts, a
when major change is taking place. Its network-theory sociologist at Columbia
author, Edwin Friedman, brings to bear his University, and by economist Steven
experience as a rabbi, family therapist, and Levitt, author of the book Freakonomics.
organizational consultant. His understanding Nevertheless, Gladwell’s work provides
of the power of emotional process in serious food for thought to any individual or
institutions offers valuable perspectives organization seeking to change or innovate.
for anyone in leadership, and especially
McKinsey & Company. How the World’s 21st Century Skills
Best Performing School Systems Come and Capacities
Out on Top. [Chicago]: OECD Directorate for
Education, 2007. Levy, Frank and Larry Murnane.
The report says that three factors appear to The New Division of Labor: How Computers
make the biggest difference: (1) attracting Are Creating the Next Job Market.
Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2004
the most appropriate individuals to teaching;
(2) giving them the needed professional Levy and Murnane revisit the four questions
development to become successful that have been periodically asked since the
instructors; and (3) making certain that advent of the computer: What kinds of work
the system can provide the best possible do humans do better than computers? What
teaching for every student. kinds of tasks do computers do better than
humans? What well-paid work is left for
Wheatley, Margaret J. Leadership and the people to do both now and in the future?
New Science: Discovering Order in a Chaotic How can people learn the skills to do this
World. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler work? The book provides a compelling
45 Publishers, 2006. analysis of the ways digital technologies
This ground-breaking book uses new have changed the world of work and a
scientific theories to explore several issues cogent roadmap for the skills individuals will
organizations must grapple with, from order need to survive and thrive in the information
and structure to flexibility and innovation. age. The authors bundle these capacities
The work uses breakthroughs in areas under two umbrellas—expert thinking and
such as quantum physics, chaos theory, complex communication—identify verbal,
and biology to illuminate aspects of work quantitative, and digital literacy as essential
and life. Although it was lauded as the No. enabling skills, the gateway to developing
1 management book of 1992 when first the specific identified abilities required for
published, the original work was criticized success in the future.
because the scientific concepts were difficult
to understand and apply to a business Levy, Frank and Larry Murnane. Teaching
context. This new edition is more accessible the New Basic Skills: Principles for
to lay readers thanks to more extensive Educating Children to Thrive in a Changing
Economy. New York: The Free Press, 1996.
explanations, an additional chapter on
change, and strongly drawn links between This book’s premise is that if tomorrow’s
the science and the issues face. adults are to earn at least a middle-class
salary and succeed in the global economy,
schools must teach today’s students to
master “the new basic skills.” The authors
divide them into “hard” skills, such as math
and reading; “soft” skills, including working Pink, Daniel. A Whole New Mind: Why Right-
in groups and making presentations; Brainers Will Rule The Future. New York:
and, finally, the ability to use technology. Penguin Group, 2006.
To teach these skills, Levy and Murnane An example of the management-book trend
suggest, schools must retrain teachers toward recognizing the value of creativity
using the same motivational techniques that and innovation, A Whole New Mind offers
corporations use with their managers. The a whole new view of what’s required to
book uses case studies to show how the succeed in business. The book postulates
application of five management principles that the future belongs to those with “right-
can boost student achievement. Critics of brain” qualities, including inventiveness,
“the new basic skills” argue that the skills are empathy, and the ability to uncover meaning.
too basic (e.g., the ability to read at a ninth- Referring to three prevailing trends that
grade level). will influence business and economy—
abundance, Asia, and automation—author
Partnership for 21st Century Skills. Daniel Pink believes creativity will become
http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/ the competitive edge that can differentiate
46 Calling itself “the national organization commodities. He outlines the six essential
that advocates for 21st century readiness senses that will determine future success.
for every student,” the Partnership for 21st He also gives context by outlining four major
Century Skills aspires to place essential “ages”—the Agricultural Age (farmers),
expertise at the center of American K-12 the Industrial Age (factory workers), the
education by promoting collaboration Information Age (knowledge workers),
among leaders in education, business, and the Conceptual Age (creators and
government, and local communities. The empathizers). This fourth stage is where Pink
partnership was formed in 2002 through believes businesses and individuals must
the efforts of the U.S. Department of focus in order to be successful.
Education, AOL Time Warner Foundation,
Robinson, Ken. Out of Our Minds:
Apple Computer, Microsoft Corporation,
The Business Revolution, Creativity, and
Dell Computer Corporation, the National
Education. New York: John Wiley
Education Association, and others. Its
& Sons, 2001.
website is a tremendous resource for school
This is a fascinating book that explores the
leaders and teachers who want to help
reasons why the old ways of thinking about
students become effective workers, leaders,
creativity are grossly inadequate for the
and citizens in the future.
challenges that lie ahead of us. Educators
in particular will be keen to read Robinson’s
criticisms of how we teach, how we measure
learning, and the inherent biases in the
global educational system that erode for infusing these skills and capacities into
creativity and stifle those students who curricula and classrooms. The book contains
think differently than the system requires. classroom vignettes, global examples,
He wastes few words in lamenting the schoolwork samples, and perhaps of most
traditional strategy to improve education interest, a DVD with mini-documentaries of
by increasing standards and developing innovative practices and specific projects
more tests to measure learning. He has that put theory into action.
