Short version of the proposed article about Mastery Transcript

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“Mastery Transcript” is the next step after pursuing 21st Century Skills

By Steve McCrea

“21st Century Skills” appears to be a worn-out meme. Principals, teachers and education reformers have been broadcasting the need for “including employable skills” like critical thinking, oral and written communication, adaptability and agile thinking, and “creativity” (whatever that means).

Less often mentioned are entrepreneuring and initiative (what teacher wants to make a lesson plan about “take the initiative”? That’s like handing the class over to the students!)

The focus on “Essential Skills” or “The Seven Survival Skills” (Harvard University’s Tony Wagner came up with that formula) has generated another box on many lesson plans: “What 21st Century skills are developed by this lesson plan?”

So what?

What difference does this pursuit of “mastery of skills” have for students? How do “skills” show up in the traditional transcript? Does it make a difference if a student got an “A” in an advanced course by doing well on a standardized test? Or is it better if that student got a “B” while producing a remarkable multi-month project involving four subjects, but the project still needs some work? Which student is better prepared? Which student has has mastered more 21st Century skills? (Probably the kid with a “B”). If a student develops the skill of “innovation,” does the student get an “A” for failing faster?

How to track a student's mastery of skills

A coalition of schools has tackled the issue of “how to transform the traditional transcript.” The coalition, called the Mastery Transcript Consortium, describes itself as “a collective of high schools organized around the development and dissemination of an alternative model of crediting and transcript generation. This model calls for students to demonstrate a mastery of skills, knowledge and habits of mind by presenting evidence that is evaluated against an institutionally specific standard of mastery.” Source: mastery.org

The Consortium has established three “core principles” for the development of a transcript that tracks mastery of skills:

[1] No Required Standardization of Mastery Credits

The performance areas, credit standards (rubrics, etc.) and credits are specific only to the individual crediting school, and will never be standardized across schools.

[2] No Grades

Letter grading (or numerical equivalent) will not be used.

[3] Consistent Transcript Format

Transcript has to be readable by college admission officers (once trained) in less than two minutes. Therefore, the transcript format has to be reasonably consistent across MTC schools.

Source: mastery.org http://mastery.org/a-new-model/

What does this have to do with your school?

1. Mastery Transcripts are coming.

2. Mastery of skills is what Tony Wagner has been preaching since 2008. See "Seven Survival Skills" (See Note 1 below)

...in 2002 In 2002 the Partnership for 21st Century Skills (now the Partnership for 21st Century Learning, or P21) was founded as a non-profit organization by a coalition that included members of the national business community, education leaders, and policymakers... (see note 1)

The transformation of education and schools happens when teachers cooperate and create “BIG PROJECTS” that span several subjects. Instead of working on four projects in four subjects, why not make one big project that earns academic points in Math, Science, History and English Composition?

High Tech High has demonstrated how to display these projects on websites that students create and maintain. Privacy can be maintained by limiting the audience to the teacher and other students. When the student has curated a suitable collection of projects, then the link can be opened for college admission officers to visit.

So, since many readers of this Connected Principals blog are on board with points 2, 3 and 4, what’s up with the Mastery Transcript? Only 150 schools are part of the Mastery Transcript Consortium (MTC). If you are working at a school that is not on the list, then perhaps this blog post will be a push for you to visit the following website

Mastery.org (the website for the MTC)

Unveiling the Mastery Transcript

The MTC has laid out three rules to guide the creation of the Mastery Transcript. The website points out that ”we have started with independent schools to minimize complication and get a proof of concept built to enable all schools.” If this is such a good idea, why would any Connected Principal want to wait for the recommendations of the MTC? Why not experiment and build experience within your team of teachers? Why not use professional development to bone up on “what skills do we want to see and form and encourage in our students”? That discussion will take place in many schools after the MTC releases its findings… but why not get started now by coming up with your school’s list of “essential skills” and then develop rubrics to give feedback to students (“Not quite there,” “Acceptable,” “Good,” “Outstanding”)? The report that the MTC will issue will no doubt guide principals with anecdotes about “what we could improve” and “if only we had known then what we know now.” But why not get the conversation started within your school with teachers, students and parents? Start with a visit to Mastery.org.

