Voters urge teaching of 21st-century skills

Current Issue #3 - Justin Fox
EDLA 615 - Language Arts and Technology

Voters urge teaching of 21st-century skills
Poll suggests 'back-to-basics' approach to education is not enough for nation's citizens (title linked to article)
By Meris Stansbury, Assistant Editor, eSchool News

October 15, 2007

This article speaks of a poll conducted by the partnership for 21^st Century Skills this past September of 800 registered voters, asking how they feel America’s schools are performing. The poll illustrated that “Americans are deeply concerned that the United States is not preparing students with the skills they need to compete in the new global economy…” The article explains how those individuals polled feel that the majority of schools across the country are faring quite poorly in terms of preparing students for the working world. It stated how people feel that schools are still in “back-to-basics mode”, when there needs to be a concentration on “different things than what [students] learned 20 years ago, such as…on collaboration, communication, and cultural knowledge.” The article also indicated that those polled felt that America severely lags behind other countries in terms of preparing individuals for the 21^st century workforce.

I feel that this article hit it right on the proverbial nose. Our students are certainly not prepared for the 21^st century workforce, particularly due to the fact that 21^st century literacy skills are not being emphasized in our schools. In fact, the United Federation of Teachers agreed, this week to implement a school-wide merit-pay system in the lowest-performing New York City schools. Needless to say, this system will be strictly based upon the increasing number of standardized exams being implemented by the Bloomberg-Klein dictatorship.

I find it incredibly frustrating that, in spite of polls such as those indicated by the above article indicate the public’s opinion on the virtual failure of our country’s schools in providing students with 21^st century literacy skills, large city school systems like NYC seem to move backwards towards an antiquated standardized testing system. Yes, standardized exams could provide a great amount of information on student comprehension of the traditional subject areas of Reading and Math, but does teaching to such exams prepare our students for the future? Do standardized exams truly indicate the embracing of 21^st century literacy skills? I am sorry to say that the answer is a resounding “NO”.

The increased concentration on these subject areas (and, mind you, I am, theoretically a math teacher…) does not provide students with the necessary wide range of skills that are necessary to survive in the workforce. Funding, at least in NYC, continues to be designed to “raise test scores,” not necessarily to provide students with a better 21^st century education. To incorporate the article’s main point: America’s schools are failing our students, school officials who set policy are failing our students, and things certainly need to change. Now.