deep confidence in the native intelligence
and human capacity of children, and University of Minnesota–Duluth.
unabashedly promotes the latest research “Transferable Skills Survey”
in neuro-developmental science that argues http://www.d.umn.edu/kmc
for new ways of thinking and learning. The Knowledge Management Center (KMC)
Although entertaining, the book is not pop at the University of Minnesota published
psychology but is properly footnoted and a transferable skills survey listing the
research studies are cited throughout the skills prospective employers expect in job
text. The book is not for the weak of heart. applicants and consider fundamental to
47 It will jump-start whatever “alternative” success in the workplace. The instrument
educational initiatives one has in mind and lists five broad skill areas that are divided
threatens the traditional ways of thinking into more specific skills. The KMC focuses on
about improving education. those skills it considers “transferable” as in
a time of rapid change. Students will be best
Trilling, Bernie and Charles Fadel. served by acquiring skills that can be applied
21st Century Skills: Learning For Life
across disciplines and to differing situations.
In Our Times. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass,
2009. Wagner, Tony. The Global Achievement Gap.
Bernie Trilling is the global director for New York: Perseus Book Group, 2008.
the Oracle Foundation, serves as a board Provocative, thoughtful, and inspirational,
member of the Partnership for 21st Century Tony Wagner’s book explores the true global
Skills (P21), and was a director for the achievement gap—that is, the gap between
Technology in Education group at WestEd. what even our best schools are teaching
Charles Fadel is global leader for education and testing and what our students will
at Cisco Systems, and the Cisco board need to know and do to survive in the new
member of P21. Together they co-chair the global economy. After talking to business
Partnership’s Standards, Assessment, and leaders and sitting in on classes in top
Professional Development committee. The public schools, Wagner discerned a major
book has received high praise for providing difference between the qualities employers
a clear explanation of what is meant by 21st seek when hiring (such as the ability to think
century education and a practical framework critically and creatively and communicate
effectively) and what schools encourage Curricular and
(including passive learning and lesson Pedagogical Resources
plans that teach to the test and emphasize
memorization). The book identifies seven Barron, Brigid et.al. Powerful Learning:
survival skills for college, careers, and What We Know About Teaching for
Understanding. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass,
citizenship in the 21st century. Educators,
2008.
business leaders, and policymakers all cite
The Global Achievement Gap as a “must This book argues that schools have clung
read.” to educational philosophies and techniques
from a century ago even though the rest of
Walser, Nancy.”Teaching 21st Century the world has radically changed in recent
Skills.” Harvard Education Letter, decades. In particular, educators have
September/ October 2008. been surprisingly loyal to the teacher-and-
http://www.hepg.org/hel/article/184 textbook model, underpinned by lectures,
Walser’s article summarizes the broad discussion, and reading, in spite of complete
consensus emerging as the list of critical transformations in almost every other sector
48 skills for the 21st Century, but then asks of our society. However, this “dominant
the critical question: “So, then, how are paradigm” is starting to shift. The authors
such skills to be taught and evaluated?” In note many examples of teachers, principals,
Walser’s analysis, the critical skills are those and district administrators implementing
that will help the user of modern information new forms of project-based curricula and
technology make the most of such resources performance-based assessment.
and the innovations succeeding them. The
Chapin, Dexter. Master Teachers:
“rub” is how teachers, on a colossal scale,
Making a Difference on the Edge of Chaos.
are going to be motivated, re-trained, and Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield, 2009.
equipped to do something transformative
A veteran of 35 years in education in roles
and utterly different from what they are
ranging from superintendent of schools,
now required to do. Presently, the general
science department chair, and high school
legislative approach to modern pedagogy is
biology teacher, Dexter Chapin focuses
to blend the old with the new. But Harvard
on teachers and the dynamics of the
Graduate School of Education Professor
classroom from about 20,000 feet, using
Christopher Dede regards this as flawed. He
the perspectives of Systems, Chaos, and
asserts, “You can’t just sprinkle 21st Century
Culture Theories. This book talks about who
skills on the 20th Century doughnut. It
teaches and why, what the goals of teaching
requires a fundamental reconception of what
are and how to achieve them, and the role of
we are doing.”
teacher in the larger socio-cultural context.
Chapin maintains that the philosophy of firsthand, the founders recognized the
education as a one-size-fits-all endeavor potential to impact the world of education by
undercuts what teachers actually do, in all adapting content typically first encountered
its complexity and depth. Recognized by at graduate school level to elementary and
NAIS as a 2009 “Teacher of the Future” for secondary schools.
his innovative use of modeling programs
in the science classroom, Chapin was also Dweck, Carol. Mindset: The New Psychology
instrumental in designing the Washington of Success. New York: Random House, 2007.
State Standards and Guidelines on For teachers facing students who should
Environmental Sustainability. perform better, parents wishing their
daughters would embrace math and science,
Decision Education Foundation. and coaches and HR directors thinking
http://www.decisioneducation.org their athletes and staffs could achieve
Rooted in the conviction that better more, Stanford University psychologist
decisions lead to better lives, the Decision Carol Dweck offers this research-based
Education Foundation (DEF) has trained advice: Encourage a “growth mindset”
49 hundreds of educators and school leaders rather than a “fixed mindset.” For decades,
in Decision Quality (DQ) and continues to Dweck has studied intelligence, motivation,
develop materials that are being adopted achievement, and success. Based on her
