EDUCATION FOR
LIFE AND WORK
Developing Transferable Knowledge
and Skills in the 21st Century
Committee on Defining Deeper Learning and 21st Century Skills
James W. Pellegrino and Margaret L. Hilton, Editors
Board on Testing and Assessment
and
Board on Science Education
Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education
NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL
OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
Washington, D.C.
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS 500 Fifth Street, NW Washington, DC 20001
NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.
This study was supported by the Carnegie Corporation of New York under Contract No. B8767, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation under Contract No. 2009-5117, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation under Contract No. 10-97354-000-HCD, the National Science Foundation under Contract No. DRL-0956223, the Nellie Mae Education Foundation, the Pearson Foundation, the Raikes Foundation, the Susan Crown Exchange Fund, and the Stupski Foundation. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the organizations or agencies that provided support for the project.
International Standard Book Number-13: 978-0-309-25649-0
International Standard Book Number-10: 0-309-25649-6
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Copyright 2012 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America
Suggested citation: National Research Council. (2012). Education for Life and Work: Developing Transferable Knowledge and Skills in the 21st Century. Committee on Defining Deeper Learning and 21st Century Skills, J.W. Pellegrino and M.L. Hilton, Editors. Board on Testing and Assessment and Board on Science Education, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES
Advisers to the Nation on Science, Engineering, and Medicine
The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone is president of the National Academy of Sciences.
The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. Charles M. Vest is president of the National Academy of Engineering.
The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Harvey V. Fineberg is president of the Institute of Medicine.
The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy’s purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone and Dr. Charles M. Vest are chair and vice chair, respectively, of the National Research Council.
COMMITTEE ON DEFINING DEEPER LEARNING AND 21ST CENTURY SKILLS
JAMES W. PELLEGRINO (Chair), Learning Sciences Research Institute, University of Illinois at Chicago
GREG J. DUNCAN, Department of Education, University of California, Irvine
JOAN L. HERMAN, National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing, University of California, Los Angeles
MARGARET A. HONEY, New York Hall of Science, Queens
PATRICK C. KYLLONEN, Center for New Constructs, Educational Testing Service
HENRY M. LEVIN, Teachers College, Columbia University
CHRISTINE MASSEY, Institute for Research in Cognitive Science, University of Pennsylvania
RICHARD E. MAYER, Department of Psychology, University of California, Santa Barbara
C. KENT McGUIRE, Southern Education Foundation, Atlanta, Georgia
P. DAVID PEARSON, Graduate School of Education, University of California, Berkeley
EDWARD A. SILVER, School of Education and Mathematics Department, University of Michigan
MARGARET L. HILTON, Study Director
STUART ELLIOTT, Director, Board on Testing and Assessment
KELLY IVERSON, Senior Program Assistant
BOARD ON TESTING AND ASSESSMENT
EDWARD HAERTEL (Chair), School of Education, Stanford University
LYLE BACHMAN, Department of Applied Linguistics and TESOL, University of California, Los Angeles
STEPHEN DUNBAR, College of Education, University of Iowa
MARK DYNARSKI, Pemberton Research, LLC
DAVID J. FRANCIS, Texas Institute for Measurement, Evaluation, and Statistics, University of Houston
JOAN L. HERMAN, National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing, University of California, Los Angeles
MICHAEL KANE, Test Validity, Educational Testing Service, Princeton, New Jersey
ROBERT D. MARE, Department of Sociology, University of California, Los Angeles
MICHAEL NETTLES, Policy Evaluation and Research Center, Educational Testing Service, Princeton, New Jersey
DIANA C. PULLIN, School of Education, Boston College
ANN MARIE RYAN, Department of Psychology, Michigan State University
BRIAN STECHER, Education Program, The RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, California
MARK R. WILSON, Graduate School of Education, University of California, Berkeley
REBECCA ZWICK, Research and Development, Educational Testing Service, Santa Barbara, California
STUART ELLIOTT, Director
BOARD ON SCIENCE EDUCATION
HELEN QUINN (Chair), Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, Stanford University
GEORGE BOGGS, American Association of Community Colleges, Washington, DC
WILLIAM B. BONVILLIAN, Washington, DC, Office, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
RODOLFO DIRZO, School of Humanities and Sciences, Stanford University
JOSEPH S. FRANCISCO, Department of Chemistry, Purdue University
ADAM GAMORAN, Department of Sociology, University of Wisconsin–Madison
