21st Century Skills Coming to NAEP in 2012: A Preview

categories: Education and Technology, Standardized Tests, Teaching Ideas and Resources

Published May 14, 2009 @ 11:21AM PT

Like it or not, 21st Century Skills and "tech literacy" will be on the National Assessment of Educational Programs (NAEP) tests starting in 2012. The folks at eSchool News have put together the following resources to give you an idea of what it means, how it will look, and how to prepare. So have a glimpse of the future of high-stakes testing, 21st Century American Style, on them:

Learn more about the Nation's first tech-literacy exam that will be a part of the National Assessment of Educational Programs, also known as the Nation's Report Card.

Discover what's needed in a "21st Century" Classroom and what's ahead for the future of education in a report from the Partnership for 21st Century Skills.

See how the Arizona Department of Education added tech literacy accountability to its criteria for awarding competitive grants.

Examine new technology standards for teachers unveiled by ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education).

Check what the testers say in a report from ETS, the nonprofit group that created the SAT and other standardized tests, about what it means to be literate in the digital age.

Read in a Case Study how one district used tech literacy data to help with a budget override to increase its bandwidth by showing the need for such a project.

And some free advice for teachers scared of having to "know" all of this technology: relax. Your best teachers, if only you'll use them, will be quite a large number of your students.

image by Pete Ashton

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Comments (2)

I feel that the Department of Education has their work cut out for them. Regarding Education Reform, Arney Duncan really needs to refocus the curriculums that are being set for students and provide more rigorous material. As many have said, our schools are subpar in comparison to those of India, China, etc. We are losing in this race for educating the future. I can honestly say that I am finishing my first year of college and it's the first year that I feel I have learned something in my academic career. Talk about sad.

Posted by A VR on 05/14/2009 @ 09:29PM PT
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You know, I'd love to hear more about your take, as a recent high school student, on why you felt you learned nothing.

Let me know if you want to talk about a post (or more than one) informally identifying what it was about high school that was so "sad."

Student voices are too rarely heard. You have one, and I'm hoping you'll share it.

Posted by Clay Burell on 05/14/2009 @ 09:38PM PT
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Clay is an American high school Humanities teacher, technology coach, and Apple Distinguished Educator who has taught for the last eight years in Asian international schools. According to law, he's married to his wife. According to his wife, he's married to his Mac.