by schools nationwide. DEF’s goal is to findings, she believes that individuals do
make the teaching of decision skills an better when they’re willing to risk initial
integral part of educational programs so failure by challenging themselves to grow
that every student understands the process their abilities. In contrast, people don’t
that leads to decision quality. Participating achieve as much by fixating on how smart
teachers have reported improvements they are and what they already do well
in critical thinking and problem-solving while steering clear of tasks that may lead to
skills, increases in student achievement, mistakes.
improved classroom behavior and
Gladwell, Malcolm. Outliers:
student collaboration, enriched classroom
The Story of Success. New York:
discussions, and increased creativity, which Little, Brown and Co., 2008.
they associate with students’ acquisition of
Malcolm Gladwell, a British-born Canadian
decision skills. DEF founders — academic
journalist, has been a staff writer for The
and business leaders from Stanford, MIT,
New Yorker since 1996 and was one of
and other leading universities — bring
Time magazine’s 100 most influential
decades of experience in teaching decision
people in 2005. Sometimes labeled “a pop
science and applying this discipline to
sociologist,” Gladwell mines academic
business, medicine, and engineering. Having
studies for their surprising implications for
witnessed the power of decision science
daily life. In Outliers, he asks why some International Baccalaureate Organization.
people achieve more than others and “IB Learner Profile,”
concludes that the answer may go beyond http://www.ibo.org/programmes/
intelligence and ambition to culture, class, profile/
family, and sometimes even birthplace (accessed October 16, 2008)
and birth date. The true story of success is
As the International Baccalaureate website
complex, according to Gladwell, and offers
says, “The IB’s three programs for students
unexpected and provocative lessons in how
aged 3 to 19 help develop the intellectual,
to maximize human potential.
personal, emotional, and social skills to live,
Hattie, John A. C. Visible Learning: learn, and work in a rapidly globalizing world”;
A Synthesis of Over 800 Meta-Analyses the program’s participants are 876,000
Relating to Achievement. London: Taylor & students at more than 3,000 schools in 139
Francis, 2009.
countries. The IB’s Learner Profile translates
Based on 15 years of research involving 83 the organization’s mission statement into a set
million students, this ground-breaking work
of learning outcomes and a long-term vision
50 by Auckland University Professor John
of education—“a set of ideals that can inspire,
Hattie is the largest evidence-based study of
motivate, and focus the work of schools and
how to actually improve learning in schools.
teachers, uniting them in a common purpose.”
The book systematically explores long-
In addition to providing the Learner Profile and
held assumptions about the variables that
influence learning (including students and learning outcomes, the IB website includes
teachers themselves, home environment, the organization’s mission statement, strategy,
school curricula, and teaching strategies); opportunities for professional development,
individually tests those assumptions variable video examples of the program in action,
by variable; and provides a “dashboard blogs, curricular materials, and other classroom
indicator” graph of the relative effect of each resources.
variable. Hattie then develops a model based MIT Media Lab. Lifelong Kindergarten
on what he calls visible teaching and visible http://llk.media.mit.edu/
learning. A major conclusion: Both students
and teachers do best when attention is paid This website and its related articles and
to challenging them, setting clear goals for resources have been developed over the
success, and devising learning strategies past decade on the premise that all learning
that build conceptual understanding. Hattie’s should be like it was in kindergarten:
analysis found overwhelmingly that the enjoyable, engaging, creative, and project-
top variable was the quality of student- based.
teacher interaction, along with giving regular
and timely feedback, and fostering an
atmosphere of trust.
National Research Center for the Gifted and school student will graduate from high
Talented. “Research-Based Resources” school globally competitive for work and
http://www.gifted.uconn.edu/nrcgt/ postsecondary education and prepared
resource.html for life in the 21st century.” The resulting
The National Research Center for the Gifted document is a new vision of teaching that
and Talented (NRC/GT), located at the recognizes that today’s world demands new
University of Connecticut and working in teacher roles—both in the classroom and
collaboration with the University of Virginia, the school at large—and works within the
is conducting a study titled “What Works standards’ definition of “what teachers need
in Gifted Education: Excellence and Equity to know and do to be able to teach students
in Educating Gifted Students.” The website in the 21st century.”
offers curricular units in math and reading
West Virginia Department of Education.
that incorporate ideas from a variety of
“Content Standards and Objectives”
gifted-and-talented models and emphasize
http://wvde.state.wv.us/policies/csos.
conceptual thinking, real-world disciplinary
html
inquiry, and problem-solving—skills
51 universally recognized as key components The Committee on Schools of the Future
of a 21st century education. The School- explored a selection of state department of
wide Enrichment Model (SEM) could be of education websites in an effort to ascertain
particular interest to all schools and teachers. the priorities, content standards, strategies,
SEM’s teaching methods are applicable to and other resources used to assist educators
several content areas and settings and can in planning and delivering effective 21st
lead to higher achievement among many century instruction. This West Virginia
types of students, including those of high site was designed by teachers to assist
ability who have learning disabilities or are colleagues. Information is easily accessible
prone to underperforming. and includes, as a list on the website says,
“21st century standards-based units; lesson
North Carolina Professional Teaching plans; instructional guides; and project-based
Standards Commission. “North Carolina learning designs that model integration
Professional Teaching Standards” of content, learning skills and technology