JERRY P. GOLLUB, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Haverford College
MARGARET HONEY, New York Hall of Science, Queens
JAN HUSTLER, Partnership for Student Success in Science, Synopsys, Inc., Mountain View, California
SUSAN W. KIEFFER, Department of Geology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
MICHAEL LACH, Urban Education Institute, University of Chicago
CARLO PARRAVANO, Merck Institute for Science Education, Rahway, New Jersey
BRIAN REISER, School of Education and Social Policy, Northwestern University
SUZANNE WILSON, College of Education, Michigan State University
MARTIN STORKSDIECK, Director
Acknowledgments
The committee and staff thank the many individuals and organizations who assisted us in our work and without whom this study could not have been completed. First we acknowledge the generous support of the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the National Science Foundation, the Nellie Mae Education Foundation, the Pearson Foundation, the Raikes Foundation, the Susan Crown Exchange Fund, and the Stupski Foundation. We are particularly grateful to Barbara Chow, program director for education, and Kristi Kimball, former program officer, at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, who identified the need for a consensus study of deeper learning and 21st century skills and conveyed the importance of the study to other sponsors. We also thank Bruce Fuchs, director of the Office of Science Education at the National Institutes of Health, who initiated and supported a series of previous National Research Council (NRC) workshops on 21st century skills. These previous activities provided an important starting point for this study, illuminating key strands of relevant research.
Thanks are also due to Susan Bales and Nat Kendall-Taylor of the FrameWorks Institute. The guidance they provided in written memos, presentations, and informal conversations helped to frame and communicate the messages contained in this report.
Many individuals at the NRC assisted the committee. Board on Testing and Assessment director Stuart Elliott played a critical role throughout the
project, from conceptualizing the study scope to participating in committee discussions and teleconferences. We thank Kirsten Sampson-Snyder, who shepherded the report through the NRC review process; Robert Pool, who edited the draft report; and Yvonne Wise for processing the report through final production. We are grateful to Kelly Iverson, who arranged logistics for all three committee meetings and assisted with editing and preparing the manuscript for review and final publication. We appreciate the assistance of Patricia Morison, director of the communications office of the NRC Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education, and Sara Frueh, communications officer.
This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the NRC’s Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making its published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. We thank the following individuals for their review of this report: Diane F. Halpern, Department of Psychology, Claremont McKenna College; Karen R. Harris, Department of Special Education and Literacy, Peabody College, Vanderbilt University; Kevin Lang, Department of Economics, Boston University; Richard Lehrer, Department of Teaching and Learning, Peabody College of Vanderbilt University; Frank Levy, Department of Urban Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Lorrie A. Shepard, School of Education, University of Colorado at Boulder; and Nancy T. Tippins, Sr. Vice President and Managing Principal, Valtera Corporation, Greenville, SC.
Although the reviewers listed above provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the content of the report, nor did they see the final draft of the report before its release. Deborah Stipek of the Stanford University School of Education and Elisabeth M. Drake, retired associate director for new energy technology, Energy Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, oversaw the review of this report. Appointed by the NRC, they were responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with institutional procedures and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content of this report rests entirely with the author and the institution.
Finally, we thank our colleagues on the committee for their enthusiasm, hard work, and collaborative spirit in thinking through the conceptual issues and challenges associated with addressing the charge to the study committee and in writing this report.
James W. Pellegrino, Chair
Margaret L. Hilton, Study Director
Committee on Defining Deeper Learning and 21st Century Skills
Contents
2 A Preliminary Classification of Skills and Abilities
3 Importance of Deeper Learning and 21st Century Skills
4 Perspectives on Deeper Learning
5 Deeper Learning of English Language Arts, Mathematics, and Science
6 Teaching and Assessing for Transfer
7 Systems to Support Deeper Learning
A 21st Century Skills and Competencies Included in the OECD Survey
B Reports on 21st Century Skills Used in Aligning and Clustering Competencies