About the author

Steve McCrea is a former high school teacher who read Dennis Littky’s book The Big Picture: Education is Everyone’s Business and become a facilitator. He can be found giving mini lectures (under 2 minutes) in his classes, which he uploads so the students can review the mini-lectures. He spends most of his time listening to his students rather than broadcasting. He founded the Free Website Project (TINYURL.com/FWPstart) in 2016 to encourage his students and other teachers to push students to create and maintain free websites (Weebly and Google Sites are popular at High Tech High in California). He offers free courses at TINYURL.com/cpppSite and TInyURL.com/CPPPFreeOnlineWorkshop

He can be reached at ManyPosters@gmail.com. +1 954 646 8246

Note 1: From Wikipedia about the "start of 21st Century skills"

In 1981, the US Secretary of Education created the National Commission on Excellence in Education to examine the quality of education in the United States."[18]The commission issued its report A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform in 1983. A key finding was that "educational reform should focus on the goal of creating a Learning Society."[19] The report's recommendations included instructional content and skills:

Five New Basics: English, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, Computer Science

Other Curriculum Matters: Develop proficiency, rigor, and skills in Foreign Languages, Performing Arts, Fine Arts, Vocational Studies, and the pursuit of higher level education.

Skills and abilities (consolidated):[20]

• enthusiasm for learning
• deep understanding
• application of learning
• examination, inquiry, critical thinking and reasoning
• communication – write well, listen effectively, discuss intelligently, be proficient in a foreign language,
• cultural, social, and environmental - understanding and implications
• technology – understand the computer as an information, computation, and communication device, and the world of computers, electronics, and related technologies.
• diverse learning across a broad range - fine arts, performing arts, and vocational

Until the dawn of the 21st century, education systems across the world focussed on preparing their students to accumulate content and knowledge.[21] As a result, schools focussed on providing literacy and numeracy skills to their students, as these skills were perceived as necessary to gain content and knowledge. [22]Recent developments in technology and telecommunication have made information and knowledge ubiquitous and easily accessible in the 21st century. Therefore, while skills such as literacy and numeracy are still relevant and necessary, they are no longer sufficient. In order to respond to technological, demographic and socio-economic changes, education systems began to make the shift toward providing their students with a range of skills that relied not only on cognition but also on the interdependencies of cognitive, social, and emotional characteristics. [23]

Notable efforts were conducted by the US Secretary of Labor's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS), a national coalition called the Partnership for 21st Century Skills (P21), the international Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the American Association of College and Universities, researchers at MIT and other institutions of higher learning, and private organizations.

Additional research has found that the top skills demanded by U.S. Fortune 500 companies by the year 2000 had shifted from traditional reading, writing and arithmetic to teamwork, problem solving, and interpersonal skills.[24] A 2006 Conference Board survey of some 400 employers revealed that the most important skills for new workforce entrants included oral and written communications and critical thinking/problem solving, ahead of basic knowledge and skills, such as the reading comprehension and mathematics. While the ‘three Rs’ were still considered foundational to new workforce entrants’ abilities, employers emphasized that applied skills like collaboration/teamwork and critical thinking were ‘very important’ to success at work."[25]

A 2006 report from MIT researchers countered the suggestion that students acquire critical skills and competencies independently by interacting with popular culture, noting three continuing trends that suggest the need for policy and pedagogical interventions:"[26]

• The Participation Gap — the unequal access to the opportunities, experiences, skills, and knowledge that will prepare youth for full participation in the world of tomorrow.
• The Transparency Problem — The challenges young people face in learning to see clearly the ways that media shape perceptions of the world.
• The Ethics Challenge — The breakdown of traditional forms of professional training and socialization that might prepare young people for their increasingly public roles as media makers and community participants."

According to labor economists at MIT and Harvard’s Graduate School of Education, the economic changes brought about over the past four decades by emerging technology and globalization, employers’ demands for people with competencies like complex thinking and communications skills has increased greatly.[27] They argue that the success of the U.S. economy will rely on the nation’s ability to give students the "foundational skills in problem-solving and communications that computers don’t have."[28]

In 2010, the Common Core State Standards Initiative, an effort sponsored by the National Governors Association (NGA) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), issued the Common Core Standards, calling for the integration of 21st century skills into K-12 curricula across the United States.[29]

GO TO WIKIPEDIA

QUICKLINK to this post: TINYURL.com/CPPPstartSkills

This blogpost has been shared with "influencers" -- perhaps more bloggers will discuss the Mastery Transcript.