http://www.ncptsc.org/mission.htm standards, research-based instructional
Since 2007, the North Carolina Professional strategies, differentiated instruction, and
Teaching Standards Commission has been rich classroom assessments, including a
charged with bringing the state’s Core culminating performance, product, or project
Standards for the Teaching Profession into with an accompanying rubric.”
alignment with the Board of Education’s
new mission statement: “Every public
Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. speaker series, curriculum design, and
“Wisconsin Model Academic Standards” youth programs. For those who attend the
http://dpi.wi.gov/standards/ council’s professional development training,
On its website, the Wisconsin Department up-to-date curricular units on a variety of
of Public Instruction says that its academic global topics are available for download.
standards specify “what students should The curricular units are often aligned with
know and be able to do, what they Washington state’s Classroom Based
might be asked to do to give evidence Assessments (CBA), but teachers who are
of standards, and how well they must not using CBAs may also find useful lesson
perform.” Links to the four core standards plans and resources in the packets.
(English, mathematics, science, and social
Willingham, Daniel T. Why Don’t
studies) provide separate web pages for
Students Like School? San Francisco:
the content and performance standard of
Jossey-Bass, 2009.
each subject and each grade level. Other
Based on his study of the biological and
model academic standards are available for
cognitive basis of learning, cognitive scientist
52 a wide range of instructional areas including
foreign languages, the arts, environmental
Dan Willingham has distilled his knowledge
into a set of nine easily understood principles
education, agricultural education, and
with direct application to the classroom.
personal financial literacy.
Each chapter is centered around a question:
World Affairs Council. How can I teach students the skills they need
“Global Classroom” when standardized tests require only fact?;
http://www.world-affairs.org/classroom. Is drilling worth it?; Why is it so hard for
htm students to understand abstract ideas?” He
explains the importance of story, emotion,
The Seattle-based World Affairs Council of
memory, context, and knowledge in building
America describes itself as “an association
lasting learning experiences. His work
of 90 independent organizations in 39
echoes that of Gallagher in Rapt and Dweck
states and the District of Columbia that
in Mindset, although his primary focus is the
work to engage and educate Americans
importance of factual learning and practice
on international affairs and foreign policy.”
as a precursor to higher order conceptual
The non-profit, non-partisan council has a
learning. Willingham directly challenges
reputation for quality programs including the
Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple
Global Classroom, which exposes teachers
intelligences and contends “‘Learning styles’
and students to international citizens,
don’t exist.”
ideas, and resources through training,
Teaching and Learning Digital Generation Project was produced
in the Digital Age with support from the John D. and
Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. (http://
Catalyze Learning International digitallearning.macfound.org/site/c.
http://www.markmilliron.com/ enJLKQNlFiG/b.2029199/k.94AC/Latest_
Mark Milliron is a speaker, author, and News.htm)
consultant whose areas of expertise
Gallagher, Winifred. Rapt. New York:
include leadership development, trends of
Penguin Press, 2009.
the future, learning strategies, and what
he calls “the human side of technology Acclaimed behavioral science writer
change.” Milliron has presented to school Winifred Gallagher proposes “a grand
heads in a number of commission member unifying theory of psychology: Your life is
associations as well as universities, K-12 the sum of what you focus on.” In an age of
schools, corporations, and government twittering, emailing, sound bites, and multi-
agencies across the country and around tasking, Gallagher discusses the psychology
the world. Knowledgeable in current and and neuroscience of attention and makes
53 emerging technologies and how they can be the connection between attention and
applied effectively in the classroom, Milliron achievement. She provides exercises that
makes engaging, interactive presentations can improve the focusing power of young
can inspire and encourage teachers and children and offers techniques to help
leaders who are hesitant to move into a 21st adults discipline their attention. At a time
century learning environment. when educators are seeking ways to move
students beyond superficial processing of
Edutopia. The Digital Generation Report. information to more complex thinking and
http://www.edutopia.org/digital- problem-solving, Gallagher’s suggestions
generation/ about how to resist the lure of technological
Although today’s kids are “born into a innovations that can diminish our students’
media-rich, networked world of infinite ability to concentrate are most welcome.
possibilities,” as Edutopia.org notes,
Ito, Mizuko, HeartherHorst, et al. Living
“their digital lifestyle is about more than
and Learning with New Media: Summary
just cool gadgets; it's about engagement, of Findings from the Digital Youth Project.
self-directed learning, creativity, and The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur
empowerment.” Edutopia’s Digital Foundation Reports on Digital Media and
Generation Project features videos and Learning, November 2008.
stories about these engaged, self-directed In a summary of the results of a three-year
young people to help educators and ethnographic study of young people and
parents see just how differently the kids new media, this white paper addresses
learn, communicate, and socialize. The two major research questions: “How are
new media be¬ing integrated into youth to five years.” The report’s value goes
practices and agendas?” and “How do these beyond simply talking about technology to
practices change the dynamics of youth- cover how to use technology to enhance
adult negotiations over literacy, learning, and teaching, learning, and the creative arts. The
authoritative knowledge?” annual findings are based on the work of an
international advisory board that reviews
Landmarks for Schools. relevant research and interviews; discusses
http://landmark-project.com/ both existing and potential applications; and
David Warlick’s mission is to educate “ultimately ranks more than 100 candidate
