A New Era of Education Reform: Preparing All Students for Success in College, Career and Life

As society changes, the knowledge and skills required for citizens to navigate the complexities of life and work must also change. As a result, some argue that schools must provide students with a broader set of skills that will enable them to thrive in our increasingly diverse, rapidly evolving and globally-connected world. The intent is not to replace the traditional academic disciplines but to infuse them with knowledge and skills that will better prepare students for success in the 21st century -- often referred to as "21st century skills." While others maintain that as long as a portion of the student population is not mastering basic reading, writing and mathematics skills, schools must continue to focus exclusively on the traditional core academic disciplines. In order to inform the debate about the rationale for and relevance of 21st century skills in Massachusetts' public schools, the Rennie Center for Education Research & Policy conducted a survey of superintendents, charter school leaders and principals statewide to gauge the extent to which school and district leaders support the integration of 21st century skills into public education. The goal of the survey was to provide a better understanding of Massachusetts' public school and district leaders' priorities for improving student learning, including their views on 21st century skills. The survey was followed by interviews with a small sample of administrators and educators in districts and schools where the integration of 21st century skills is a priority, in order to better understand district, school and teacher approaches for infusing 21st century skills into teaching and learning.The report describes the background and context for the study, the study methodology, and key findings from the statewide survey and interviews in a sample of schools and districts. The final section of the report puts forth considerations for policymakers and K-12 school and district leaders. Case studies of two public school districts, Reading Public Schools and Brockton Public Schools are included in Appendix B. The case studies offer two different approaches to integrating 21st century skills district-wide. The case study of Reading Public Schools illustrates a district-led approach. The case study of Brockton Public Schools is an example of how one school has spurred a district to focus on 21st century skills.The study gives voice to key education stakeholders who have not been part of the public debate about 21st century skills and provides clarity about what teaching and learning in classrooms that incorporate 21st century skills looks like. While opponents of 21st century skills argue that districts where most students have not yet mastered reading, writing and mathematics skills, should focus exclusively on core academic content, the study revealed that most school and district leaders believe all public schools in Massachusetts should be required to integrate 21st century skills into learning, including schools where students are lacking adequate basic skills. Interviews with superintendents who prioritize integration of 21st century skills revealed that input from a range of stakeholders led their district to expand their mission and vision for student learning to include 21st century skills and rather than adopt a pre-packaged set of skills, the focus in these districts is on particular skills and competencies that ?t the needs of their student body. While most schools and districts have not developed measurable goals for student mastery of 21st century skills, interviews with a small sample of administrators and educators revealed that 21st century skills are assessed at the classroom level, and most administrators view school- and district-wide assessment as a future step in the process of fully integrating 21st century skills. The endings also suggest that administrators believe that, to date, state policymakers have not adequately supported the teaching and learning of 21st century skills.This report was released at a public event on October 7th, 2010. View video clips from this event on our YouTube channel and read an EdWeek article featuring this report

Using Blogs to Foster Inquiry, Collaboration, and Feedback in Pre-Service Teacher Education

This chapter presents a critical case study on the use of information technology in a pre-service teacher education program. The authors integrated Weblogs (blogs) into two constructivist-oriented teacher preparation courses with the goal of helping students learn to think like a teacher through enhanced inquiry, collaboration, and feedback. The authors found that, through the use of blogs, pre-service teaching candidates grew in their abilities to reflect on their own teaching and to provide constructive comments to peers. The authors’ experience also indicated that while instructor and peer feedback via blogs was valuable, it functioned best when paired with face-to-face meetings between the instructors and students. They discussed design principles for combining online and face-to-face environments and offer possibilities for the expanded use of blogs in pre-service teacher education

Keeping up with the 'digital natives': Integrating Web 2.0 technologies into classroom practice.

This report describes a self-study using an action research spiral of problem analysis, intervention design, trial, reflection and analysis. The main purpose of the study was to investigate and evaluate whether Web 2.0 technologies and, in particular, social software could be effectively integrated into a senior secondary English classroom. The methodology used in the study, while mainly qualitative, did include a degree of quantitative data-gathering. The study took place over two terms of the 2007 school year in a semi-rural school south of Auckland. My Year 12 English class of twenty-four students were participants in the study and I was the teacher-researcher. As part of the study the students responded to my 'blog' and created and maintained their own 'blogs'. These 'voices' are important threads in this narrative. Two of my colleagues acted as 'critical friends' in this process. During the study my own beliefs regarding new technology and the descriptor 'digital natives' were challenged. While the data collected and the interpretative analysis of it created further questions that need to be addressed, the findings indicate that there is a place for Web 2.0 technology and social software in English classrooms. The findings also show that in order for these applications to be integrated effectively, a number of issues need to be addressed. My recommendations as teacher-researcher at the 'chalk-face' attempting to keep up with the rapidly changing lives of our students concludes this report

Learning from the learners' experience: e-Learning@greenwich post-conference reflections

This publication comprises papers from presenters who, having made a conference presentation, were invited to author an academic paper about their work

Supporting Case-based Learning in Information Security with Web-based Technology

Case-based learning has been widely used in many disciplines. As an effective pedagogical method, case-based learning is also being used to support teaching and learning in the domain of information security. In this paper, we demonstrate case-based learning in information security by sharing our experiences in using a case study to teach security management. A process model of integrating a case library and Web 2.0 technologies to facilitate case-based learning is also presented in this paper. Insights and recommendations for implementing the process model are offered as well

Implementing Web 2.0 in secondary schools: impacts, barriers and issues

One of the reports from the Web 2.0 technologies for learning at KS3 and KS4 project. This report explored Impact of Web 2.0 technologies on learning and teaching and drew upon evidence from multiple sources: field studies of 27 schools across the country; guided surveys of 2,600 school students; 100 interviews and 206 online surveys conducted with managers, teachers and technical staff in these schools; online surveys of the views of 96 parents; interviews held with 18 individual innovators in the field of Web 2.0 in education; and interviews with nine regional managers responsible for implementation of ICT at national level

Content Area Teacher Perspectives on Integrating Literacy Strategies

The Common Core State Standards recommend that all educators prepare students with the literacy skills needed for college and careers. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine 7th and 8th grade content area teachers\u27 perspectives towards teaching literacy. The research questions addressed teachers\u27 capabilities in the role of literacy instructor as well as the actual application of literacy. The conceptual framework included Bruner\u27s constructivist, Bandura\u27s self-efficacy, and Knowles\u27s andragogy theories. These theories informed the investigation of adult learners\u27 perspectives regarding the way they learn and gain confidence to provide literacy instruction. Eleven English, math, science, and social studies teachers participated in this study through interviews. Data were also gathered via classroom observations and lesson plans. A qualitative data analysis software program was used to manage the qualitative data. Inductive and deductive coding were used to analyze the data and identify themes. The findings of this study indicated that teachers felt unprepared to teach reading. While teachers saw value in literacy, their perspectives were affected by their commitment to content instruction and time constraints to meet disciplinary curriculum requirements. This study affects positive social change by providing increased understanding of literacy instructions in the content classroom. These findings can facilitate communication between teachers and other stakeholders regarding school literacy initiatives. Further, the findings informed creation of a professional training program to provide teachers with on-site support for literacy integration

School use of learning platforms and associated technologies

Study of benefits and effective use of learning platforms in schools based on 12 case studie

Experiments in Arts Engagement: Case Studies

This set of seven case studies provides real-world examples and practical tips to enrich lessons identified in prior report, "Emerging Lessons and Implications from the Exploring Engagement Fund." The nine featured arts organizations vary by size, discipline, and geography. All pursue projects to engage participants from communities of color and low-income groups