Assessing 21st Century Skills Summary of a Workshop (2011) / Chapter Skim
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1 Introduction
1 Introduction
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The modern workplace requires workers to have broad cognitive and affective skills. Often referred to as "21st century skills," these skills include being able to solve complex problems, to think critically about tasks, to effectively communicate with people from a variety of different cultures and using a variety of different techniques, to work in collaboration with others, to adapt to rapidly changing environments and conditions for performing tasks, to effectively manage one's work, and to acquire new skills and information on one's own.
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In designing the workshop, the committee collapsed the five skills into three broad clusters as shown below: Cognitive skills: nonroutine problem solving, critical thinking, sys tems thinking Interpersonal skills: complex communication, social skills, team work, cultural sensitivity, dealing with diversity Intrapersonal skills: self-management, time management, self development, self-regulation, adaptability, executive functioning The committee commissioned a set of papers to examine the research on assessing skills within each of these broad clusters and identified examples of assessments of the skills to feature at the workshop. The workshop was held in two parts.
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He began by presenting two graphs -- one for men and one for women -- that displayed average hourly wages from 1979 through 2007 for individuals grouped by their education level.1 These graphs, reproduced as Figures 1-1 and 1-2, show wage informa 1 Murnane's presentation is available at http://www7.nationalacademies.org/bota/21st_ Century_Workshop_Murnane.pdf [August 2011]
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25 4-Year 20 College Degree High School 15 Diploma 10 Less Than High School 5 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 Year FIGURE 1-2 Women's real hourly wage by education, 1979-2007 (2007 dollars)
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Over the years, the average hourly wages for men with high school diplomas or less changed very little, and by 2007, were slightly lower than in 1979. However, average hourly wages for men with at least a col lege degree steadily increased over the years to nearly $30 for those with college degrees and nearly $40 for those with advanced degrees.
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Those who have this training are more suited to the available jobs, more attractive to employers, and more likely to obtain the higher-paying jobs. Second, the use of computers interacts with the kinds of jobs available.
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Murnane said the growing income difference is due to an increased need for individuals to work in jobs that require technological skills, while, at the same time, there is a decreased need for individuals to perform routine tasks that can be computerized. Individuals without advanced training are employed in service jobs for which pay has been steady over time.
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Tasks that require expert thinking, such as identifying and solving new problems 4. Tasks that require complex communication, such as eliciting criti cal information and conveying a convincing interpretation of it The researchers compiled data on the percentage of available jobs that require these four types of tasks and tracked the trends over a 30-year period (from 1969 to 1998)
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Likewise, the components of complex communication include the following: • Observing and listening • Eliciting critical information • Interpreting the information • Conveying the interpretation to others At the workshop, Deborah Boisvert, a researcher with the Boston Advanced Technological Education Connection (BATEC) , presented survey results that provide additional insight on the skills workers need in the current job market.2 In 2007, BATEC conducted a survey designed to learn more about the skills employers sought in their employees.
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The study examined the relationships between cognitive and noncognitive skills and labor market outcomes. The noncognitive skills assessed were • Willingness to assume responsibility • Independence • Outgoing character • Persistence • Emotional stability • Initiative • Social skills Their research findings indicated that compared to measures of cognitive skills, measures of noncognitive skills were stronger predictors of wages,3 stronger predictors of employment status,4 and stronger predictors of annual earnings.5 3A one standard deviation increase in the measure of noncognitive skills predicted an increase in wages by 9 percent, or one third of a standard deviation, compared to 5 percent for cognitive ability.
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Gerhard Salinger, program director with the Directorate for Education and Human Resources at NSF, discussed his work with the advanced technological education program, an effort focused on techni cian education at the 2-year college level. This program is intended to educate students for middle skill jobs, occupations that require more than a secondary education but not necessarily 4 years of higher education.
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students taking the test scored below Level 2 (below the solid black line)
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During discussion sessions, participants commented that the work shop was being held at an opportune time. Several commented about two reform movements currently underway.
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, the Race to the Top Assessment Program provides funding to consortia of states to develop assessments that are valid, support and inform instruction, provide accurate information about what students know and can do, and measure student achievement against standards designed to ensure that all students gain the knowledge and skills needed to succeed in college and the workplace. (See http://www2.ed.gov/programs/racetothetop-assessment/ index.html [May 2011]
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