students and teachers about the potential technologies for their potential relevance to
of digital tools in the classroom. Operator teaching, learning, and creative expression.”
of the Landmark Project, “a consulting The reports are free at http://www.nmc.org/
and innovation firm” based in Raleigh, publications/2010-horizon-report.
North Carolina, Warlick is a leader in the
Palfrey, John and Urs Gasser. Born Digital:
field of educational technology; a former
Understanding the First Generation of
classroom teacher, district administrator,
54 and staff consultant with the North Carolina
Digital Natives. New York: Perseus Book
Group, 2008.
State Department of Public Instruction; the
Born Digital explores the world of “Digital
author of four books on teaching, learning,
Natives,” those children who were born
and schooling in the 21st century; and a
into and raised in a digital world, and
frequent presenter at workshops around the
provides an extensive look into how digital
world. His website, Landmarks for Schools,
technologies impact the way these children
provides free teacher tools, including blogs
interact, communicate, learn, and create. The
connecting teachers within and across
authors duly note the potential problems
curricular disciplines; the “citation machine,”
of life online; the growth of digital dossiers
designed to help students and professional
on individuals; the loss of privacy; epidemic
researchers properly credit the sources
illegal file-sharing; issues of intellectual
used; and an education podcast network.
property rights; information overload;
New Media Consortium and EDUCAUSE and the potential psychological and even
Learning Initiative. The Horizon Report: physical harm from Internet predators and
2008 Edition. Austin: New Media cyberbullies. However, the overwhelming
Consortium, 2008. message is one of encouragement to fully
Each year the New Media Consortium (NMC) realize the extraordinary opportunities
and the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative inherent in digital technologies for creativity,
(ELI) collaborate on The Horizon Report, learning, entrepreneurship, and innovation.
which “describes six areas of emerging If we as a society are to fully realize the
technology that will have significant impact upside of the digital world, avoid the pitfalls,
on higher education over the next one and educate our children in ways that are
relevant to their new ways of studying, assessment tools that track a range of
working, writing, and interacting, then digital measures, from student engagement to
literacy is a fundamental skill for the future. college matriculation to parent perceptions.
Well-designed media literacy programs hold Assuming that the primary purpose of these
the best hope for maximizing the potential measurements is institutional assessment
of current and emerging technologies while and improvement, schools can choose the
helping young people manage the negative tools that best fits their respective missions
impacts. and communities. The list is divided into five
categories: school data, standardized tests,
Tapscott, Don. Grown Up Digital: How the international tests, value-added tests, and
Net Generation is Changing Your World. student surveys.
McGraw-Hill, 2008.
Don Tapscott writes about a $4.5 million Partnership for 21st Century Skills.
study of some 8,000 members of the “Net http://www.p21.org
Generation,” born between 1978 and 1994.
The P21 website offers a range of
The resulting book is as entertaining as it is
55 convincing and optimistic. As a review of the
resources on the critical systems
necessary to ensure student mastery of
book in The Economist notes, Tapscott
21st century skills, including guidelines
finds that the problem is not with the digital for assessment. A white paper, “21st
generation but rather “with the befuddled Century Skills Assessment,” discusses
baby-boomers, who once sang along with summative and formative forms of
Bob Dylan that ‘something is happening assessment, the specific characteristics
here, but you don’t know what it is,’ and
of each in a 21st century skills context,
now find that they are clueless about the
how states can create and implement
revolutionary changes taking place among
assessment to promote 21st century
the young.”
skills in their classrooms, and a helpful
bibliography for further research on
Measuring 21st
the topic.
Century Skills
Silva, Elena. “Measuring Skills for the
Burnett, Jefferson and Amada Torres.
21st Century.” Education Sector Reports,
“Student Outcomes that Measure the
November, 2008.
School’s Value-added,” February 19, 2009.
http://www.educationsector.org/
National Association of Independent
publications/measuring-skills-21st-
Schools.
century
http://www.nais.org/sustainable/article.
cfm?ItemNumber=151607 This report, arguably the most
comprehensive to date on the challenge
Recognizing the growing importance
of assessing 21st century skills, identifies
of accountability, NAIS has reviewed
promising emerging models of assessment, Watertown Public Schools. “Measuring
and explores perspectives both on the 21st Century Skills. “Emerging and Current
types of teachers required to deliver the Assessments.”
curriculum of the future and reliability This PowerPoint presentation identifies
factors inherent in performance-based emerging assessments that the Watertown
assessment. The endnotes to the paper district would like to use to assess
offer an intriguing set of resources for acquisition of 21st century skills, including
further exploration. The report’s publisher is ETS iSkills and Metiri Dimensions21 with
Education Sector, a nonprofit, nonpartisan the associated web links to each. The
think tank; its website says it “challenges presentation includes references and/or
conventional thinking in education policy” links to current assessment mechanisms,
and “is committed to achieving measurable a selection of teacher developed rubrics,
impact in education, both by improving and identifies a list of 21st century skills
existing reform initiatives and by developing for which we lack defined assessment
new, innovative solutions to our nation’s mechanisms.
most pressing education problems.” Author
56 Elena Silva oversees the think tank’s teacher
quality work.
About the NAIS Commission on Accreditation
The NAIS Commission on Accreditation comprises representatives from 19 NAIS
state, regional, and international associations that accredit independent schools,
two representatives from the NAIS board, and two “at-large” members.
As described in its mission statement,
The NAIS Commission on Accreditation is an international authority on

