Minnesota needs to start collectively asking and answering visioning questions around:
- What is a world class education?
- What is a 21st century education?
- Do the standards define the vision or do we want something more?
It's important for Minnesotan's to know:
In the absence of a Comprehensive Plan for Education in Minnesota we default to the standards, which don't include technology, health, world languages, critical thinking, and creative arts (art, music, theater, dance, performance, band, orchestra, choir).
Are we really willing to settle for the standards?
Visioning Resources
Minnesota
Minnesota P-20 Education Partnership - Working to create a seamless system of education that maximizes achievements of all students, from early childhood through elementary, secondary, and postsecondary education, while promoting the efficient use of financial and human resources.
Minnesota's Promise - The only comprehensive vision for the future of public education in Minnesota put forth to date.
- January 2008 - Minnesota’s Promise Final Report - As partners in Minnesota’s Promise, we have agreed to work toward the ten strategies of Minnesota’s Promise both within our organizations and together across the state as a whole.
Parents United for Public Schools participated in the development of the Minnesota's Promise vision, and is a Minnesota's Promise partner.
- 2007 Legislative Review: Minnesota’s Promise Still Unfulfilled - Steps the Minnesota legislature took towards implementing the strategies of Minnesota's Promise.
- September 2006 - Minnesota's Promise - A call to action from 27 past and present superintendents to transform education in Minnesota for the global information age (Brochure).
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February 2009 - Legislative Report & Recommendations - See recommendation V. Modernize our system of education to build the best workforce in the nation, Legislative Commission to End Poverty in Minnesota by 2020.
February 2009 - MINNESOTA'S FUTURE: World-class Schools, World-class Jobs - As Minnesota employers of all sizes face global competition and pursue global opportunities, they have a vested interest in the answers to these questions: How does Minnesota's education system compare with the best in the world? What can we learn from them to deliver a better education to the students of Minnesota?, Minnesota Business Partnership and the Itasca Project. (Related article at Twin Cities Compass.)
December 2008 - 2009 State of Students of Color and American Indian Students (Executive Summary) - Instead of approaching learning solely as an effort to “beat the odds” that social and economic status imposes on Students of Color and American Indian Students, Minnesota should work to “change the odds” by both promoting a culture of high expectations in school and holistically integrating K-12 schools with social, medical and community-building services, Minnesota Minority Education Partnership.
October 2008 - Smart Investments in Minnesota’s Students: A Research-Based Investment Proposal - Lays out priorities for research-based investment directed where improvement is most needed, focused on interventions that achieve cost-effective results, Growth & Justice (Power Point) (Supporting Research).
National
Reports from the Partnership for 21st Century Skills
- November 2009 (Updated) - Learning for 21st Century Skills: Milestones for Improving Learning and Education - A comprehensive, coherent toolkit for progress (Full report ; June 2003 version)
- July 2009 - National Agenda on 21st Century Skills - Put forth to clearly define and advance 21st century skills and education in the US.
- January 2009 - 21st Century Learning Environments - Successful learning environments break through the barriers that separate schools from the real world, educators from each other and policymakers from the communities they serve. Yet, many schools continue to reflect their Industrial Age origins with rigid schedules, inflexible facilities and fixed boundaries between grades, disciplines and classrooms, (Press Release).
- September 2008 - 21st Century Skills, Education & Competitiveness: A Resource and Policy Guide - The nation needs to do a much better job teaching and measuring advanced, 21st century skills that are the indispensible currency for participation, achievement and competitiveness in the global economy, Partnership for 21st Century Skills.
- August 2007 – Updated Framework For 21st Century Learning - What are the skills, knowledge and expertise today’s students must master to compete globally and become successful 21st Century citizens? What are the critical support systems schools need to produce 21st century teaching and learning outcomes? Partnership for 21st Century Skills (Press Release).
- October 2006 - Are They Really Ready to Work? Employers’ Perspectives on the Basic Knowledge And Applied Skills of New Entrants to the 21st Century Workforce, produced in collaboration with The Conference Board, Corporate Voices for Working Families, and Society for Human Resource Management (Full Report).
- March 2006 - Results that Matter: 21st Century Skills and High School Reform - 21st century skills integrated with core academic subjects — should be the “design specs” for creating high schools that are truly effective for students and the nation.
- June 2004 - The Road to 21st Century Learning: A Policymakers’ Guide to 21st Century Skills.
Ready by 21 — Ready for college, work and life. A project of the Forum for Youth Investment - Helping communities and the nation make sure all young people are Ready by 21.
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November 2009 - Redefining High School as a Launch Pad - What parents and students surveyed want from high school is at odds with what we’ve been asking our high schools to do for close to 100 years. Redefining the mission of high school is an important next step for building a 21st Century workforce, Deloitte 2009 Education Survey.
November 2007 (Updated) - Standards for the 21st-Century Learner - A vision for teaching and learning, American Association of School Librarians.
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