Are "21st Century Skills the Next Education Revolution?

Fifty years ago, students were preparing for non-technological, and often lifelong, careers based on the principles of reading, writing, and arithmetic.

Today, an entirely new skill set is necessary for students to stay globally competitive in fast-paced information industries. The Partnership for 21st Century Skills (P21) aims to groom these future professionals for the modern working world.

As the foremost K-12 educational advocacy organization in the nation, P21"founded in 2002"has mapped out a vision for contemporary learning to which schools, districts, and states have since subscribed. P21 encourages critical thinking and problem solving, self-direction skills, global awareness, economic and business literacy, and civic leadership. And notably, the program counts President Barack Obama among its loyal supporters.

Ken Kay, president of P21, spent 28 years in the House and Senate in Washington, D.C., observing the evolution of the country's education policies and is also the CEO and co-founder of the e-Luminate Group, an education consulting firm specializing in marketing communications and 21st century skills services.

"We are beginning the next generation of accountability," Kay says. "We're trying to have an expanded conversation with educators on the real outcomes we need from our system. That's different from the expectations we had 50 years ago."

That antiquated mid-century model included an emphasis on math, science, and social studies, whereas the current checklist involves more innovation and creativity skills, Kay says. The P21 aspiration is to mold a new set of well-rounded students and to have policymakers articulate the forward-thinking goal of American education.

Thus far, partners in 13 states have given P21 substantial credence (Illinois, Louisiana, Nevada, Arizona, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Dakota, West Virginia, and Wisconsin). The 13 state partners joined a number of businesses and community organizations at June's online National Summit on 21st Century Skills, which featured nine Webinars, through which educators gleaned insights from colleagues who have already implemented the programs in their school systems.

"The contribution of our work to the educational dialogue is to get people thinking about the attributes that should be required of every student," Kay says. "It used to be, people were going to choose a career and be in it for 30 and 40 years. Now we're talking about 10 to 15 jobs per lifetime, and the need to apply different content in different contexts is paramount."

But the program's detractors assert that, because adolescent American students are supremely unmotivated, and because it requires hard work and dedication to teach them the recommended materials, the P21 program will crumble.

Kay disagrees. Core subject areas in the curriculum need to be revamped, he says, and even stable local educational systems could use a little reform.

"The world is changing, and the old model doesn't work anymore," Kay says. "We need to change the way we talk about"and think about"education."

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