independent school accreditation. The primary purpose of the Commission is to
provide quality assurance and accountability for the accreditation programs of its
state, regional, and international member associations.
The Commission establishes and maintains criteria for effective accreditation and
conducts formal evaluations of member association accreditation programs.
The Commission also examines and assesses the evolving educational

environment, and it acts as a catalyst in partnership with associations in
57 navigating significant change, developing innovative practices, and promoting
transformative leadership in the field of accreditation.
Ultimately, the work of the commission strengthens independent school

education and supports the ongoing improvement of individual schools, while
enhancing the learning experiences of their students.
The commission is seeking new approaches to independent school accreditation

that will sustain peer-driven accountability and an improvement program that will
serve well as a catalyst to create “Schools of the Future.”
For more information, please visit www.nais.org/go/CoA
NAIS Commission on Accreditation Membership
February 2010
Robert Witt, Hawaii Association of Independent Schools, Chair
Jean Orvis, Seattle Academy of Arts and Sciences, Assistant Chair
Joseph Becker, Roycemore School, Independent Schools Association
of the Central States
William Bennett, Commission on Independent Schools, New England
Association of Schools and Colleges
Sally Boese, Virginia Association of Independent Schools
Jefferson Burnett, National Association of Independent Schools
Bob Chambers, Athens Academy, Southern Association of Independent Schools
Jack Creeden, Providence Day School, NAIS Board of Trustees
58 Rhonda Durham, Independent Schools Association of the Southwest

