PRESENTED BY JUSTINA O. OSAPRESENTED AT THE UNIVERSITY OF

ILORIN

Accountability in the 21st Century: Enhancing Personnel

Effectiveness and Student Learning

ACCOUNTABILITY IN THE 21ST CENTURY: ENHANCING PERSONNEL

EFFECTIVENESS AND STUDENT LEARNING

OUTLINE

Introduction

Need for Accountability

Expectations and Mandates

Stakeholders’ Reaction

Our response

Conclusion

Q & A (Comments)

Introduction

The start of the twenty-first century finds a

national spotlight shinning on our public

education system and its leaders, with greater

intensity than most times in our history. This

scrutiny creates heightened pressure for

result (Castallo, 2001).

AMERICAN SCHOOL SYSYEM: THE SILENT

EPIDEMIC

Low student academic achievement and

High dropout rates

SCHOOL SYSTEM FAILURE: ECONOMIC

COSTS Dropouts are more likely to be unemployed than high

school graduates

Dropouts earn less money when they do secure work.

High school dropouts are also more likely to receive public assistance than high school graduates who do not go on to college

Females who drop out of school are more likely to have children at younger ages and to be single parents than their counterparts who do graduate. (Kaufman, P., Naomi Alt, M., & Chapman, 2004).

REACTION: STAKEHOLDERS

Prepare students for:

Their world

The world of tomorrow

Jobs that do not yet exist

Prepare students who can favorably compete with students in other nations

WHY ACCOUNTABILITY?

Data on student achievement

The No Child Left Behind Mandate (2001)

No longer enough to say: “I taught it!”

Educators held responsible for student learning

Need to prepare students for the world of tomorrow and for jobs that do not yet exist

OUR REALITY

Regrettably, time and time again, educators fall prey to the

latest single answer solution only to be frustrated with the

long term results. The silver bullet approach to improving

achievement is misguided. No single solution can guarantee

success. There are no quick fixes (Ackerman, 2007).

REACTION: PROFESSIONALS

Development of Professional Standards

Licensures

Evaluation

Collaboration

Standardized test

Research-based curriculum and instruction

Differentiated instruction

Accreditation

Use of data

Obsession with 21st century skills

OUR REALITY

A growing number of business leaders, politicians, and

educators are united around the idea that students need

"21st century skills" to be successful today (Rotherham and

Willingham, 2009).

TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY SKILLS

Framework for 21st Century Learning:

Presents a holistic view of 21st century teaching and learning

that combines a discrete focus on 21st century student

outcomes (a blending of specific skills, content knowledge ,

expertise and literacies) with innovative support systems to

help students master the multi-dimensional abilities required of

them in the 21st. (Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2004).

21st Century Skills Movement

(Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2004).

Learning and Innovation Skills: Learning to Create Together

Learning to Learn and Innovate Critical Thinking and Problem

Solving Communication Skills Collaboration/team building Creativity and Innovation

Digital Literacy Skills

Information Literacy (Info-Savvy)

Media Literacy (Media fluent)

ICT Literacy (Tech-Tuned)

Career and Life Skills: Work-Ready, Prepared for Life

Flexibility and Adaptability Initiative and Self-Direction Social and Cross-Cultural

Interaction Productivity and Accountability Leadership and Responsibility

21ST CENTURY INTERDISCIPLINARY

THEMES

Global awareness

Financial, economic, business and entrepreneurial literacy

Civic literacy

Health literacy

Environmental literacy

Framework for 21st Century Learning:

Overarching Questions:

Why are the skills listed in the Framework for 21st Century Learning necessary?

Which skills are most important?

What can be done to help schools include these skills in their curriculum and instruction?

Our education system was never designed to deliver the

kind of results we now need to equip students for today’s

and tomorrow’s world. The system was originally created

for a very different world. To respond appropriately, we

need to rethink and redesign our education system

Wagner and Kegan, 2006).

SOME ANSWERS

Need to get “out of the box”

Need to prepare global citizens with the required knowledge, skills and dispositions

Need to make learning meaningful

Need to review curriculum and instruction

Need to review teacher preparation programs

Need to review leaders and other school personnel preparation programs

STRATEGIES

Require higher level of competence in content knowledge

Help all instructors sharpen their pedagogical skills

Require hands-on learning

Integrate field experiences and internships into courses whenever possible

Promote varied forms of assessments

Provide student support services

Encourage the integration of instructional technology

To live, learn, and work successfully in an

increasingly complex and information-rich society,

students and teachers must use technology

effectively (International Society for Technology in

Education, 2000).

We are teaching “sceenagers “

WHAT TECHNOLOGIES DO INSTRUCTORS USE IN THEIR EDUCATION CLASSROOMS?

23

WHAT TECHNOLOGIES DO INSTRUCTORS TEACH THEIR EDUCATION STUDENTS TO

USE?24

WHAT TECHNOLOGIES DO INSTRUCTORS TEACH THEIR

EDUCATION STUDENTS TO USE FOR THE PREK-12 CLASSROOM?

25

WHAT TECHNOLOGIES DO INSTRUCTORS FEEL THEIR EDUCATION

STUDENTS ARE MOST COMFORTABLE USING?

26

STUDENT SUPPORT SERVICES

28

DISTRICT-WIDE ACADEMIC DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES

SUPPORTED BY SUPERINTENDENTS

29

DISTRICT-WIDE ACADEMIC COUNSELING ACTIVITIES

SUPPORTED BY SUPERINTENDENTS

DISTRICT-WIDE SOCIAL/EMOTIONAL

OUTCOMES SUPPORTED BY SUPERINTENDENTS

EDUCATORS AS INSTRUCTIONAL LEADERS

CONNECTICUT COMMUNITY COLLEGES PROFESSIONAL DAY, OCT. 15 2010

TEACHER EXODUS

14% of new teachers leave by the end of their 1st year

33% leave within 3 years, and

50% (almost 50%) leave in five years

(Ingersoll, 2003).

RECOMMENDATIONS

Empowerment through mentoring and coaching

Professional learning communities

Attention to vocational education

Produce students who are sophisticated consumers and creators of information in all formats

Residency programs – teachers and leaders

Embedded professional development

DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION – A CORE

STRATEGY

The process of differentiation, offering

students multiple ways of taking in and

expressing information, begins with

educators examining four areas: content,

process, product, and environment (Sprenger, 2008).

DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION:

CONTENT

Content is what we use to teach the standards. When

we differentiate the path to the standards, we might

include:

Choices in how students learn

Materials at different levels of difficulty

Different genres from which to choose

How quickly a child takes in information (pacing).

DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION :

PROCESS

Process is how we teach the standards. When we

differentiate process, we might:

Group students according to readiness, interest, or learning profile

Use whole class instruction

Work with some students individually

Offer instructional tools that honor individual learning profiles.

DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION:

PRODUCT

Product refers to the way students show us what

they know. We might vary product by:

Offering students choice

Using ongoing formative assessment to determine how well the students are learning

Personally communicating with students in the form of conferences or simple conversations

Varying performance tasks (Sprenger, 2008).

QUESTIONS, ANSWERS AND COMMENTS