American Voters Have Concerns

A new report from the Partnership for 21st Century Skills reveals that American voters believe that the United States is not preparing young people with the skills they need to compete in the global economy.

The poll’s findings come at a time when debates over the future direction of the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law, which is up for reauthorization, as well as the focus that education will receive during the 2008 presidential election cycle.   NCLB focuses on narrowing the achievement gap for economically disadvantaged and minority students, and improving underperforming schools. Stopping there denies U.S. students the expanded skills set they now need to succeed in the globally interconnected society and workforce of the 21st century.  According to Ken Kay, the President of the Partnership of 21st Century Skills,

The public strongly supports more rigorous expectations for students that integrate 21st century skills into core academic subjects. Educators want to equip students with these skills, but they need the public policy, professional development, assessment and curricular tools to accomplish this.

The Partnership for 21st Century Skills is an organization dedicated to promoting a new vision of what students need to be successful in a globally competitive economy. Please visit www.21stcenturyskills.org for more information.  Better yet, listen to Ken Kay's January 2007 speech from the FETC Conference, where he addresses the question of why students need new (additional) skills for the 21st century. 

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