Cathy Gately, Charles River School, Association of Independent Schools
in New England
Ron Goldblatt, Association of Independent Maryland Schools
John Heard, Council of International Schools
Barbara Hodges, Florida Council of Independent Schools
Anne-Marie Kee, SEAL
Mark Lauria, New York State Association of Independent Schools
David Lowry, The Elisabeth Morrow School, New Jersey Association
of Independent Schools
Doug Lyons, Connecticut Association of Independent Schools
Jim McManus, California Association of Independent Schools
Linda Phelps, Pennsylvania Association of Independent Schools
Nancy Spillane, The Lowell Whiteman Primary School, Association of
Colorado Independent Schools
Meade Thayer, Pacific Northwest Association of Independent Schools
Connie Wootton, Southwestern Association of Episcopal Schools
With Special Thanks to the
Schools of the Future Committee
Jean Orvis, Seattle Academy of Arts and Sciences, Chair
Jim McManus, California Association of Independent Schools, Vice-Chair
Sally Boese, Virginia Association of Independent Schools
Bob Chambers, Athens Academy, Southern Association of Independent Schools
Jack Creeden, Providence Day School, NAIS Board of Trustees
Rhonda Durham, Independent Schools Association of the Southwest
Cathy Gately, Charles River School, Association of Independent Schools in New England
John Heard, Council of International Schools
59 David Lowry, The Elisabeth Morrow School, New Jersey Association of Independent Schools
Joan Lutton, Cushman School, Florida Council of Independent Schools
Linda Phelps, Pennsylvania Association of Independent Schools
Robert Witt, Hawaii Association of Independent Schools
© 2010 by the National Association of Independent Schools. All rights reserved.
The opinions expressed in this book are not necessarily those of the publisher, NAIS.
ISBN: 1-893021-86-6
Printed in the United States of America.
The National Association of Independent Schools represents approximately 1,643
independent private schools in the United States and other countries. All are accredited,
non-discriminatory, nonprofit organizations governed by independent boards of
trustees. NAIS’s mission is to serve and strengthen member schools and associations
by “articulating and promoting high standards of education quality and ethical behavior;
to work to preserve their independence to serve the free society from which that
independence derives; to advocate broad access for students by affirming the principles of
diversity, choice, and opportunity.” To find out more information, go to the NAIS website
at www.nais.org. To receive a listing of NAIS books,call (800) 793-6701 or (240) 646-7052.
Editors: Jefferson Burnett, Myra McGovern, Paul Miller, Nancy Raley

