The Capital Region Society for Technology in Education has signed the Partnership for 21st Century Skills national action agenda for promoting the learning of 21st century skills in the classroom.
In submitting the signed agenda to the Partnership, Ececutive Director Walter McKenzie said, "CRSTE is proud to submit its support for your National Action Agenda. Thank you for your leadership on this critical issue in education. CRSTE believes strongly in preparing all students for the 21st century global economy. Please keep us informed as to how we can continue to actively support your efforts in the future." The Partnership has proposed the agenda "To give our students the education they need to succeed in the world that awaits them, we must develop ways to understand the criteria needed for their success. The Partnership for 21st Century Skills has put forth these National Action Agenda Principles to clearly define and advance 21st century skills and education in the United States. Our goal is to seek out and develop ways in which states, school districts, educators, organizations and policy makers can collaborate to build an educational system that better prepares our students for the world that awaits them."
Principles of the agenda include:
US economic and civic viability depend on our ability to prepare today’s students for the realities of this century. Access to the skills and knowledge needed to succeed in today’s world is the right of every child, and ensuring this must be a national priority.
It is not sufficient to simply respond to these needs rhetorically. All of our public policy initiatives in education must be put to the test of whether they promote access to 21st century skills for all of our students.
The US comprehensively must address both of its educational achievement gaps – the gap between traditionally underserved communities and their more affluent peers – as well as the overall achievement gap between US students and many of their international peers. We cannot do this in steps, both gaps must be bridged, and ALL of our students must be able to compete successfully with their peers around the world.
Wide scale integration of 21st century skills and knowledge into the teaching and learning process cannot be accomplished via isolated programs or minor tweaking of existing programs. We must entwine them in our education, labor, economic, and technology/telecommunications policies. Governments at the local, state, and national level must align their education, economic, labor, technology, and commerce functions to support 21st century education from early childhood through higher education and employee retraining programs.
Twenty-first century skills and knowledge are not limited to any particular grade or age level, and should be incorporated into pre-K through higher education, workforce development, and career re-training.
We must invest in our educational infrastructure so all communities have educational systems which provide students 21st century learning environments. Twenty first century skills are the threshold to full participation in today’s world, so we must be vigilant in ensuring all communities have equal access to a 21st century education.
Educational employees must have consistent access to the tools and support systems necessary to transition to a 21st century learning environment. Both in-service professional development and pre-service education must reflect the realities of quality teaching in this century
The corporate, public policy, and education sectors should collaborate at all levels to ensure schools provide high quality education that equips students for this century. The future viability of all these sectors rests in the success of this mission.
