Assessing 21st Century Skills

White, N. (2012, November 3). Assessing 21^st century skills. Innovations in Education- Reflections on Learning. Retrieved from http://d20innovation.d20blogs.org/2012/11/03/assessing-21st-century-skills/

CA
 

Synopsis:

This blog posting is a reflection of Nancy White’s experiences with teaching and assessing 21^st Century Skills with her students in Colorado. One point that White makes, that is often times forgotten, is that assessment is not just for the teachers it is also for the students. Assessments give students an idea of their strengths and challenges and as such assessments have to be more than just a way to assign a grade to a student’s work. With the focus on 21^st Century Skills, which are already difficult to assess, assessments have to change and the focus cannot continue to be on summative assessments. These skills are ones that are demonstrated through process and cannot be accurately graded with multiple-choice questions. White identifies that for 21^st Century Skills assessment, formative is the best way that teachers can track and assess students’ work. She includes a link to the Intel Assessing Projects Database, which allows teachers to access premade assessments for the skill they are focusing on.

Review:

Although the basic idea that is presented in the posting is one that is fairly obvious to most readers now, it is White’s inclusion of examples that makes this posting especially helpful. I also found some of the 21^st Century Skills she discussed were outside of what I have encountered in other articles detailing 21^st Century Skills. White includes “Self Direction” and “Invention” with the skills that being developed and assessed with her students. It is possible that I have read these in other articles but they worded differently so they did not have the same impact. Her attention on making the assessments kid friendly was another interesting inclusion. It tied back into her assertion that assessments are for teachers and students so they have to be accessible to both parties. The inclusion of the Intel assessment generator was a nice inclusion because it gives educators a framework to use if they are still having trouble creating their own assessments. 

Posted by Jessica King