60 Designer: Fletcher Design, Inc./Washington, DC
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in, or introduced
into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without prior written permission of
NAIS. The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any
other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Brief
quotations or excerpts of this publication for use in reviews or professional works are
permitted as provided under intellectual property law.
1620 L Street, NW
Suite 1100
Washington, DC 20036
(202) 973-9700

NAISCOASchools

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

You might also like

NAISCOASchools

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

NAISCOASchools

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

NAIS COMMISSION ON ACCREDITATION

A 21ST CENTURY IMPERATIVE

11 • Develop cross-disciplinary knowledge

Assessment includes presentations of

The school’s ‘common ground curriculum’ • Technology encourages fundamentally

classroom resources. He began with a focus on Collaborative

Active mentoring is a part of professional A Culture of Engagement

As described in its mission statement,

The NAIS Commission on Accreditation is an international authority on

The Commission also examines and assesses the evolving educational

Ultimately, the work of the commission strengthens independent school

The commission is seeking new approaches to independent school accreditation

For more information, please visit www.nais.org/go/CoA

58 Rhonda Durham, Independent Schools Association of the Southwest

Jim McManus, California Association of Independent Schools, Vice-Chair

Sally Boese, Virginia Association of Independent Schools

Bob Chambers, Athens Academy, Southern Association of Independent Schools

Jack Creeden, Providence Day School, NAIS Board of Trustees

Rhonda Durham, Independent Schools Association of the Southwest

John Heard, Council of International Schools

Joan Lutton, Cushman School, Florida Council of Independent Schools

Linda Phelps, Pennsylvania Association of Independent Schools

Robert Witt, Hawaii Association of Independent Schools

Editors: Jefferson Burnett, Myra McGovern, Paul Miller, Nancy Raley

You might also like